ABILENE CHRISTIAN 9, INCARNATE WORD 4
Incarnate Word fell short in the South Central regional championship tournament suffering a 9-4 loss to Abilene Christian in a game that began in the early morning Tuesday.
The semi-final, elimination game had its first pitch at 12:22 a.m. in Warrensburg, Mo., and did not end until 3:13 a.m. ACU earlier had defeated St. Mary’s in 13 innings to reach this point. The Wildcats now will contest unbeaten and first seeded Central Missouri for the right to advance to the Division II championship tournament. Incarnate Word ended its season with a school record 42 wins against 18 losses.
This victory for ACU was a matter of revenge as Incarnate Word had captured a 5-4 game last Friday before the rains came and delayed the tournament two whole days.
Abilene Christian (49-14) got out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and the Cardinals could not catch up. Leading 3-1 after three, the Wildcats put up a three spot in the fourth to put the game on ice.
UIW closer Alfredo Caballero was called on in the fourth to put out a fire and to hold the fort in hopes his teammates could get back into the game. He went four and one-third innings, his second longest outing of the year.
A tournament bright spot for Incarnate Word was the plate work of Jackson Woodruff who in four games was a cumulative 11-18 for a .611 average. He had three runs batted in and his 11 hits included two doubles and one home run. Against ACU he was 3-4 with a double and one RBI.
The top of the Cardinals order against ACU produced six hits—two each from Tyler Hicks, Matt Flores and Steven Vidaurri. Flores and Viduarri both drove in runs.
UIW 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 -- 4 12 2
ACU 2 1 0 3 0 1 0 2 X -- 9 9 1
Lutz, E. Urbina (1), Caballero (4) and Qualls, Woodruff (1), Rodriguez (8). Aspass, Calhoun (3), Crockett (9) and Tomkins. WP—Calhoun (5-1). LP—Lutz (6-4).