Lubbock, Texas – The University of the Incarnate Word baseball team defeated Texas Tech University, 13-8, on the road tonight in the first-ever meeting between both teams. The Cardinals' 21 hits are the second most in a game as a Division I team since moving to the Division I level in 2014.

UIW is improved to 18-19, while the Red Raiders fall to 20-16 on the season.

Texas Tech took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when a sacrifice fly scored the runner from second.

The Cardinals in the top of the second grabbed the lead. It started when Cole Tabor walked with one down; he later moved to second when Jake Weaver was hit by a pitch.  UIW loaded the bases when Justin Rumfield singled.  Still with one down, Tabor and Weaver came around to score when Kevin Ramos singled to right field to put the Cardinals up 2-1 before the inning ended.

The Red Raiders, in their half of the third, pushed three runs across on three hits, reclaiming the lead at, 4-2.

UIW in the top of the third got one of the runs back when Tabor doubled to left center to score Drake Anderson to make it a 4-3 game.

Headed into the top of the fourth down by a run, Ramos, Trent Rucker, and Preston Newberry each hit back-to-back-to-back solo home runs to put the Cardinals up 6-4 before the inning came to a close.

The Cardinals added to their lead in the top of the fifth, and it started when Weaver singled to right center and moved to third on back-to-back groundouts. He then scored when Rucker hit his second home run of the game to push the lead to, 8-4.

Newberry kept the inning alive when he singled to center and then advanced to second when Anderson walked. Newberry later scored off Christian Enriquez's RBI single to left center, making it, 9-4.

Both teams went scoreless in the sixth, but the Cardinals added two more runs in the seventh. It got underway when Ramos, Rucker, and Anderson all singled to load the bases with one down. Ramos later scored off Enríquez's sacrifice fly. Colin Cymbalista then drove in Rucker off his RBI single through the left side to put the Cardinals up 11-4 before the inning ended.

Texas Tech, in its half of the seventh, cut the lead to three when it plated four runs on four hits to make it 11-8.

UIW opened the top of the eighth with back-to-back singles from Weaver and Rumfield, but a double play got the Red Raiders two fast outs. Weaver was able to advance to third on the play. Rucker was able to keep the inning going when he walked on six pitches to put runners on the corners. He then stole second to give UIW two runners in scoring position. Both runners then came around to score off Newberry's two-run single to left field and take a 13-8 lead.

The Red Raiders in the bottom of the ninth lead-off with a single, but three straight outs ended the game and secured the win for the Cardinals.

Cardinal starting pitcher Zac Colletti allowed one run in an inning of work, while reliever Josh Bludau picked up his first win (1-0) of the season. He allowed two hits and struck out two over two innings of work.

Rucker paced the Cardinals at the plate, going a perfect 4-for-4 with four runs scored, three RBIs, and two home runs.

Ramos finished the night hitting 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs, and two runs scored, while Newberry was 3-for-6 with a home run, three RBIs, and two runs scored.

Weaver tallied three hits and three runs scored, while Cymbalista recorded a pair of hits and an RBI.

Tabor tallied the team's only other extra base hit in the form of a double while recording an RBI and a run scored.

Rumfield tallied a pair of hits while Enriquez registered a hit and two RBIs.

Anderson capped off the night going 2-for-5 with a run scored.

UIW is back in action when it travels to San Marcos, Texas, next Tuesday night to face Texas State University at 6 p.m.