News
UIW’S WALLS NAMED HEARTLAND'S BEST -- posted Tuesday, August 5 2008
Dustin Walls is the Heartland Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2007-2008.
Incarnate Word’s Dustin Walls is the Heartland Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the just completed 2007-2008 school year.
In a vote taken among Heartland athletic directors and faculty athlete representatives from the nine member schools Walls was honored based on his on-field performance, his achievements in the classroom combined with his contributions to campus life at UIW.
Over his time at Incarnate Word Walls posted a 3.90 cumulative grade point average. In May of 2008 he received his bachelor’s degree with a major in history and a minor in English. His successes in the classroom earned him a position on the College Sports Information Director’s of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America team as well as an National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Academic Achievement Award. He also was finalist for an NCAA Post-Graduate Fellowship.
On the baseball field, he was the Heartland’s player of the year after leading the league in average (.451), hits (96), home runs (15), runs batted in (82) and total bases (164). Those statistics put him on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) All-American team as well as the Daktronics and Rawlings all-region teams.
On campus at Incarnate Word he was UIW Dean’s List, Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society, Alpha Chi Honor Society and vice president of the History Club. At the end of the academic year Walls was voted Incarnate Word’s Student-Athlete of the Year.
This top Heartland award combined with all his other achievements including being All-America both academically and athletically solidify Walls’ position as the most celebrated athlete in Incarnate Word history for a single year.
SOLIS TO DEBUT IN VERMONT -- posted Tuesday, June 17 2008
UIW's Chris Solis is set for his professional debut in Vermont.
Incarnate Word’s Chris Solis has signed his first professional contract and Tuesday could see his first action as part of the Washington National’s farm system.
Solis inked with the Nationals and was immediately assigned to the Vermont Lake Monsters of the Class A short-season New York-Penn League which is a three-division, 14-team organization. The Lake Monsters are in the Stedler Division.
Solis and his team will play a 76-game season beginning tonight, June 17, and running through September 6. The Lake Monsters are based in Burlington, Vt.
Major League Baseball conducted its 2008 draft the first weekend of June and Solis was picked on the 27th round by the Nationals, the 811th player selected. All totaled, there were 1,504 first-year players drafted.
At the end of his three years with the Cardinals, the Castroville and Medina Valley High School product posted a career batting average of .356. He drove in 139 teammates and finished with 32 home runs which tied the school mark for a career.
SOLIS GETS NOD FROM NATIONALS -- posted Monday, June 9 2008
UIW catcher Chris Solis was drafted by the Washington Nationals baseball club.
Incarnate Word’s senior catcher Chris Solis had his name placed on the big board of Major League Baseball’s 2008 draft of first year players.
Solis was named by the Washington Nationals on the 27th round as the 811th player selected from across the nation. All total in the two-day event, big league organizations drafted a 1,504 high school, junior college or four-year college players.
“The competition gets a bit better now for Chris,” UIW Coach Danny Heep said. A veteran of 11 big league seasons and the owner of two World Series rings, Heep understands how it is as a professional. “If he can adjust to the competition in certain areas then he has a legitimate shot.”
Solis played three years at Incarnate Word finishing with a career batting average of .356. Over that time he clubbed 32 home runs which tied the all-time Cardinals mark for a career. He drove in 139 teammates over those three seasons. This past spring his marks were .365 at the plate with 14 long balls and 61 RBI.
Incarnate Word played 170 games in his time with the Cardinals and Solis was either the catcher or designated batter in 156 of those contests.
The 6-2, 215-pound Solis is a product of Medina Valley High School and he played one season at Laredo Junior College before joining the Cardinals.
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER ALL TEAM FOR WALLS -- posted Thursday, May 29 2008
Dustin Walls doubled up this week with his second election to an All-American team.
Dustin Walls is crossing over into the territory of being Incarnate Word’s most decorated athlete ever for a single season as for the second time this week he has been voted All-America.
UIW has had All-American players before on the field and in the classroom but only twice before now has Incarnate Word had one athlete named first team on both sides. Walls this week became the third.
The most recent All-American mantle given Walls came from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). He was named the first team designated hitter/utility player after his .453 average, 15 home runs and 82 runs batted in led the Cardinals to a 39-17 season mark.
This on the field honor came on the heels of his being voted first team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). In earning his bachelor’s degrees the first week of May—with double majors of history and English--Walls had posted a cumulative 3.90 grade point average at UIW.
The other Incarnate Word athletes to double up as first team All-Americans in the one year were soccer stars Ricardo Lara in 2002 and Lubomir Bogdonov in 2004 as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) honored them both athletically and academically.
Walls has another chance at All-American honors to truly put himself above all others at Incarnate Word. He was voted All-South Central Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). With the first team regional designation, his name automatically went to the ABCA All-American ballot with that vote pending.
His 2008 list of honors is lengthy. In addition to the All-American awards, and the coaches’ regional honor, he was Daktronics All-South Central Region second team and CoSIDA Academic All-District.
In the Heartland Conference, he was the league’s player of the year and was all-conference. And once during the season he was recognized as the Ping!Baseball Outstanding Performer for all divisions of the NCAA.
Then, at Incarnate Word he was named the school’s Student-Athlete of the Year which moved his resume over for consideration for this same honor by the Heartland Conference.
WALLS NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN -- posted Tuesday, May 27 2008
Dustin Walls has been named CoSIDA Academic All-American first team.
Johns Hopkins, Barry of Florida, Mount Olive, Tusculum and right there among those storied institutions is Incarnate Word as senior Dustin Walls has been named Academic All-America by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Earlier, as an infielder, Walls was voted first team all-region which meant his name automatically went onto the ballot for All-American. And he is now first team for the entire nation.
The voting was based on two factors, his performance in the classroom combined with his achievements on the baseball field. On May 10 he earned two different bachelor’s degrees at UIW, one in history and one in English. In his time at Incarnate Word he maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.90.
On the field, in addition to leading both the Cardinals and the Heartland Conference in several statistical areas, he set school records for a single season in hits (96) and runs batted in (82). His season batting average was .453 which topped the conference.
He was Heartland player of the year and he was the UIW Student-Athlete of the Year.
Represented on the CoSIDA first squad were players from eight different states with Walls being the sole representative from Texas. Also, of the 11 players named, five have perfect 4.00 GPAs.
CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN FIRST TEAM
Pitcher, Christopher Mock, Greensboro College, 4.00, biology
Pitcher, Tyler Whitaker, Rogers State University, 4.00, pre-medical biology
Catcher, Jason Sherrer, Mount Olive College, 3.82, sports management
Infield, Bryan Cook, Nova Southeastern, 4.00, business administration
Infield, Dustin Walls, Incarnate Word, 3.90, history
Infield, Jared Thoele, Illinois College, 4.00, physics (pre-engineering)
Infield, Dustin Morrow, Tusculum College, 3.94, secondary math education
Outfield, Gabe MacDougall, Lynn University, 4.00, psychology
Outfield, Andrew Frezza, Barry University, 3.90, management
Outfield, Rob Pietroforte, Johns Hopkins University, 3.73, economics
Designated Hitter, Robby Finnell, University of the Ozarks, 3.53, political science
THREE CARDINALS LEADERS ON ANOTHER REGION TEAM -- posted Tuesday, May 20 2008
Dustin Walls is first team Rawlings/ABCA All-South Central Region.
Chris Pacheco also is first team for Rawlings/ABCA All-South Central Region.
The Rawlings/ABCA All-South Central Region second squad included Adam Rimlinger.
Another regional all-star team has been announced, this one by the coaches, and the Incarnate Word players involved are familiar names.
Voted on by the head coaches in the South Central Region, this select team is sponsored by Rawlings / American Baseball Coaches Association and it includes senior infielder Dustin Walls and junior outfielder Chris Pacheco on the first team and senior righthanded starter Adam Rimlinger on the second unit.
Walls' and Pacheco's names automatically will be on the ballot for All-American honors to be named shortly from among players in the eight regions in Division II.
Just days ago all three were named to the second team of the Daktronics All-South Central Region team.
In this latest vote, the Rawlings / ABCA first squad included just two players from the Heartland Conference--Walls and Pacheco. The second team listed four Heartland players including Rimlinger.
This will be Walls' second listing on an upcoming All-American ballot. Earlier he was named Academic All-District by CoSIDA. In the Heartland, he was voted all-conference and was the league's player of the year. That was after he topped the Heartland with his .453 batting average. At Incarnate Word this spring he set school records in hits and RBI.
Pacheco is on his first all-region team. This spring he hit .435 which was just behind Walls for both Incarnate Word and the Heartland Conference. He was first-team all-league.
Rimlinger led not only the Heartland but the entire nation in Division II with his 13 victories on the hill. Those 13 wins are an Incarnate Word record as he finished the year with a mark of 13-1. He too was all-conference.
UIW was 39-17 for the 2008 campaign. Those 39 victories were the second most in Incarnate Word history.
THREE CARDINALS ARE ALL-REGION -- posted Wednesday, May 14 2008
Senior first baseman Dustin Walls is Daktronics All-South Central Region second team.
Senior righthander Adam Rimlinger is on the Daktronics All-South Central Regional second team.
Junior center fielder Chris Pacheco has been voted Daktronics All-South Central Regional second team.
Three members of Incarnate Word’s baseball team have been named to the 2008 Daktronics South Central All-Region second team.
