SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The University of the Incarnate Word baseball team scored five unanswered on Sunday but came up one run short as Northwestern State held on for a 9-8, series-finale victory at Daniel Sullivan Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The hero of Saturday's walk-off win,
Ryan Gonzalez picked up where he left off with an RBI-single to get the Cardinals on the board in the first inning on Sunday.
The lead was short-lived as the Demons erupted for seven runs in the second.
UIW got one back in the bottom of the inning when
Tyler Pettit pinch hit and drove in
David Anaya to make it a 7-2 ballgame.
NWST returned the favor with a sacrifice squeeze bunt that scored one in the third.
The Cardinals responded in the bottom of the frame with a
Ryan Flores sac fly that sent
Kyle Bergeron home, but the Demons countered with an RBI single in the fourth.
UIW closed the gap in the bottom of the fourth with a sac fly from
Ridge Rogers and an RBI-single from Bergeron that made it a 9-5 contest.
The Cardinals continued to claw their way back with a R. Gonzalez sac fly in the seventh.
The methodical comeback continued in the eighth, when a Rogers single to right scored
Shea Gutierrez.
Eddy Gonzalez led off the ninth with a single to center field and came home on an Anaya double off the wall in left, but even the melodious chorus of the Walmart Yodeling Kid couldn't put UIW over the top as NWST held on for the narrow victory.
NOTEABLES
- For the second time this season E. Gonzalez tied a program record with a 5-for-5 performance, scoring once.
- Mark Whitehead finished 4-for-5 with a pair of runs.
- Rogers and R. Gonzalez contributed 2 RBIs apiece.
- Jenner Jackson (2-4) took the loss, surrendering 6 runs on 3 hits through 1.1 innings on the mound. He struck out 3 and walked 1.
RECORDS UPDATE
UIW: 29-20, 13-11 SLC
NWST: 27-20, 13-11 SLC
UP NEXT
The Cardinals head south for a coastal series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday.
STAY TUNED
UIW closes out the regular season with a home series against Sam Houston, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 17.
To purchase tickets to any UIW Athletics home event, contact Ticket Sales Coordinator
Alma Lara at 210-805-3012.
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