SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word baseball team returns to the friendly confines of Sullivan Field, sponsored by H-E-B where they have a 9-4 record this season. The Cardinals look to climb up in the Southland Conference standings with a four-game set against third-ranked New Orleans this weekend starting on Friday night, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. 

THE GAMES 
(Watch|LiveStats) 
Friday, April 16, 6:30 p.m. 
Saturday, April 17, 2:00 p.m. 
Saturday, April 17, TBD (45 minutes after game 1) 
Sunday, April 18, 1 p.m. 

UIW QUICK HITS  

• UIW placed three student-athletes on the Southland Conference Preseason All-Conference teams. Ryan Flores earned first-team honors for the second year in a row, while Lee Thomas and Grant Smith were selected for the second team.  
• Thomas needs just four more hits to eclipse 200 in his career, six more would place him in the top-10 in program history. 
• Taylor Darden and Thomas lead the Cardinals' offense with .346 and .306 batting averages, respectively. 
• Thomas and Jordan McFarland each have four home runs, Wilson Ehrhardt and Smith have three and Ron Brown and Flores have two. 
• The Cardinals have a combined .258 batting average, .407 slugging percentage and .368 on-base percentage heading into the weekend. 
• Michael McElmeel leads the red and black pitching staff with a 3.37 ERA in nine appearances and two wins this season. 
• The Cardinals used seven pitchers in the 10-inning game at Rice, the most used in a game this season as Jaren Warwick, Aaron Celestino, Kayden Cassidy, Isaiah Zavala, McElmeel, Steve Hayward and Johnny Foral all saw game action on Tuesday. 
• UIW's pitching staff is holding opponents to a combined .290 batting average and have a 6.87 ERA coming into the weekend series. 

HISTORY vs. NEW ORLEANS  

• UIW is 8-4 all-time against New Orleans. The Cardinals look to snap their current five-game losing streak and continue their five-game win streak over the Privateers. The two teams last played on April 28, 2018, a 4-3 extra-inning Cardinals' win.

SCOUTING THE PRIVATEERS   

• New Orleans is 17-15 overall, 12-8 in Southland Conference play this season, coming off a four-game split with Sam Houston last weekend. 
• The Privateers are hitting .275 on the season with a .410 slugging percentage and .375 on-base percentage. 
• Kasten Furr (.327), Gaige Howard (.312), Darren Willis (.306) and Pearce Howard (.300) are pacing the offense with batting averages over .300. Howard has notched a team-high 39 hits, 27 RBIs and 25 runs scored. 
• Howard and Luther Woullard lead UNO with four home runs each. 
• Caleb Seroski leads the pitching staff with a 2.55 ERA in 24.2 innings pitched. Kyle Khachadourian joins Seroksi with a 3.55 ERA and more than 20 innings pitched (33.0) this season. 
• Chris Turpin has a team-leading 63 strikeouts as Seroski and Brandon Mitchell have 32 and 33, respectively. 

ON DECK  

UIW and UNO continue the series in doubleheader action on Saturday, April 17. First pitch for a seven-inning game one is set for 2 p.m. with a nine-inning game two scheduled to start 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first. 

FAN INVOLVEMENT  

Join Cardinals Club today! Email UIW Baseball Director of Operations, Maddy Jordan (majorda1@uiwtx.edu) for more information.  

**Due to COVID-19 safety guidelines, all home UIW baseball events are sold out and tickets will not be available for purchase. Visitors must be on the home player/coach pass list.  

FOLLOW ALONG 

For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics, visit uiwcardinals.com, follow the Cardinals on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook.  

Follow the team on Twitter and on Instagram @UIWbaseball.