Making the elite squad are senior first baseman Dustin Walls, junior center fielder Chris Pacheco, and senior right handed pitcher Adam Rimlinger.
Incarnate Word was the only member of the Heartland Conference to have three players recognized. League champion St. Edward’s had two voted to the second unit while St. Mary’s had one player recognized on the second squad.
This honor is added to what is becoming a lengthy list for Walls after he led the Heartland in four categories—average (.451), home runs (15), runs batted in (a UIW record 82), and total bases (164). Nationally in Division II he is top 20 in those same categories including being ninth in RBI. Earlier he was named the Heartland’s player of the year. Also, he was voted Academic All-District.
In addition to batting .440 and finishing second in the Heartland right behind Walls, Pacheco led the league in triples (7) and was second in hits (95), runs (70), doubles (23), stolen bases (20) and on-base percentage (.521). Nationally, Pacheco’s name can be found in 15 different statistical categories including being 10th in triples and 12th in batting average.
The third Cardinal on the regional team led Division II nationally in wins. Rimlinger posted a 13-1 mark for the season and those victories are ahead of all others as he set a new UIW mark for a single season. In the Heartland he also led in shutouts (2) while being second in innings pitched (99.2), third in strikeouts (78) and third in complete games (6).
All three Cardinals earlier were voted All-Heartland Conference.
HILLTOPPERS BLAST UIW FOR TITLE -- posted Saturday, May 10 2008
ST. EDWARD'S 15-14, INCARNATE WORD 3-10
Three home runs in the first two innings and the issue was settled. St. Edward’s won the 2008 Heartland Conference baseball championship with a 15-3 win at Incarnate Word Saturday in game one of a doubleheader.
The Hilltoppers came to San Antonio leading Incarnate Word by a single game in the standings. The Cardinals needed to win three of the scheduled four games to capture the title. St. Edward’s needed a split at worse to win. On Friday they split meaning UIW needed a pair of victories Saturday.
It didn’t happen. For the fifth time in the last three weeks, the Cardinals starting pitcher did not last through even two innings. St. Edward’s pounded sophomore righthander Nathaniel Ramirez for five runs on six hits in his one-plus innings and the rout was on. Those six hits included the three home runs, two in the first inning and one from the leadoff batter. The Hilltoppers left no doubt by scoring runs in the first five innings and then added one in the seventh for good measure.
At the same time the Cardinals bats were all but silent as UIW collected but six safe hits including a pair of doubles and a home run off the bat of freshman Matt Roohan who, in the Incarnate Word patchwork lineup, was playing third base.
Game two very nearly resembled the first contest as St. Edward's jumped all over Cardinals starter Chris Armijo for eight runs on eight hits in his 2.1 innings. SEU got a four-run first inning with three hits--one home run--and three hit batsmen.
UIW got the four right back in the bottom of the first. That outburst was highlighted by a two-run homer from junior second baseman Josh Hood. But St. Edward's continued to pour it on and it was 11-4 before Incarnate Word could cross the plate again.
The Cardinals did get some power in the second game. Senior Dustin Walls ended his UIW career with a pair of home runs good for four RBI, and senior catcher Chris Solis hit one out as well.
Incarnate Word finishes the year at 39-17 including 35-14 in the Heartland. Those 39 victories are the second most in a single season in UIW history.
GAME ONE
SEU 3 2 3 3 3 0 1 -- 15 14 1
UIW 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 -- 3 6 1
Belliveau and Wolotira. Ramirez, Brancheau (2), McAnelly (3), Langston (5) and Solis. WP--Belliveau (4-1) LP--Ramirez (8-4). HR--SEU, Goldsmith 2, Hays, Dinges. UIW, Roohan.
GAME TWO
SEU 4 3 1 3 0 2 1 -- 14 12 0
UIW 4 0 0 5 0 1 0 -- 10 12 6
Wright, Davis (1), Dale (4) and Wolotira. Armijo, Smith (3), Rimlinger (4), Brancheau (7) and Rodriguez, Briseno (6). WP--Wright (2-1). LP--Armijo (7-7). HR--SEU, Thomas, Hays. UIW, Hood, Walls 2, Solis, Gregson.
WALLS' HEROICS KEEP UIW ALIVE -- posted Friday, May 9 2008
Senior Dustin Walls laced a first pitch into the right field corner Friday chasing home the tying and winning runs in game two.
INCARNATE WORD 3-9, ST. EDWARD’S 10-8
All Incarnate Word baseball fans need to know is that the Cardinals had narrowed a big gap to just a pair, the bases were loaded in the bottom of the seventh, there were two outs and the Heartland Conference player of the year was at home plate waiving his aluminum bat in a menacing manner.
Senior shortstop Dustin Walls lined the first pitch into the right field corner and the tying run came home followed closely by the winner. Incarnate Word 9, St. Edward’s 8 and the Cardinals live to fight it out again Saturday with the conference title still on the line.
Walls was not the lone hero in the Cardinals comeback from a 7-0 deficit after just three innings. UIW chipped away with two in the fourth including a Josh Hood homer to left. Another run crossed for the Cardinals in the fifth when Matt Roohan homered to right. And two more came home in the sixth when Roohan singled home one and Chris Pacheco did likewise.
That set up the fateful ninth. A strikeout opened the frame for Incarnate Word, First baseman Trey Hogan coaxed a walk before rightfielder Drew Hamilton drilled one to left for two runs.
Another out followed then it began. Roohan singled. Pacheco singled. Hood walked. Walls lined his shot to right.
Almost lost in all the victory dust was the fact that senior righthander Jeff Jamnik performed like a trooper. He went the full seven innings for the ultimate win. He worked his way through those seven runs and the big St. Ed’s margin. Over the final four frames he gave up but a single run on three hits. For the day, in getting to 6-1 on the year, Jamnik allowed nine hits, eight runs while walking three and striking out seven.
What did that do for UIW. St. Edward’s came to town one game in front of the Cardinals in the Heartland title chase. Incarnate Word needs to win three of the four games this weekend to take home the trophy.
In game one St. Edward’s ripped UIW pitching for 15 hits including two home runs leading to 10 runs and a victory. More significantly was the fact that the Hilltoppers beat UIW’s ace, senior righthander Adam Rimlinger. It was the first time this year he had tasted defeat. His mark is now 13-1 and those 13 victories are a new school record for a single season.
That put Incarnate Word in the position of needing to win three in a row else the title goes to the Hilltoppers. And after those first three innings, the Toppers were in the driver’s seat with the real possibility of making Saturday’s twinbill meaningless. Now, the two games beginning at 1 p.m. are full of meaning, for both sides.
GAME ONE
SEU 0 2 0 2 1 1 4 -- 10 15 1
UIW 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 -- 3 5 1
Dale, Sharp (5), Wagner (7) and Wolotira. Rimlinger, Johnson (6), Smith (7) and Solis. WP—Dale (8-1). LP—Rimlinger (13-1). HR—SEU, Moreno, Houser; UIW, Hogan.
GAME TWO
SEU 5 0 2 0 1 0 0 -- 8 9 0
UIW 0 0 0 2 1 2 4 -- 9 14 3
Freimel, Davis (5), Wagner (5) and Wolotira. Jamnik and Rodriguez. WP—Jamnik (6-1). LP—Wagner (3-2). HR—UIW, Hood, Hamilton, Roohan.
RECORDS:
SEU 38-16; 36-11
UIW 39-15; 35-12
TWO CARDINALS ARE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT -- posted Thursday, May 8 2008
The honors continue to roll in for Dustin Walls as he has been named Academic All-District.
Junior Josh Hood has been voted onto the Academic All-District second team.
One Incarnate Word baseball player is on an academic all-district first team and another is on the second team as the College Sports Information Directors of America have announced their annual honor squads based principally on work in the classroom.
Senior Dustin Walls has been voted to the first team by CoSIDA for District 6 and now his name will be included in the upcoming voting for Academic All-America.
Scheduled to receive his bachelor’s degree in history from Incarnate Word on May 10, Walls has compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.90. Recently he was named the Heartland Conference Player of the Year and earlier he was voted UIW’s Student-Athlete of the Year, the highest honor presented to Cardinals athletes. Heading into the final series of the regular season Walls was batting .444 and leads the team with a school record 75 runs batted in and a team high 13 home runs. This is Walls’ second year to be academic all-district.
Selected for the CoSIDA second district team was junior Josh Hood. He has a 3.87 grade point average while studying business management. On the field this spring Hood, playing second base, has a batting average of .329 which includes six home runs and 49 RBI. In the field his percentage is .972.
JAMNIK’S EFFORT GAINS PLAYER OF WEEK HONOR -- posted Tuesday, May 6 2008
Senior righthander Jeff Jamnik is the Heartland Conference pitcher of the week.
For his complete game effort in an Incarnate Word win over Texas / Permian Basin, senior righthander Jeff Jamnik has been named Heartland Conference pitcher of the week.
In a time when Cardinals pitching in general had been struggling, Jamnik took the hill for the second game of a conference doubleheader. It was the nine-inning game of the pair. Throwing 122 pitches in 90-degree heat, Jamnik shutout the Falcons on just five hits, all singles. He walked no batter and he fanned his season high 11.
