The Incarnate Word Cardinals jumped out on Newman University early in both games of Saturday’s doubleheader, beating the Jets 11-0 in the opener and 8-1 in the second.
Kirk Jewasko pitched six shutout innings with four strikeouts and three hits for his second win of the year in game one, while Memo Cienfuegos pitched five innings with seven strikeouts, giving up four hits and one run, for his second win of the year in game two.
In both games, all the pitching relief – Ethan Lutz in game one; Justin Kanas and Alfredo Caballero – allowed no runs in their respective solo innings of work.
UIW (5-0 overall, 5-0 in the Heartland) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, with Steven Vidaurri, Matt Roohan and Daniel Qualls all hitting singles and the Cardinals getting some help from an error at shortstop.
But it wasn’t until the third inning that UIW blew things open, ripping off seven runs in a seven-hit onslaught highlighted by John Zule’s 3-run home run – the first homer of the year for Incarnate Word.
Zule finished the first game going 1-for-4 with 3 RBI, Qualls was 4-for-4 with three RBI and Roohan went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Malay hit 2-for-3 with 2 runs batted in.
In game two, the Cardinals scored eight runs in the first inning on seven hits and with help from a wild pitch that scored Reno Malay.
Cienfuegos, Kanas and Caballero combined for 11 strikeouts (two each for Kanas and Caballero).
Sunday’s doubleheader against Newman (2-3 overall, 2-3 conference) is schedule to start at noon. Both games will be seven innings long.