SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The University of the Incarnate Word baseball team will make the short trip to Nelson Wolff Stadium this weekend to take on Notre Dame, Purdue and Saint Louis at the annual Alamo Irish Classic, beginning this Thursday.
 
FIRST PITCH
 
The Cardinals open the tournament with a 6 p.m. matchup on Thursday against Notre Dame. UIW will face Purdue at 4 p.m. on Friday, before a meeting with Saint Louis at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The tournament championship and consolation game will be held simultaneously at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The championship will take place at Wolff Stadium, while the consolation game will be played at Daniel Sullivan Field.
 
The Cardinals have competed in the Alamo Irish Classic since the 2014 season.
 
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH
 
Record: 2-1, 0-0 ACC
Head Coach: Mik Aoki
Leaders:
No. 7 Jr. INF Nick Podkul – .556 AVG, 6 RBI, 5 H, 4 R
No. 15. Jr. OF Eric Gilgenbach – .385 AVG, 9 RBI, 5 H, 5 R, 3 HR
No. 6 Jr. INF Cole Daily – .385 AVG, 5 H, 4, SB, 3 R, 3 RBI
Pitching Rotation:
None announced
Probable Starters:
No. 38 Gr. LHP Scott Tully (0-0) – 7.20 ERA, 5.0 IP, 3 SO, 3 BB
No. 40 Fr. LHP Tommy Sheehan (1-0) – 7.20 ERA, 5.0 IP, 3 BB, 2 SO
No. 32 So. RHP Cameron Junker (0-0) – 2.70 ERA, 3.1 IP, 2 SO, 2 BB
No. 33 Fr. LHP Cole Kmet (0-0) – 0.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 3 SO, 2 BB
Summary: Notre Dame is coming off of a 2-1 series victory over No. 16 LSU in Baton Rouge, La. The Fighting Irish rank first in the nation in fielding percentage and fifth in stolen bases. Junior outfielder Eric Gilgenbach is tied for a share of the national lead with three home runs through opening weekend.
 
SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
 
Record: 3-0, 0-0 Big 10
Head Coach: Mark Wasikowski
Leaders:
No. 4 So. OF Skyler Hunter – .636 AVG, 7 H, 4 R, 3 RBI
No. 27 Jr. INF Jacson McGowan – .538 AVG, 7 H, 7 RBI, 4 R, 3 HR
No. 6 r-Jr. INF Evan Warden – .417 AVG, 5 H, 3 R, 2 RBI
Pitching Rotation:
FRI: No. 32 Jr. LHP Gareth Stroh (0-0) – 0.00 ERA, 6.2 IP, 9 SO, 0 BB
or
FRI: No. 28 Sr. LHP Nick Wojtysiak (1-0) – 0.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 4 SO, 2 BB
SUN: No. 37 Jr. LHP Ryan Beard (0-0) – 4.50 ERA, 4.0 IP, 3 SO, 3 BB
Summary: Purdue is coming off of a 3-0 series sweet of Western Michigan in Emerson, Ga. The Boilermakers rank 11^th in home runs per game, 13^th in earned run average and 15 in batting average. Junior infielder Jackson McGowan is tied for a share of the national lead with three home runs through opening weekend.
 
SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS
 
Record: 1-3, 0-0 Atlantic 10
Head Coach: Darin Hendrickson
Leaders:
No. 25 So. INF Jake Garella – .500 AVG, 8 H, 3 RBI, 2 R
No. 27 Sr. OF Parker Sniatynski – .375 AVG, 6 H, 5 RBI, 4 R
No. 21. Jr. INF Cole Dubet – .357 AVG, 5 H, 4 R
Pitching Rotation:
SAT: No. 33 Jr. RHP Cody Luther (0-0) – 1.69 ERA, 5.1 IP, 9 SO, 1 BB
SUN: No. 34 Sr. RHP Connor Lehmann (0-1) – 10.38 ERA, 4.1 IP, 6 SO, 1 BB
Summary: Saint Louis went 1-3 through opening weekend at the Sunshine State Classic. The Billikens lost their season-opener to Old Dominion, before registering a 6-5 defeat of Pittsburgh. Saint Louis dropped two consecutive matchups with Toledo to close out the tournament. The Billikens rank fifth in the nation in triples and senior outfielder Parker Sniatynski ranks first in the nation in doubles.
 
THE CARDINAL FILE
 
Record: 2-2, 0-0 SLC
Head Coach: Patrick Hallmark
Leaders:
No. 24. So. C Kyle Bergeron – .333 AVG, 5 H, 4 RBI
No. 21 Jr. OF Eddy Gonzalez – .333 AVG, 4 H, 2 R
No. 15 So. C Sean Arnold – .250 AVG, 4 H, 2 R
Pitching Rotation:
None announced
Probable Starters:
No. 23 Jr. P Bernie Martinez (0-1) – 6.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 7 SO, 1 BB
No. 38 So. P Luke Taggart (1-0) – 0.00 ERA, 7.0 IP, 7 SO, 1 BB
No. 35 Sr. P Tyler Miller (0-0) – 4.91 ERA, 3.2 IP, 4 SO, 2 BB
No. 45 Fr. P Jake Zatopek (0-0) – 0.00 ERA, 3.2 IP, 3 SO, 2 BB
Summary: UIW is coming off of a four-game season-opening series split with North Dakota State, in which Head Coach Patrick Hallmark won his first two games as skipper. The Cardinals rank eighth in the nation in sacrifice bunts, paced by Ridge Rogers, who ranks fourth individually. Reliever John Shull was the only pitcher in the Southland Conference to pick up both a win and a save through opening weekend.
 
UP NEXT
 
UIW travels to College Station for a date with No. 10 Texas A&M on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
 
STAY TUNED
 
The Cardinals return to Sullivan Field for a four-game home stand against Northern Illinois, beginning Friday, March 2 at 6:30 p.m.
 
To purchase tickets to any UIW Athletics home event, contact Ticket Sales Coordinator Alma Lara at 210-805-3012.
 
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics visit uiwcardinals.com. Be sure to follow UIW Athletics on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook at UIW Athletics.