In only one inning did UTPB get two runners on base. It was the seventh frame and Jamnik got a strikeout to end that threat and he was on his way to retiring the final seven batters of the game including three strikeouts.
He improved his season mark to 5-1.
FIVE CARDINALS, HEEP GAIN HEARTLAND HONORS -- posted Monday, May 5 2008
Senior Dustin Walls is the Heartland Conference's Player of the Year for 2008.
For the second time Danny Heep is the Heartland Conference Coach of the Year.
Senior Dustin Walls and Coach Danny Heep led a six-person Incarnate Word group which has earned All-Heartland Conference baseball honors for the 2008 season.
In addition to being all-conference, Walls was voted the league’s player of the year. He leads the Heartland in three batting categories—runs batted in (78), home runs (13, tied with teammate Chris Solis), and total bases (151). His batting average of .444 is second in the conference only to teammate Chris Pacheco. He has shown his versatility in the field when in recent days, because of injuries to other players, he has played three of the four infield positions.
Heep garnered the second major individual award presented by the conference. He is the 2008 coach of the year as he has led his team to a 38-14 mark with four games remaining. That record includes 34-11 in the Heartland which is just a game behind leader St. Edward’s which comes to UIW for a four-game set this weekend. Those 38 wins currently are tied for second on the all-time UIW list—the record is 41 in 2004. This is the second time for Heep to win the league’s top coaching honor.
Joining Walls on the Heartland’s first team are Solis at catcher, Pacheco in the outfield and senior righthander Adam Rimlinger as a starting pitcher.
Pacheco tops all conference players in six offensive categories—average, hits, runs, doubles, triples and on-base percentage. And, he is second in stolen bases.
Solis’ batting average of .372 is seventh in the league and his 13 home runs are tied with Walls for the conference lead.
Rimlinger at 13-0 not only is the top winner in the Heartland but that mark also is number one for the whole of Division II across the nation. He also leads the Heartland in innings pitched and shutouts.
Sophomore righthander Nathaniel Ramirez was voted to the conference second team as a starting pitcher. In addition to being 8-3 this spring, he etched his name into the record book with that perfect game at Newman in March.
This is the third time for Solis to be voted All-Heartland Conference while Walls, Pacheco and Rimlinger all three are being recognized for the second time.
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Player of the Year, Dustin Walls, Incarnate Word
Pitcher of the Year, Scott Shimek, St. Mary’s
Freshman of the Year, Jonathan Rosfeld, St. Mary’s
Coach of the Year, Danny Heep, Incarnate Word
FIRST TEAM
SP—Adam Rimlinger, Incarnate Word
SP—Danny Frisby, Texas / Permian Basin
SP—Josh Dale, St. Edward’s
SP—Scott Shimek, St. Mary’s
RP—Brent Hardy, Texas / Permian Basin
C—Chris Solis, Incarnate Word
C—Mike Scripture, Newman
Inf—Dustin Walls, Incarnate Word
Inf—Brian Thomas, St. Edward’s
Inf—Ryan Flynn, Texas A&M International
Inf—Jonathan Cisneros, St. Mary’s
OF—Chris Pacheco, Incarnate Word
OF—Bradley Goldsmith, St. Edward’s
OF—Logan Forest, Texas / Permian Basin
OF—Michael Brzezinski, St. Mary’s
DH—Robert Hays, St. Edward’s
Util—Will Basom, Texas / Permian Basin
SECOND TEAM
SP—Flynn Stachowski, Texas / Permian Basin
SP—Kyle Cremers, Oklahoma Panhandle
SP—Nathaniel Ramriez, Incarnate Word
SP—Braxton Watson, St. Mary’s
RP—David Wagner, St. Edward’s
C—Derek Dibbens, Texas / Permian Basin
C—Dan Struemph, Lincoln
Inf—Drew Cross, St. Edward’s
Inf—Mario Barredo, Texas / Permian Basin
Inf—Danny Cantu, St. Mary’s
Inf—Dexter Moreno, St. Edward’s
OF—Mike Roche, Oklahoma Panhandle
OF—Mike Overman, Lincoln
OF—Chris Dinges, St. Edward’s
OF—Jonathan Rosfeld, St. Mary’s
Util—Luke Korum, Oklahoma Panhandle
CARDINALS COMPLETE SWEEP OF UTPB -- posted Saturday, May 3 2008
Junior second baseman Josh Hood cracked his sixth home run of the year to secure a UIW win on Saturday.
INCARNATE WORD 7, TEXAS / PERMIAN BASIN 1
Incarnate Word did what was needed Saturday afternoon and in the process continued a weekend-long pattern with a 7-1 Heartland Conference win over Texas / Permian Basin.
With the win the Cardinals swept the three-game series from UTPB and remained right on the heels of league-leading St. Edward’s which was hosting Texas A&M International on Saturday in Austin. SEU was 34-10 prior to Saturday’s game while with their win the Cardinals moved to 34-11 in the Heartland. These two, St. Edward’s and Incarnate Word, have a four-game series on May 9 and 10 at UIW.
In the Incarnate Word doubleheader sweep on Friday pitching dominated as Texas / Permian Basin scored five runs in the first inning of game one and then got shutout by Cardinals pitching for the next 15 frames.
Saturday, UIW starter sophomore righthander Nathaniel Ramirez got three up and three down in the first before allowing a single run in the second on a pair of two-out hits. He then twirled goose eggs for the next five innings before giving way to junior lefthander Chris Armijo for the eighth and junior righthander Paul Brancheau in the ninth. Both had shutout innings. That meant Incarnate Word pitching allowed no runs in 23 of 25 innings over the weekend.
Ramirez (8-3) gave up the one earned run on four hits, one base on balls and five strikeouts.
After the Falcons got their only run in the second, the Cardinals returned the favor plus one as they scored two in the bottom of that frame. The first run came on an RBI single to right by junior designated batter Trey Hogan which plated sophomore left fielder Chad Gregson who had opened with a double down the left field line. The second run was unearned when an infield error allowed Hogan to cross.
Leading 4-1 in the sixth, junior second baseman Josh Hood took the game out of reach with a three-run long fly to left field. Hood for the game was 2-5.
UTPB 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 1 5 2
UIW 0 2 0 0 2 3 0 0 x -- 7 12 0
Frets, Hardy (6) and Dibbens. Ramirez, Armijo (8), Brancheau (9) and Solis. WP—Ramirez (8-3). LP—Frets (6-5). HR—UIW, Hood.
RECORDS:
UTPB 32-30 (27-18)
UIW 38-14 (34-11)
MILESTONE PITCHING LEADS UIW TO SWEEP -- posted Friday, May 2 2008
Senior righthander Adam Rimlinger set a UIW record with his 13th victory in a single season.
Not to be outdone, senior righthander Jeff Jamnik went the full nine innings in game two for a win.
INCARNATE WORD 8-9, TEXAS / PERMIAN BASIN 5-0
Here was the strategy for Incarnate Word on Friday in Heartland Conference baseball action: we'll give you five runs in the top of the first inning of game one and then we'll close you down for the next 15 straight innings. It worked and the Cardinals swept a doubleheader from Texas / Permian Basin 8-5 and 9-0 at Sullivan Field.
With the pair of wins the Cardinals advance to 37-14 on the season and 33-11 in the Heartland while the Falcons fell to 32-19 and 27-17. The same two clubs will play a single game of nine innings on Saturday with first pitch at noon.
Throw out that initial frame for UTPB and superior pitching won the day for Incarnate Word. In game one, senior righthander Adam Rimlinger not only slammed the door over the next six innings but in doing so became the all-time leader at UIW for wins in a single season. He is now a perfect 13-0 breaking a record of 12 wins set in 2006 by both Jeff Jamnik (see game two) and Blake Weston. And that isn't all. Rimlinger upped by one his position as the nation's leader in victories in the NCAA's Division II.
In that first inning, Rimlinger retired the first two batters he faced before giving up consecutive singles, a walk and then a three-RBI triple. Immediately thereafter UTPB's Dan Merz homered to center field for two more runs, which would be the final tallies of the day for the Falcons.
After that outburst, the Cardinals plated four themselves in the bottom of the first and one more in the second to tie the contest after two. Incarnate Word's winners came in the fourth when senior shortstop Dustin Walls singled home junior second baseman Josh Hood who had singled. And for good measure senior catcher Chris Solis hit a sacrifice fly to send Walls across the dish with the insurance run. In the game, Walls was a perfect 4-4.
In his seven innings of work, Rimlinger gave up six hits and the five runs while walking four and striking out five.
Then came game two and the bulldog-like effort from Jamnik, who went the full nine innings. In upping his season mark to 5-1, Jamnik allowed but five hits, all singles, and he walked nary a batter. He fanned his season high 11.
In support of Jamnik's effort, the Cardinals got five tallies in the bottom of the first when the first six batters reached. A key blow in the middle of all that activity was a two-run single to left by sophomore left fielder Chad Gregson. Incarnate Word tacked on two more in the fifth and a single run in the eighth but the damage was done back in the first.
The 11 Cardinal hits in game two were spread up and down the order but sophomore right fielder Drew Hamilton led the way with a 3-3 game and three RBI.
GAME ONE
UTPB 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 5 6 1
UIW 4 1 0 2 1 0 x -- 8 10 0
Stachowski, Strode (5) and Leigh. Rimlinger and Solis. WP--Rimlinger (13-0). LP--Stachowski (7-3). HR--UTPB, Merz.
