SAN ANTONIO– The Cardiac Cards erased a five run deficit, and
Bryce Shepherd won it in the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off single to give the University of the Incarnate Word baseball team a 10-9 win over new Orleans on Sunday afternoon at Sullivan Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a back-and-forth affair for game three, as the Cardinals (18-27, 6-15 SLC) had an early 3-0 lead, but New Orleans seemed to put it away with eight runs in the fourth inning.
Lee Thomas deposited a pitch over the right field net for a two-run homerun in the first inning, and his offense wouldn't stop there. In his next at bat, he doubled to left field to bring in another run, to make it 3-0 in the third inning.
The fourth was troublesome for UIW as the Privateers plated eight in the inning. They brought 13 batters to the plate and used six hits to take the lead 8-3. The Cardinals didn't let the game slip away though, answering right away with two runs in the bottom half of the fourth. Sam Gutierrez doubled in a run, and later scored on an
Eddy Gonzalez single—one of his five hits in the game—to make it 8-5.
Garrett Terrell then came up with a big two-out hit for UIW. With the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, Terrell hit a ball through the left side to drive in two runs and cut the lead down to 8-7. New Orleans answered in the next half inning, scoring one run, but then they ran into
Lance Moszkowicz. The right hander came into the game in the eighth inning, down two runs and facing the bases loaded with one out. Moszkowicz froze the first hitter he faced with a slider to strike him out, and then induced a fly ball to center to exit the inning unharmed.
Then in the bottom of the eighth,
Eddy Gonzalez collected his fifth hit of the ballgame with two outs and nobody on base, which would turn out to be huge.
David Anaya followed with another single, and Thomas once again came up with a big hit. He tripled down the first base line to drive in two runs and tying the game 9-9.
Moszkowicz kept the Privateers off the board in the top of the ninth, and the Cardinal offense took care of the rest. With runners on first and third, Shepherd delivered the walk-off hit on a single to left center field for the win.
???????Moszkowicz earned the hard-fought win with 1.2 scoreless innings without allowing a baserunner and striking out two, improving to 3-2 on the year.The loss went to Ryan Leone who fell to 0-1 on the season.
LEADERS
Gonzalez tied a school record with a five-hit performance. He finished the ball game 5-for-5, four runs scored and an RBI. Thomas had three hits, including a homer and a triple, five RBI and one run scored. Terrell was 2-for-4, with a run scored and two driven in. Shepherd's single was his second walk-off hit of the season, and the Cardinals' third walk-off win on the year. Defensively, Terrell collected his third outfield assist in as many games. He threw out a baserunner at the plate in the first inning.
For New Orleans Samuel Capielano led the way with four hits, and adding two RBI and a run scored. Owen Magee and Orynn Veillon each drove in two runs in a losing effort.
UP NEXT
UIW will travel to Natchitoches, La. to face Northwestern State in a conference set next weekend, Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.
STAY TUNED
The Cardinals will then host UTSA at Sullivan Field on May 10 at 6:30 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for April 11 at UTSA, but rain caused the game to be postponed.
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