SAN ANTONIO, Texas –
Cole Tabor's three-run home run walks off the University of the Incarnate Word 13-11 against its crosstown rival, the University of Texas-San Antonio, at Sullivan Field, sponsored by H-E-B, this afternoon in non-conference action. The Cardinals improved to 15-14, while the Roadrunners dropped to 20-9 on the season.
Trailing 3-0 going into the bottom of the second,
Jake Weaver doubled to right and later moved to third on a groundout to short. He then scored off a wild pitch to cut the lead to 3-1 before the inning ended.
The Cardinals in the bottom of the third grabbed the lead when they plated four runs on six hits. It started when
Enrico Carrion dropped a single into shallow left and then scored on
Trent Rucker's two-run home run to left to tie the game at three.
Preston Newberry and
Cole Tabor kept the inning going when they tallied back-to-back singles. Pinch hitter
Tony DeJesus loaded the bases when he singled to short with no outs. Newberry later scored off Weaver's sacrifice fly to center to put UIW in front, 4-3. The Cardinals pushed the lead to 5-4 when Tabor was driven in from Cris Enriquez's RBI single to shallow center field.
UTSA responded in the top of the fifth as it retook the lead 9-5 after scoring six runs on four hits and three walks.
UIW got two of the runs back in the bottom of the fifth when DeJesus belted a deep two-run home run to left field that scored Tabor to make it, 9-7.
The Roadrunners in the sixth added a pair of runs off a home run and a sacrifice fly to push their lead to 11-7 before the frame ended.
Heading into the bottom of the seventh with two down, the Cardinals'
Drake Anderson walked and then moved to second when
Thomas Lyssy was hit by a pitch to reach first. Anderson came around to score on Carrion's RBI single to left field to cut the lead to, 11-8.
UIW kept chipping away at the lead in the eighth when it had runners on first and second with one down. A wild pitch allowed DeJesus to take third and send Newberry to second. Weaver's RBI fielder's choice scored Newberry to make it 11-9 before the inning ended.
Down to their final three outs, the Cardinals needed some late-inning magic to get back into the win column. Things looked promising as Anderson walked to open the ninth and then moved to second on a groundout. With one down, UTSA was able to get a strikeout for the second out of the frame. Now with two down,
Trent Rucker made sure to keep the inning alive as he singled down the right field line to score Anderson and cut the lead to one. Newberry kept the hits coming as he singled to shallow center to put runners on first and second.
The Cardinals now had the team's leader in home runs with eight,
Cole Tabor coming to the plate. On a 2-1 count, Tabor connected for a deep three-run home run to right field to walk off UIW to a 13-11 victory.
Starting pitcher
Matthew Foley struck out three in an inning, and reliever
Colin Huspen picked up his second win (2-0) of the season. He allowed one hit and struck out one in an inning of work.
Tabor, who tallied his ninth home run, finished the game going 2-for-4 with three RBIs, three runs scored, and two walks.
Newberry and Rucker led all UIW hitters with three hits each. Newberry was 3-for-6 with three runs scored, while Rucker went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, a home run, and a pair of runs scored.
DeJesus and Carrion combined for four hits, two runs scored, three RBIs, and a home run.
Weaver, Enriquez, and Lyssy each finished with a hit. Weaver's hit was the team's only double.
Incarnate Word is back home on Thursday, April 2, when it opens a three-game conference series with Southeastern Louisiana University. First pitch for the opening game is set for 2:05 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