GAME TWO
UTPB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 5 2
UIW 5 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 X -- 9 11 0
Frisby, Kloesel (6) and Dibbens. Jamnik and Rodriguez. WP--Jamnik (5-1). LP--Frisby (8-3).
RECORDS:
UTPB 32-19 (27-17)
UIW 37-14 (33-11)
HE’S NUMBER ONE, RIMLINGER IS -- posted Tuesday, April 29 2008
Adam Rimlinger leads Division II this week with his 12 victories on the mound.
Incarnate Word senior righthander Adam Rimlinger can honestly say he’s number one and be completely truthful about it for a few more days anyway.
The latest NCAA Division II baseball statistics have been posted and Rimlinger leads the nation in victories with his 12. He got his 12th last weekend with a win at arch rival St. Mary’s. And, that win tied him for the all-time single-season lead at UIW. Plus, his 12-0 record is the best ever start for a Cardinals hurler.
On the offensive side of the Division II statistics, there are 25 categories. Incarnate Word junior centerfielder Chris Pacheco is listed in 19 of those. His best showing was being number five in triples (8) and number10 in the nation with his .459 batting average. Pacheco is top 20 in six listings.
Senior Dustin Walls had a good showing in this week’s statistics by being ranked in 17 of the 25 areas. He is 11th across the country in runs batted in (72).
The Cardinals return to action this weekend with a three-game set against Texas / Permian Basin. Friday a doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. while a single game on Saturday is at noon. All three will be played out at UIW’s Sullivan Field.
WALLS IS TOP UIW STUDENT-ATHLETE FOR THE YEAR -- posted Monday, April 28 2008
Senior Dustin Walls is the 2007-2008 UIW Student-Athlete of the Year.
Dustin Walls combined his grade point average and his on-the-diamond actions to win the highest UIW athletic honor.
He has hit enough home runs on the baseball field that he currently is number 21 among 500 ranked players in the NCAA Division II, and he has hit enough home runs in the classroom to post a career 3.90 grade point average and that potent combination has earned Dustin Walls the honor of Incarnate Word Student-Athlete of the Year for 2007-2008.
A criterion for this annual presentation at UIW says that to be eligible any athlete must maintain a 3.50 or better on the University’s 4.00 scale. The athlete must have achieved junior or senior year status and must have been in residence at UIW for at least one academic year. The award is presented each spring to an undergraduate student-athlete.
In the classroom as a history major, Walls has accumulated an impressive list of academic achievements. He is UIW Dean’s List, he is Alpha Chi National Honor Society and he is Heartland Conference President’s Honor Roll.
He is vice president of the UIW History Club and he is a member of both Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society and Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society.
Outside, on the baseball diamond, he has performed at the highest level with his .452 batting average and his .986 fielding average at first base. Once in the 2008 season he was honored as a weekly Ping!Baseball National Outstanding Performer. He also has been Heartland Conference Hitter of the Week as he leads the conference in average, home runs, runs batted in and total bases. In the Heartland he is in the top seven players in six additional categories.
At UIW this season, he already has set a new single season record for runs batted in, breaking his own mark established back in 2006. And, with time remaining in the current season, he is second on the list for home runs in a single season.
With balloting yet to come, he is a nominee for Daktronics South Central all-region and for CoSIDA’s Academic All-District.
Currently a resident of San Antonio, Walls played his high school baseball at Kingwood in the Houston area before competing at McLennan College near Waco.
After the 2006 season at Incarnate Word, he was named NCBWA All-America honorable mention and was South Central All-Region as well as South Central All-Tournament. He also was ABCA All-Region and was CoSIDA Academic All-Region.
Walls will receive his baccalaureate degree in history at Incarnate Word’s spring commencement in early May.
JAMNIK GIVES UIW COMPLETE GAME WIN IN SATURDAY'S SPLIT -- posted Saturday, April 26 2008
Senior righthander Jeff Jamnik worked a complete game Saturday as UIW split the weekend with St. Mary's.
INCARNATE WORD 12-6, ST. MARY'S 3-15
It was eerie Saturday afternoon as Incarnate Word visited cross town rival St. Mary's for a Heartland Conference baseball doubleheader. The two split the games by methods that were strangely reminiscent of what occurred one day prior.
Saturday in game one, the Cardinals (35-13; 31-11) got out early to a big lead and then fell onto the right arm of senior Jeff Jamnik for a 12-3 win. Friday, UIW got off early also and then gave enough support to senior righthander Adam Rimlinger who went the distance for the win.
The Cardinals opened the Saturday game number one with their first eight batters reaching base with six of those coming home before the Rattlers (32-16; 28-13) could record a single out. All-in-all in the top of the first, Incarnate Word got eight runs on four hits combined with two St. Mary's errors. Rattlers starter Tyler Cales also walked a pair and plunked two UIW batters.
That outburst would prove to be enough in the long run but for good measure the Cardinals added on a pair in the third and single tallies in both the fourth and sixth.
In going the distance and giving the UIW bullpen a needed breather, Jamnik gave up three earned runs on 10 hits while walking two and whiffing six. Pitching out the stretch all game as he continues to rehabilitate a left knee problem, Jamnik upped his season mark to 4-1.
At the top of the batting order, junior center fielder Chris Pacheco was 3-5 including a two-run triple. Senior catcher Chris Solis send one yard in the sixth as the UIW leadoff batter.
Game two was a throw back to Friday also. After getting those complete game performances from Rimlinger and Jamnik, the Cardinals stood around as a procession of pitchers got lit up by the Rattler bats. Six different Incarnate Word throwers paraded to the mound to give up 21 hits, six bases on balls and one hit batsman.
Friday saw the same scenario. In that 9-0 game two loss five Cardinals saw action on the mound allowing 10 hits, nine walks, two wild pitches and two hit batters.
Saturday the Cardinals got out to a two-run lead in the top of the first when Pacheco led off with a single then stole second and rode home on a single from junior second baseman Josh Hood. Two walks and a fielder's choice brought home the next run. However, St. Mary's got the two back in the bottom of the inning on four base hits.
Incarnate Word then plated two more in the second when senior third baseman Dustin Walls doubled to the left centerfield wall. In a lineup change, Walls was playing third base for the first time this year. He would move over to play shortstop in the second to play his third infield position of the series. All that was precipitated when regular shortstop Tyler Jett took a pitch on his left hand in game one and was forced to withdraw.
That basically would be it for UIW as the Rattlers scored in all six of their innings including five-spots in both the second and fourth.
While these two were taking turns hammering each other, they both lost a game in the Heartland standings to St. Edward's which won three of four from Oklahoma Panhandle this weekend. St. Edward's is first in the league at 32-10 followed by UIW's 31-11 and St. Mary's at 28-13.
GAME ONE
UIW 8 0 2 1 0 1 0 -- 12 12 0
StM 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 -- 3 10 2
Jamnik and Solis. Cales, Flores (1), Tarango (7) and Morrow. WP--Jamnik (4-1). LP--Cales (3-3). HR--UIW, Solis.
GAME TWO
UIW 2 2 0 0 2 0 0 -- 6 10 2
StM 2 5 1 5 1 1 x -- 15 21 2
Armijo, Brancheau (2), Ramirez (4), Smith (4), Johnson (5), McAnelly (6) and Solis. Odom, Villarreal (5) and Soto. WP--Odom (5-3). LP--Armijo (7-6).
RIMLINGER GETS UIW RECORD WIN -- posted Friday, April 25 2008
Senior righthander Adam Rimlinger reached a pair of UIW landmarks with a victory at St. Mary's.
INCARNATE WORD 9-0, ST. MARY'S 6-9
It was exact opposites Friday afternoon in Heartland Conference baseball action as Incarnate Word and St. Mary's split a doubleheader and a pitcher on each side kept his season mark spotless.
In game one, the Cardinals rallied in the first extra inning to earn a hard-fought 9-6 decision as senior righthander Adam Rimlinger got the win. In doing so, he advanced his season mark to 12-0 which tied the school mark for victories in a single season. Current UIW pitcher Jeff Jamnik (12-3) and Blake Weston (12-4) established the existing mark in 2006. Also, Rimlinger has set a school record for the best start in a season.
He worked seven innings giving up six runs (one earned) on eight hits while walking but one and fanning five. At the end of seven the score was knotted at six. With Rimlinger still the pitcher of record in the top of the eighth, his mates plated a trio of runs and then watched as senior righthander Paul Brancheau came on for the eighth to earn his first save of the year.
In that decisive extra inning, junior centerfielder Chris Pacheco got a one-out single which was followed immediately by a single from junior second baseman Josh Hood. After a fly ball out advancing Pacheco to third, senior catcher Chris Solis worked a four-pitch walk to jam the sacks. That set up sophomore left fielder Chad Gregson to be the hero. He laced a single to left to send Pacheco and Hood homeward.
Still in the eighth, freshman Josiah Rodriguez pinch hit for Rimlinger and singled and when Solis rounded third by too wide a margin the throw was made to the hot corner but Solis continued toward the plate where the throw hit him in the back and he scored the final run. Back in the top of the third Solis lofted a towering fly ball to left which continued to carry until it cleared the wall for three RBI. In the game he was 3-4 with three runs scored and four driven in.
