SAN ANTONIO – Four homeruns by Saint Louis proved to be too much for the University of the Incarnate Word baseball team, as the Cardinals dropped the season opener 6-3 on Friday night at Wolff Stadium in the Alamo Irish Classic.
The Billikens' (2-0) James Morisano hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and set the tone for the rest of the evening. Alex King and Aaron Case followed in the second inning with solo homers for each, to take a 5-0 early lead.
The Cardinals (1-0) got on the board in the fifth inning with an RBI-double from
Eddy Gonzalez, which scored
Tanner White.
David Anaya followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to drive in
Mark Whitehead.
Lee Thomas then hit a single to center, but Gonzalez was thrown at the place.
With the score 6-2, three one-out walks loaded the bases of Cardinals, but two strike outs would end the inning with no damage done. Then again in the ninth inning, the Cardinals loaded the bases, but this time, a Thomas walk would cut the lead to 6-3, but the next batter flied out with the bases loaded to end the game.
E. Gonzalez led the offense with two hits and an RBI, while newcomer
Kyler Genenbacher collected two hits, including a double in his first game as a Cardinal. As a team, UIW left 10 men on base, while the Billikens only left five. Morisano and King each had two RBI, while Trent Leimkuehler got three hits, including a double.
Jackson Wark earned the win for SLU, and
Tyler Lesley took the loss for the Cardinals. Wark went five innings, and allowed two runs on five hits and struck out six. Lesley gave up six earned in four innings, but
Luke Taggart and
Jenner Jackson threw two scoreless innings each, coming out of the pen for UIW.
The Cardinals will continue play in the Alamo Irish Classic tomorrow with a doubleheader. They will face Notre Dame at 3 p.m. and Lafayette College at 7 p.m. Both games will be at Wolff Stadium.
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