SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word baseball team rallied from a 6-2 deficit, but UTSA was able to survive the late comeback and came out on top of the Cardinals, 6-5 at Roadrunner Field on Wednesday night.
Jesse Baker had a terrific night for the Roadrunners. He finished the game 5-for-5, with two RBI and a run scored to lead the Roadrunners to their 14
th win of the season.
After being shutout 12-0 the last time the Cardinals (9-14) faced UTSA earlier this season, UIW quickly got on the board in the top of the first inning.
Matt Morris (Scottsdale, AZ/Saguaro HS) hit his third home run of the season on a drive to left center field off of Cody Brannon on an 0-2 count.
The Roadrunners (14-11) answered with a run in the second inning and three more in the third to make it 4-1. The Cardinals'
Brance Kahle (Colleyville/Grapevine Faith HS) then scored another run in the fifth to make it 4-2. He reached base via one of his three hits and scored an unearned run. Once again, the Roadrunners answered right away with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it 6-2.
UIW then scored two unearned runs in the top of the seventh inning and then one in the eighth.
Austin Hoffman (Goodyear, AZ/Millenium HS) hit a one-out double down the left field line and later scored on an
Ethan McGill (Penn Valley/Nevada Union HS) two-out single to right field in the eighth inning.
Aaron Warren (Schertz/Warren HS) came in to pinch hit to lead off the ninth inning representing the tying run. Warren worked a full count and walked to start the inning. The next two Cardinal hitters were unable to get on base, and with two outs Warren stole second base, putting the tying run in scoring position. Jeremy Filipek struck out the last batter to end the threat and the game and earned his second save of the season.
Cody Brannon earned the win for UTSA as he hurled 5.2 innings, gave up two runs (one earned), three hits and struck out five. The loss went to
Kris Looper (Wharton/Wharton HS) who started the game for the Cardinals and allowed four runs in three innings of work.
John Shull (San Antonio/Churchill) tossed the last two innings for the Cardinals, giving up two hits and finished his eighth scoreless appearance of the season.
Morris and McGill each collected two hits and scored a run for UIW. Kahle led the team with three hits and two runs scored.
Dustin Cole (Tomball/Tomball HS) and
Colton Besett (Cedar Park/Vista Ridge HS) grabbed the only other RBI for the Cardinals.
For the Roadrunners, nine of the 11 offensive players collected at least a hit, with Baker leading the way with five hits and two RBI.
The Cardinals finished with five runs on eight hits and committed no errors while the Roadrunners finished with six runs on 13 hits and committed three errors.
The Cardinals have a three game Southland Conference series this weekend as they host Houston Baptist starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Sullivan Field.
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