The Incarnate Word baseball team now sits alone in first place in the Heartland Conference after its first season series against Lincoln University, finishing the at-home sweet against the Blue Tigers with a 13-2 and 5-2 doubleheader victory.
In the first game (a seven-inning contest) Guillermo Cienfuegos earned his first win of the season with a four strikeout effort in which he gave up just one run and one hit over five innings.
UIW was up 5-0 in the second inning and up to 13-0 in the 5th inning thanks to multiple 2-out rallies and four errors by Lincoln.
The Cardinals (3-0 overall, 3-0 conference) held Lincoln scoreless for the first five innings. The Blue Tigers were able to get two across the plate against Justin Kanas in the sixth, but in the seventh inning, Alfredo Caballero surrendered one hit but responded by striking out the rest of the side.
Tyler Hicks, Steven Vidarurri, Matt Flores and Jackson Woodruff all had two hits. Hicks and Matt Roohan both hit doubles.
In the second half of the double-dip, Incarnate Word had to come back from a 1-0 and 2-1 deficit before getting three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead for good en route to the 5-2 win.
Nathaniel Ramirez started the game and struck out six Tigers in four innings of work, but didn't stay in the game long enough to get the win when he was relieved by Elroy Urbina to start the fifth inning. Urbina also went four innings, striking out four Tigers, while Keith Vasquez came in for the ninth and retired the side with a strikeout and a no hits surrendered.
Second baseman John Zule went 3-for-4 with a double, while Drew Hamilton hit 2-for-3 with a triple to lead the UIW bats.
The Cardinals will play host to Newman University on Saturday and Sunday this weekend with two doubleheaders – all four games scheduled to be seven innings in length.