Game two--consider these facts. Starter Nathaniel Ramirez lasted one and two-thirds innings. The 9-0 loss was the first time this year, 47 games total, that UIW has been shutout. Until a meaningless single in the top of the seventh the Cardinals has as many errors as they did safe hits, two each. Incarnate Word had but five base runners total, three hits and two bases on balls and one of those got erased on a doubleplay. Four were stranded.
Like Rimlinger in game one, St. Mary's Scott Shimek kept his season mark unblemished at 10-0.
The two teams go at it again on Saturday in another doubleheader with first pitch at 1 p.m. at St. Mary's.
Incarnate Word began the day tied for first in the Heartland with St. Edward's at 29-9. St. Mary's was two back in the loss column. That does not change and UIW now awaits results from St. Edward's double dip at Oklahoma Panhandle to see if it will remain in the lead.
GAME ONE
UIW 0 0 3 1 1 1 0 3 -- 9 11 3
STM 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 0 -- 6 9 2
Rimlinger, Brancheau (8) and Solis. Watson, Borges (6), Villarreal (8) and Morrow. WP--Rimlinger (12-0). LP--Borges (0-1). Save--Brancheau (1). HR--UIW, Solis.
GAME TWO
UIW 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 3 2
STM 0 3 0 1 2 3 X -- 9 10 1
Ramirez, Brancheau (2), Johnson (5), Smith (5), McAnelly (6) and Rodriguez. Shimek and Soto. WP--Shimek. LP--Ramirez (7-3).
RECORDS:
Incarnate Word 34-13 (30-10)
St. Mary's 31-15 (27-12)
UIW SIGNS FOUR AREA BASEBALL PLAYERS -- posted Thursday, April 24 2008
Four high school baseball players from the San Antonio area have signed to play at Incarnate Word beginning the fall of 2008 and the quartet is impressive with earned run averages under 2.00 and batting averages above .350.
Cardinals Coach Danny Heep said the four to ink their national letters-of-intent are shortstop John Zule of San Antonio Stevens, right handed pitcher Ethan Lutz of Bandera, left handed pitcher Kirk Jewasko of East Central and right handed pitcher Justin Kanas of New Braunfels Canyon.
At Canyon, Kanas has a mark of 8-1 on a team which is atop its district with a season mark of 24-3. Kanas’ ERA is 1.54 and he has 61 strikeouts in 69.2 innings.
Jewasko’s season mark is 5-2 with a 1.96 ERA for East Central. The southpaw
fireballer has fanned 94 batters in 57 innings. At the plate he has an average of .348 with six home runs and 28 runs batted in.
Bandera has wrapped up its district title and Lutz is a perfect 8-0 to date. His ERA is a miniscule 0.94 as he has struck out 95 in 51.2 innings. Added on to those numbers is his .493 batting average which includes six home runs and 24 RBI.
Over at Stevens, the leader in District 28-5A, Zule playing shortstop has posted a
batting mark of .426. His slugging percentage is .912 as he has nine home runs and 18 RBI. He is 17 of 20 on stolen bases.
These four are coming to a Cardinals team which this spring to date is 33-12 and is tied for the top spot in the Heartland Conference.
NOTE: The individual statistics were current at the time of writing.
UIW DROPS NON-LEAGUE GAME -- posted Tuesday, April 22 2008
ABILENE CHRISTIAN 14, INCARNATE WORD 4
Incarnate Word Tuesday stepped out of the Heartland Conference for a game at Abilene Christian and in the process ran into perhaps the hottest team in the South Central Region as the Cardinals dropped a 14-4, run-rule decision to the Wildcats.
Abilene Christian, ranked fourth in the region and 10th nationally in Division II, won its 12th consecutive game to go to 37-13 on the year. Last weekend the Wildcats won the Lone Star Conference regular season title and earned the right to host that league's post-season tournament in early May. Incarnate Word is now 33-12 on the year including a 4-3 mark against teams outside the Heartland.
It was a contest through three innings. ACU got off early with four in the first followed by two more in the second. Meanwhile Incarnate Word posted two in each of the second and third innings to trail 6-4. Then, the bottom fell out for the Cardinals as Abilene Christian tallied eight unanswered runs for the final margin.
UIW junior lefthander Chris Armijo began the day on the hill for the Cardinals only to see his recent woes continue. In losing his third consecutive game, Armijo survived just an inning and two-thirds while allowing five hits and six runs, five earned. In his previous outing, in relief, he worked two-thirds of an inning and suffered a loss. Before that, he started against Oklahoma Panhandle and retired just one batter before departing with a loss. On the year he is now 7-5.
Incarnate Word paraded out four more pitchers with no more success as ACU gained the necessary 10-run margin after seven innings to end the game prematurely. It was scheduled for nine.
After the four-run start by the Wildcats in the first, UIW plated a pair in the top of the second. The first came on a double play ground ball and the second on a single to right field by junior shortstop Tyler Jett.
The Cardinals got another pair in the third when senior first baseman Dustin Walls lined a one-out single to left followed by a left field home run from senior designated hitter Chris Solis. That would be it for the day as Incarnate Word got no runs and just four hits over the final three frames.
UIW's final 11 games of the season all will be Heartland contests and those begin this weekend with a four-game set at St. Mary's. A Friday doubleheader has a first pitch at 3 p.m. with the Saturday double dip starting at 1 p.m.
UIW 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 -- 4 11 2
ACU 4 2 0 4 3 1 x -- 14 13 1
Armijo, Brancheau (2), Roohan (5), Smith (5), McAnelly (6) and Rodriguez. Maynard, Wiman (4) and Schmitt. WP--Wiman (9-2). LP--Armijo (7-5). HR--UIW, Solis.
RECORDS:
UIW 33-12
ACU 37-13
UIW REMAINS ON TOP OF THE HEARTLAND -- posted Saturday, April 19 2008
Freshman Richard Torres blasted his first collegiate home run in a Cardinals six-run inning.
INCARNATE WORD 14, OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE 4 (8)
Incarnate Word run-ruled Oklahoma Panhandle Saturday afternoon 14-4 which means the Cardinals at the end of the day can be no worse than tied for the lead in the Heartland Conference baseball chase.
With the win UIW moves to 33-11 overall on the year and to 29-9 in Heartland action. St. Edward’s began the day at 27-9 in the conference and was hosting Texas / Permian Basin in a doubleheader. If the Hilltoppers sweep St. Edward’s and Incarnate Word will be tied at the top.
As they have done so often this year, the Cardinals exploded with a big inning early and that proved to be enough for the win. In the bottom of the second in a scoreless game until then, UIW got six runs home on six hits. One of the big blows was a right field single from senior first baseman Dustin Walls to plate two. Those two driven home gives Walls a school record 70 RBI for a single season breaking his own mark of 68 from 2006.
In that same frame, the second, freshman third baseman Richard Torres sent a towering ball to right field for his first home run of the year and in the process he collected three RBI.
The Cardinals got those six and then added on over the next three innings before ending the game in the eighth with a pair. That decisive bottom half of the eighth inning opened with a Trey Hogan double to left. With one out, Torres struck again with a double to left plating Hogan. Torres then rode home with the decider on a single to left by junior shortstop Tyler Jett.
For the day’s action, Jett led the way with four safe hits in six tries with three runs scored and two driven in. Torres finished with a 3-5 day with three scored and the four RBI. Hogan was 3-5 and junior second baseman Josh Hood was 2-4 with three RBI.
On the hill, sophomore righthander Nathaniel Ramirez worked the first five innings and earned the win to reach 7-2 for the year. He gave up seven hits, four runs (one earned) while walking three and fanning six. Three more righthanders followed Ramirez to the hill and allowed nothing but three hits, one apiece. Senior Jeff Jamnik worked the sixth followed by the junior Jeff Langston in the seventh and freshman Matthew Roohan in the eighth.
OPSU 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 -- 4 10 1
UIW 0 6 2 1 3 0 0 2 -- 14 17 2
Staudt, Minor (5) and Meek. Ramirez, Jamnik (6), Langston (7), Roohan (8) and Solis. WP—Ramirez (7-2). LP—Staudt. HR—UIW, Torres (1).
RECORDS:
OPSU 12-32 (10-29)
UIW 33-11 (29-9)
RIMLINGER TOSSES A JEWEL FOR FRIDAY SPLIT -- posted Friday, April 18 2008
Senior Adam Rimlinger worked himself within reach of a season pitching mark at UIW.
INCARNATE WORD 7-8, OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE 8-2
One more time senior righthander Adam Rimlinger saved Incarnate Word's bacon as the Cardinals struggled to a doubleheader split with Oklahoma Panhandle in Heartland Conference action at UIW's Sullivan Field.
Nursing the narrowest of leads in Heartland play, a one-half game margin over St. Edward's beginning the day, Incarnate Word (32-11; 28-9) got into trouble early in game one and eventually lost an 8-7 decision. But in the second game, Rimlinger mounted his white horse and rode to the rescue with a complete game of nine innings as the Cardinals rallied to claim an 8-2 decision for the day's split.
This was the fourth time this year Rimlinger has won a game after his team had lost one. And two of those victories have now been complete games. And in being a winner Friday, the Waco native kept his season mark a perfect 11-0 and that is but the second time in 21 years of Incarnate Word baseball that a hurler has been perfect after 11 games. The first time was way back in 1990 when Bill Marion finished his season at 11-0.
