HOUSTON – HBU rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth, but left the bases loaded as Incarnate Word claimed a 3-2 victory to even the Southland Conference baseball series Saturday at Husky Field.
Junior third baseman
Austin Zillweger went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and scored a run for the Huskies (13-14, 4-4 SLC) and extended his hitting streak to seven games. Senior first baseman
Justin Monsour went 2-for-3 with a triple.
Braden Martin went 3-for-5 and scored, while Cory Duran went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for the Cardinals (7-20, 2-6). Eddy Gonzalez went 2-for-4, Austin Hoffman went 2-for-5 and Brance Kahle doubled, drove in a run and scored.
Junior righthander
Julian Griego (3-2) took the loss for HBU, giving up three runs, two earned, on 12 hits with no strikeouts and two walks in seven innings. Senior righthander
Brody Toal shut the Cardinals out over the final two innings.
John Shull (1-2) earned the win for UIW, allowing two runs on seven hits with one strikeout and not walks in 8.1 innings. Lance Moszkowicz picked up his third save of the season by getting the final two outs, but walked three batters.
UIW broke a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth as Kahle reached on an error, then Tanner Wall followed with a double down the leftfield line. Duran's two-run double to right gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. The Cardinals added a run in the seventh when Martin led off with a single and scored on Kahle's RBI double.
In the bottom of the ninth, senior designated hitter
Austin Saenz single up the middle with one and pinch runner
David Bloodworth scored on Zillweger's double to rightcenter. Mosczkowicz walked junior catcher
Blake Thomas and junior outfielder
Zane Otten to load the bases, then walked junior outfielder
Joe Van Marter to force in a run. Trailing by one with two outs, senior second baseman
Greg Espinosa hit a grounder up the middle and UIW completed the force out at second to end the game.
The series concludes Sunday with a 2 p.m. start. The video and Legacy Sport Network audio broadcasts with
Russ Reneau begin at 1:45 with the pregame show and are available on HBUHuskies.com.
