NEW ORLEANS, La. –  The top three Cardinal hitters combined for nine hits as the University of the Incarnate Word picked up a 9-6 victory on the road over the University of New Orleans in Southland Conference action tonight. The Cardinals picked up their 10^th win of the season, improving to 10-8 and moving to 3-4 in the conference, while the Privateers fell to 8-11 and 2-5 in the SLC.

UIW jumped on the board early to start the game when they pushed four runs across on four hits. It all started when Preston Newberry and Cole Tabor each singled to put runners on the corners. Newberry then touched home off Tony DeJesus's RBI single to right.  Tabor went from first to third on the play. UIW loaded the bases when Jake Weaver walked on five pitches with no outs.  Colin Cymbalista kept the inning going when he was hit by a pitch, which allowed Tabor to score to make it 2-0 and keep the bases loaded. New Orleans was able to record back-to-back outs on a pair of strikeouts, but Thomas Lyssy dropped a single into shallow center field that scored both DeJesus and Weaver to push the lead to 4-0 before the inning ended.

New Orleans, in the bottom of the first half, got one of the runs back on a groundout to short to make it 4-1.

The Privateers added two runs in the second, one run in the third, and one in the fourth to grab a 5-4 lead after four.

Heading into the top of the fifth down by one, UIW retook the lead.  Cymbalista led off with a single through the left side. New Orleans then got two fast outs and looked to get out of the inning, but Lyssy kept the inning alive with a single to right that sent Cymbalista to third. A wild pitch allowed him to score to tie the game at five and send Lyssy to second. Lyssy later stole third and then scored off Trent Rucker's RBI double down the left field line to put UIW back in front.

The Privateers made the call to the bullpen with a runner on second and two down, but the first thing the new pitcher was greeted with was an RBI single from Newberry that scored Rucker to make it 7-5. With Tabor coming up, he drew a four-pitch walk to put runners on first and second.  DeJesus's RBI single to the left field gap allowed Newberry to touch home to make it 8-5 before a groundout ended the inning.

New Orleans loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth but was only able to push one run across on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 8-6.

UIW in the top of the ninth added a run off Newberry's RBI double to push the lead to 9-6 with two outs before a flyout ended the inning.

New Orleans, down to its final three outs of the contest, went down in order as the Cardinals earned the victory.

Cardinal reliever Jose Bludau picked up his first win (1-0) of the season after going two and a third innings, allowing two runs on five hits.  Fellow reliever Fawster Voytko struck out a game-high five in two and a third innings of work.

Landon Fuller earned his first save of the season after throwing two scoreless innings and striking out two.

Newberry, Tabor, and DeJesus combined going 9-for-14 with four RBIs, four runs scored, three walks, and a double.

Lyssy and Cymbalista ended the game each with a pair of hits. Lyssy tallied two runs scored and two RBIs, while Cymbalista finished with an RBI and a run scored.

Cardinal Jake Weaver saw his eight-game hitting streak come to an end as he was 0-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.

Both teams are back in action tomorrow for the second game of the series at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN+.