The UIW school mark for wins in a season has come twice, both in 2006 when Blake Weston went 12-2 and current pitcher Jeff Jamnik was 12-3. That was the year Incarnate Word came with one out of advancing to the NCAA Division II World Series.
But back to Friday and Rimlinger's effort. He and OPSU's Hayden Patton matched pitches through four scoreless innings. Then in the top of the fifth Rimlinger got the side out before the Cardinals plated a pair on an RBI double from sophomore designated hitter Chad Gregson and an RBI single by sophomore rightfielder Drew Hamilton.
The Aggies (12-31; 10-28) matched those two in the top of the sixth only to see the Cardinals get two more in the bottom followed by a decisive foursome in the seventh. In the game, senior first baseman Dustin Walls, senior catcher Chris Solis and junior left fielder Trey Hogan all had a pair of safe hits. Hogan produced three RBI.
In twirling his gem, Rimlinger gave up eight hits with the two unearned runs. He issued no free passes while fanning seven OPSU batters.
Game one went south in a hurry for the Cardinals. Oklahoma Panhandle plated seven runs in the top of the first inning and for most purposes the game was over. UIW starter, junior lefty Chris Armijo, could retire only one Aggie before giving up six of the seven runs on a pair of hits, three bases on balls and one hit batsman.
Incarnate Word chipped away with single runs in the first and second and a trio in the third. The Cardinals did manage to get it to 8-7 in the seventh when junior second baseman Josh Hood went deep with junior shortstop Tyler Jett on base ahead of him. But that would be it as a doubleplay ended the game.
In the first game both Walls and Solis had three hits and both had doubles among those.
The two clubs will match up on Saturday in a single game of nine innings with first pitch at noon at Sullivan Field.
GAME ONE
OPSU 7 0 0 1 0 0 0 -- 8 9 1
UIW 1 1 3 0 0 0 2 -- 7 11 3
Cremers, Rapp (7) and Meek. Armijo, Brancheau (1), Jamnik (6) and Rodriguez. WP--Cremers. LP--Armijo (7-4). HR--UIW, Hood.
GAME TWO
OPSU 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 -- 2 8 0
UIW 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 0 x -- 8 11 4
Patton, Minor (6), McClellan (6), Clinton (7) and Meek. Rimlinger and Solis. WP--Rimlinger (11-0). LP--Minor.
RECORDS:
OPSU 12-31 (10-28)
UIW 32-11 (28-9)
PACHECO GETS HEARTLAND WEEKLY AWARD -- posted Wednesday, April 16 2008
Junior Chris Pacheco is this week's Heartland Conference outstanding hitter.
He hit .529 at the plate over last week and now Incarnate Word junior Chris Pacheco has been named Heartland Conference hitter of the week.
For the seven-day span of April 7 to April 13, a time when the Cardinals were 5-0 and vaulted themselves into first place in the conference chase, Pacheco had a double and two triples among his nine safe hits in 17 attempts. Additionally he stole three bases.
In center field, he was errorless for the week and recorded three assists by throwing out opposition runners attempting to take an extra base.
THINGS GO BAD LATE IN UIW LOSS -- posted Tuesday, April 15 2008
Sophomore left fielder Chad Gregson sent one some 400 feet over the fence for the final UIW runs in Tuesday's loss.
TARLETON STATE 14, INCARNATE WORD 12
It seldom is a good thing to give up 11 runs in the final three innings of a game and that is what happened to Incarnate Word Tuesday afternoon at Sullivan Field and as a result the Cardinals saw their winning string come to an abrupt halt.
Trailing 12-3 heading into the top of the seventh, the Texans pounded three UIW pitchers for eight hits including three home runs on the way to a comeback 14-12 non-conference victory. Also, three bases on balls didn’t help the Incarnate Word cause in that time frame.
With the defeat, UIW saw its 13-game winning string came to an abrupt halt and the Cardinals now are 31-10 on the year while Tarleton State improves to 22-26.
Incarnate Word had piled up what seemed to be a lead that would withstand any assault by scoring runs in five of the first six innings including a six-run outburst in the sixth. The bats were smoking for the 12 scores on 16 hits. The ball was flying all over the park for UIW as junior centerfielder Chris Pacheco had a double, senior first baseman Dustin Walls laced a pair of two-baggers, and then there were the home runs.
Junior designated batter Trey Hogan started the Cardinals parade in the fifth with a leadoff homer to left field. Then in the big sixth, senior catcher Chris Solis hit a no-doubter to left center for three runs. The crowd had hardly stopped buzzing over that one before sophomore leftfielder Chad Gregson sent one some 400 feet to right center for another two runs.
But that would be the last peep from the Cardinals. Not only did the pitching not hold up over the final third of the game but the bats went silent as UIW managed but a pair of safeties over the last three innings.
On offense, early, Walls led the way with his 4-6 day and three RBI. Pacheco was 3-6 as was Solis who had the three RBI. Hogan was 3-4 with three driven in.
On the hill, Incarnate Word was forced to bring in senior righthander Paul Brancheau in the third inning, perhaps earlier than expected. He worked five effective frames before giving way in the eighth. When Tarleton began putting on the pressure, the Cardinals came with junior lefthander Chris Armijo, normally the number two starter. It didn’t work as the Texans were not to be stopped before five runs had crossed the plate.
For Tarleton, Heath Herron was a pain to the Cardinals with his 3-5 afternoon including two homers and six RBI while right fielder Chris Desmarias went out of the yard twice also and collected four RBI. It was Herron’s three-run blast to left in the ninth that let all the air out of the UIW balloon.
The Cardinals now have two days to regroup before hosting Oklahoma Panhandle in a weekend series of four Heartland Conference games. It gets underway on Friday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
TSU 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 5 – 14 12 2
UIW 1 0 2 2 1 6 0 0 0 – 12 18 2
Morris, Brown (4), Stierwalt (6), Wilson (8) and Peacock. Langston, Brancheau (3), Roohan (8), Armijo (9) and Solis. WP—Wilson (1-1). LP—Armijo (7-3). HR—TSU, Herron 2, Desmarias 2; UIW, Solis, Hogan, Gregson.
RECORDS:
Tarleton State 22-26
Incarnate Word 31-10
CARDINALS TOUCH THE RIGHT BASES -- posted Saturday, April 12 2008
Freshman Richard Torres, sent to the starting lineup when senior Chris Mojica fractured his wrist on Friday, produced three RBI on Saturday.
INCARNATE WORD 10-11, TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL 1-2
It was important Saturday that Incarnate Word take care of business and that is just what the Cardinals did with a doubleheader sweep of Texas A&M International in Heartland Conference baseball.
With the 10-1, 11-2 sweep, UIW can do no worse than maintain its narrow lead in the chase for the Heartland title. At 27-8 in league play, 31-9 overall, Incarnate Word will have a lead over St. Edward’s and St. Mary’s who were playing each other in an Austin doubleheader on Saturday. St. Edward’s began the day 24-8 in the Heartland while St. Mary’s was 23-8.
The Cardinals took the suspense out of game one with six runs in the first two innings in support of sophomore righthander Nathaniel Ramirez who worked a complete seven-inning game for his sixth win of the year against two losses. Ramirez, a week ago at Newman, tossed a perfect game. This time he allowed six hits but just a lone earned run while walking none and fanning five.
At the bat, eight of nine Cardinals in the lineup had at least one base hit with leadoff batter Chris Pacheco leading the way with a 3-4 day with a run scored and a triple.
The big UIW inning was the second when five runners touched home plate. Two came on a Tyler Jett single, two on a single from catcher Chris Solis and two more on Chad Gregson’s single.
The single from the bat of Jett was the first of his two in the game. He also singled in game two to continue a time when his bat is smoking. In April, eight games, he is 19-32 at the plate for a .594 mark. His season mark is up to .349 which is 81 points more than it was when the month began.
Incarnate Word used another large inning to put game two on ice. In the bottom of the fourth, with the score knotted at one, the Cardinals sent nine runners home on eight hits. First baseman Dustin Walls opened the frame with a double down the third base line for what turned out to be the only extra base knock of the game for UIW. After that a series of singles plated the runs with second baseman Josh Hood getting two and catcher Chris Solis another pair.
Among the three Cardinals with multiple safe hits was freshman third baseman Richard Torres. In game two Friday senior Chris Mojica slid home for a UIW run and fractured a bone in his left wrist sending Torres to the hot corner as Saturday’s starter. In the two games he went 3-7 and scored three times and knocking home three teammates.
All of the offensive action was in support of senior righthander Jeff Jamnik who went five innings for his third win of the year against one loss. he allowed six hits, on earned run while walking one and striking out five.
GAME ONE
TAMUI 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 -- 1 6 1
UIW 1 5 0 0 3 1 X -- 10 12 0
Lopez, Gonzalez (5) and R. Sanchez. Ramirez and Rodriguez. WP—Ramirez (6-2). LP—Lopez (1-8).
GAME TWO
TAMUI 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 -- 2 7 2
UIW 0 0 1 9 0 1 x -- 11 11 1
Routos, Gonzalez (4) and R. Sanchez. Jamnik, Brancheau (6) and Solis. WP—Jamnik (3-1). LP—Routos (1-3).
CARDINALS JUMP INTO FIRST PLACE WITH WINS -- posted Friday, April 11 2008
Junior second baseman Josh Hood hit home runs in both games Friday in leading the Cardinals to a sweep.
INCARNATE WORD 21-9, TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL 6-0
Incarnate Word Friday swept a doubleheader from Texas A&M International and in the process the Cardinals swept themselves right into first place in the Heartland Conference.
Based on the 21-6 and 9-0 victories at Sullivan Field, UIW is now 25-8 in league play (29-9 overall). Beginning the weekend Incarnate Word trailed both St. Edward’s and St. Mary’s but with those teams splitting a doubleheader in Austin the Cardinals vaulted over both squads. St. Edward’s is now 24-8 and St. Mary’s is 23-8. Those two play two more games on Saturday while UIW and TAMUI have a doubleheader set for noon at Sullivan.
In sweeping the Friday twinbill, Incarnate Word now has won its last 11 games in a row surpassing a 9-0 run to open the season back in February. And on Saturday, another win would give the Cardinals 30 for the year and that would be seven seasons in a row for at least 30 victories.
On Friday, after the big UIW bats beat up on Dustdevils (12-27; 11-22) pitching in game one, senior righthander Adam Rimlinger worked a complete game in the nightcap to run his season mark to a perfect 10-0. He allowed only three hits over seven while fanning seven. He issued no bases on balls.
His support came seven different Cardinals who hit safely but the two extra base knocks were a two-RBI double in the first inning from designated batter Chad Gregson and a left field home run by second baseman Josh Hood in the fifth.
Game one saw Incarnate Word score runs in five of six times at bat including an eight-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth. UIW pounded out 16 hits and eight were of the extra base variety.
Shortstop Tyler Jett went 3-5 with four RBI and a double. Centerfielder Chris Pacheco was 2-2 and his hits were a double and a triple. Hood hit one out of the park to set the stage for his roundtripper in game two. Catcher Chris Solis and 2-4 with a three-RBI dinger.
All of that came in support of junior southpaw Chris Armijo who went six innings in running his season mark to 7-2. He allowed two hits, one earned run while walking two and whiffing eight.
GAME ONE
TAMUI 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 -- 6 8 4
UIW 4 0 3 3 3 8 x -- 21 16 0
Encinas, Perez (4), H. Sanchez (6) and R. Sanchez, Mainhart. Armijo, McAnelly (7), Johnson (7), and Rodriguez. WP—Armijo (7-2). LP—Encinas (5-3). HR—TAMUI, Cornejo; UIW, Hood, Solis.
GAME TWO
TAMUI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 3 2
UIW 4 0 4 0 1 0 x -- 9 9 1
Bonugli, Z. Gonzales (6) and R. Sanchez. Rimlinger and Solis. WP—Rimlinger (10-0). LP—Bonugli (3-6). HR—UIW, Hood.
WALLS NAMED HEARTLAND HITTER OF WEEK -- posted Wednesday, April 9 2008
Senior first baseman Dustin Walls is the Heartland Conference hitter of the week.
Following a time when Incarnate Word swept a Heartland Conference weekend series, senior Dustin Walls has received the league’s top award for his performance at the plate.
In leading UIW to a four-game sweep at Newman in Kansas, Walls was named the hitter of the seven-day period from March 31 to April 6.
In his 10 plate appearances in Kansas, Walls had seven safe hits. Among those seven safeties were three home runs which moved him to the top of the Heartland statistical categories in home runs (12), runs batted in (58) and total bases (. And, he is now second in average among regular position players.
In addition to his power display, Walls scored six times himself to go with 10 RBI. He also drew two bases on balls and was hit twice by pitches.
CARDINALS RUN-RULE KINGSVILLE IN TUESDAY WIN -- posted Tuesday, April 8 2008
Junior shortstop Tyler Jett collected three hits in the UIW win to extend his red-hot streak at the plate.
INCARNATE WORD 10, TEXAS A&M / KINGSVILLE 0
Incarnate Word combined pitching and hitting Tuesday in a mid-week, non-conference 10-0 victory over Texas A&M / Kingsville of the Lone Star Conference in a game scheduled for nine frames but lasted but seven on the run rule.
In winning their ninth game in a row and getting their season mark to 27-9 the Cardinals had four hurlers combine to limit the Javelinas to just one lone single in the second inning while the big bats produced runs in five of the six innings UIW came to the plate.
In the decisive second inning, a five-run explosion, the large blows were a double off the left field wall by senior first baseman Dustin Walls followed immediately by a three-run blast to left center by senior catcher Chris Solis. Included in that rally was a single from junior shortstop Tyler Jett who went 3-4 for the game with one RBI. Over the last four UIW games, Jett has gone off to the tune of 12-18 with seven RBI.
Over in the bottom of the fourth, Walls hit one on top of a storage shed behind left center field for two runs after junior second baseman Josh Hood had led off with a double, one of his two hits for the day. Four Cardinals had multiple hits led by Jett's three and Walls' three.
Meanwhile on the hill, senior righthander Jeff Jamnik worked the first three innings for his third win against one loss. He gave up the lone TAMUK hit while walking one and fanning five. After Jamnik was finished with his turn, sophomore righty Jeff Langston, freshman Matthew Roohan and senior Paul Brancheau, both righties, combined to give Kingsville nothing over its final four at-bats.
The Cardinals now prepare for a weekend Heartland Conference series against Texas A&M International. Game times for a doubleheader on Friday and another twinbill on Saturday are 3 p.m. and noon respectively at Sullivan Field.
TAMUK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 1 4
UIW 1 5 0 2 1 1 X -- 10 13 1
Winters, Gonsoulin (3), Mettlach (5), Weaver (6) and Crowson. Jamnik, Langston (4), Roohan (6), Brancheau (7) and Solis. WP--Jamnik (3-1). LP--Winters (0-2). HR--UIW, Solis, Walls.
RECORDS:
TAMUK 23-20
UIW 27-9
RAMIREZ GETS HEARTLAND WEEKLY HONOR -- posted Tuesday, April 1 2008
Sophomore Nathaniel Ramirez perfected his way to being Heartland Conference pitcher of the week.
If there was any suspense at all it didn’t linger as Incarnate Word’s Nathaniel Ramirez has been named Heartland Conference pitcher of the week.
The Cardinals and Ramirez went off to Missouri to play a conference set against Lincoln. UIW ended up winning all four games.
It was in game one on Saturday that Ramirez slammed the door on any other pitcher of the week contenders. He threw a perfect game at the Blue Tigers and Incarnate Word won 4-0.
His outing was not only a no-hitter it was perfect as no Lincoln batter reached first base. He got 14 outs on ground balls, three more on popups and three on fly balls to the outfield. The other out among the 21 recorded was a strikeout. In fact, it was the fifth frame before any Lincoln player got the ball out of the infield.
Ramirez’ gem was just the fourth no-hitter in Incarnate Word’s 21 years of baseball history.
RAMIREZ IS PERFECT IN UIW WEEKEND SWEEP -- posted Saturday, March 29 2008
Sophomore righthander Nathaniel Ramirez tossed just the fourth no-hitter in UIW baseball history Saturday at Lincoln.
Chris Armijo, Adam Rimlinger and Jeff Jamnik gave Incarnate Word really good pitching over the weekend, but Nathanial Ramirez was perfect as the Cardinals swept a four-game set at Lincoln in Heartland Conference action.
On Friday Incarnate Word swept the Blue Tigers 6-4 and 5-0 before coming back on Saturday for another pair of victories by 4-0 and 6-2. The Cardinals are now 23-9 on the year with a 20-8 mark in the Heartland.
It was game one on Saturday when Ramirez mystified Lincoln. In the bottom of the first, after junior second baseman Josh Hood homered to give the sophomore righty all he would ultimately need, the first three Lincoln batters grounded out. That set the tone as over the seven innings Ramirez induced 14 ground ball outs to go with three popups and three fly ball outs. It wasn't until the bottom of the fifth before he allowed a ball out of the infield. On the day, he walked none and fanned one.
His perfect performance was just the fourth no-hitter in Incarnate Word's 21 years of baseball history. His season mark advances to 4-2.
Back to Friday, UIW got complete game performances from junior lefthander Chris Armijo (5-2) and senior righthander Adam Rimlinger (8-0).
In game one Friday, Armijo allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out seven and walking seven. Behind him, the Cardinals posted runs in the first four innings with a threesome coming in the fourth when junior centerfielder Chris Pacheco doubled home a pair and Hood singled home the third.
Rimlinger (8-0) duplicated the seven-inning performance in game two Friday by shutting out the Blue Tigers on four hits. He fanned five and walked one. His support all came in two middle innings, the third when senior first baseman Dustin Walls doubled home three and the fourth when junior shortstop Tyler Jett doubled in two more.
Not wanting to be lost in Ramirez' shadow on Saturday, senior righthander Jeff Jamnik started and won his first game in nearly two years. After battling back from a series of injuries which cost him the entire 2007 season and the first half of this one, Jamnik worked five and one-third frames in getting his season mark to 1-1. He whiffed nine LU batters and walked two. He gave up the two runs on four hits.
Once again it was Walls at the plate as the difference for UIW. He homered in the first before driving home another in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to left. Then in the sixth when UIW plated four to ice it, he got another RBI on a fly ball after Hood had doubled home a pair.
FRIDAY, MARCH 28
GAME ONE
UIW 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 -- 6 10 0
LU 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 -- 4 7 2
Armijo and Rodriguez. Scanio, MaCormic (6), and Turner, Costa (4). WP--Armijo (5-2). LP--Scanio (1-6).
GAME TWO
UIW 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 -- 5 4 1
LU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 4 1
Rimlinger and Solis. Moss and Struemph. WP--Rimlinger (8-0). LP--Moss (1-4).
SATURDAY, MARCH 29
GAME ONE
UIW 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 -- 4 8 0
LU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 0 1
Ramirez and Rodriguez. Bess, Buersmeyer (6), Bolzenius (6) and Struemph. WP--Ramirez (4-2). LP--Bess (1-4). HR--UIW, Hood.
GAME TWO
UIW 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 -- 6 9 1
LU 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 -- 2 4 1
Jamnik, Brancheau (6), and Solis. Neuner, MaCormnic (5), Bolzenius (6) and Costa. WP--Jamnik (1-1). LP--Bolzenius (1-2). HR--UIW, Walls.
RECORDS:
Incarnate Word 23-9 (20-8)
Lincoln 7-23 (7-22)
BATTING POWER GAINS SPLIT IN AUSTIN -- posted Saturday, March 22 2008
Senior catcher hit two dingers leading UIW to a game two victory at St. Edward's.
INCARNATE WORD 5-10, ST. EDWARD'S 7-7
Sheer power in the middle of the Incarnate Word batting order propelled the Cardinals to a win in game two of a Friday doubleheader at St. Edward's and prevented the Hilltoppers from sweeping the three-game Heartland Conference series.
As it was, by winning two of the three games played in Austin, St. Edward's (21-7; 19-4) put a severe crimp in Cardinals' (19-9; 16-8) hopes for a conference title come the middle of May. The positive factor is the conference schedule is just reaching the halfway mark and these two teams will get together again in May for a four-game series at UIW.
Game two Friday, the nine-inning affair, saw a pair of senior sluggers at Incarnate Word join up to carry the team to the 10-7 win. In the top of the first inning first baseman Dustin Walls sent a two-run shot over the left field wall. In the fourth, Walls led off with a single and the next hitter, catcher Chris Solis, homered to left for two more runs. And then in the fifth, Solis homered again, this time to right field, to plate a pair giving the Cardinals what would prove to be insurance runs.
In the game, Walls and Solis were a combined 6-10 with four runs scored, six driven in, a double and the three home runs.
On the day, their total numbers were even more impressive. In two games they were 9-17 and those nine hits included four home runs, a double and 10 RBI.
The game two beneficiary of the middle order outburst was senior righthander Adam Rimlinger. He worked 7.2 innings for his seventh win of the year against nary a loss. He allowed nine hits, seven runs all earned while walking seven and fanning six.
In game one, the Cardinals got off early with a pair in the top of the initial inning. Walls singled home one and Solis doubled in the other. But St. Edward's returned the favor in the first with four across followed by a single run in the second and would never trail thereafter. Walls hit a two-run blast over the center field wall in the seventh but it was not enough to overcome the Hilltopper lead.
GAME ONE
UIW 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 -- 5 7 1
SEU 4 1 0 0 0 2 X -- 7 8 4
Ramirez, Langston (6) and Solis. Dale, Wagner (6) and Wolotira. WP--Dale (2-0). LP--Ramirez (3-2). HR--UIW, Walls; SEU, Moreno.
GAME TWO
UIW 2 0 1 3 2 0 0 2 0 -- 10 14 0
SEU 1 0 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 -- 7 11 0
Rimlinger, Jamnik (8) and Rodriguez. Henry, Freimel (5), Sharp (6), Wagner (7) and Wolotira, Shufelt. WP--Rimlinger (7-0). LP--Henry (6-2). HR--UIW, Walls, Solis 2; SEU, Cross.
RECORDS:
UIW 19-9 (16-8)
SEU 21-7 (19-4)
UIW DROPS SERIES' FIRST GAME IN AUSTIN -- posted Thursday, March 20 2008
ST. EDWARD’S 7, INCARNATE WORD 2
Heartland Conference-leading St. Edward’s put a spiked shoe in the face of Incarnate Word Thursday afternoon and pushed the Cardinals another notch down the hill with a 7-2 win in a series-opening game played in Austin.
St. Edward’s sits atop the Heartland standings, now, with an 18-3 league mark. Incarnate Word drops to three and one-half games behind with a 15-7 Heartland record.
The two will complete this particular series with a doubleheader on Friday, again in Austin. First pitch will be at 1 p.m.
The Hilltoppers jumped on UIW starter Chris Armijo immediately. With just one out, a sacrifice bunt, Sean Hilbe singled home a run in the bottom of the first. After a ground ball out and a base on balls, Robert Hays doubled with the sacks full to drive home three and at the end of one inning it was 4-0.
That would be a margin good enough for the ultimate victory as Incarnate Word could manage only two runs in the top of the third.
Opening that frame junior shortstop Tyler Jett singled to center field. Junior centerfielder Chris Pacheco doubled to center before senior third baseman Chris Mojica grounded out to score Jett. Sophomore leftfielder Chad Gregson hit a sacrifice fly and Pacheco touched home plate with the final UIW run of the game.
St. Edward’s got three more in the bottom of the fifth to ice the contest.
Armijo, in seeing his season mark go to 4-2, gave up nine hits and seven earned runs. He walked five and fanned three. He departed with one out in the seventh after throwing more than 140 pitches. Senior righty Paul Brancheau worked the final 1.1 innings allowing nothing while striking out one.
Offensively, Pacheco and Jett were the only Cardinals to hit safely twice. Pacheco was 2-4 and both safeties were doubles. Jett was 2-3.
UIW 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 7 0
SEU 4 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 x – 7 9 1
Armijo, Brancheau (7) and Solis. Davis, Sharp (9) and Wolotira. WP—Davis (3-1). LP—Armijo (4-2).
RECORDS:
UIW 18-8 (15-7)
SEU 20-6 (18-3)
TUESDAY BASEBALL GAME POSTPONED -- posted Monday, March 17 2008
Tuesday's baseball game between Incarnate Word and Tarleton State has been postponed to a date to be determined.
With both teams involved heavily in their respective conference races and with a shaky-at-best weather forecast for Tuesday the two clubs reached an agreement to play at a later date.
The next Cardinals' action will come Thursday and Friday when they travel to Austin for a three-game Heartland Conference set with league-leading St. Edward's.
UIW SPLITS TWINBILL IN A REPEAT PERFORMANCE -- posted Sunday, March 16 2008
Sophomore righthander Nathaniel Ramirez turned in a winning performance in game two as UIW split a doubleheader.
INCARNATE WORD 6-7, TEXAS / PERMIAN BASIN 11-6
In a near replay from the day before, Incarnate Word had to come back in game two for a doubleheader split with Texas / Permian Basin in a pair of Heartland Conference games played in Odessa Sunday.
Saturday the Cardinals (18-7; 15-6) saw a 10-run inning go for naught as a UIW pitching staff in game one yielded a bushel of late runs in a loss before a stellar mound performance from junior lefthander Chris Armijo gained a split for the day.
Sunday it was the same script. Incarnate Word got three runs in the top of the first of game one only to see ineffective hurling allow the Falcons (17-9; 13-9) to cross the plate five times before a single out was recorded. The Cardinals could never recover and Texas / Permian Basin won the game 11-6.
Then game two saw sophomore righthander Nathaniel Ramirez subdue UTPB for five innings on the way to the 7-6 UIW victory. In his time on the mound, Ramirez upped his season mark to 3-1 by allowing three runs, all earned, on six hits while walking three and whiffing three. Freshman righthander Matthew Roohan worked the final two innings to pick up his first save of the season.
Ramirez gave up a pair of runs in the bottom of the first before UIW came back with three in the top of the second. Junior shortstop Tyler Jett singled home a pair and then scored on a single off the bat of junior centerfielder Chris Pacheco. For the day Pacheco was 4-8 with a double and the RBI, extending his series to a 10-17 showing in the four games.
Pacheco, as he was all weekend, was the instigator in the seventh inning when the Cardinals would plate a twosome for the winning margin. He reached on a bunt single to leadoff the frame. Senior third baseman Chris Mojica also bunted and was safe on a throwing error. Sophomore leftfielder Chad Gregson singled home a run before senior first baseman Dustin Walls doubled home two more.
UTPB scored three times in the bottom of the seventh but it wasn't enough to overcome the Cardinals lead.
GAME ONE
UIW 3 0 0 1 0 0 2 -- 6 9 0
UTPB 6 0 0 1 0 4 X -- 11 14 3
Langston, Brancheau (1), McAnelly (6) and Solis. Frets, Strode (5) and Leigh. WP--Frets. LP--Langston (1-2). Save--Strode. HR--UTPB, Bourdeau.
GAME TWO
UIW 0 3 0 0 2 0 2 -- 7 9 0
UTPB 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 -- 6 9 3
Ramirez, Roohan (6) and Rodriguez. Hardy, Roberson (6), Gilliland (7) and Dibbens. WP--Ramirez (3-1). LP--Hardy. Save--Roohan (1). HR--UTPB, Bourdeau.
RECORDS:
UIW 18-7 (15-6)
UTPB 17-9 (`13-9)
PITCHING FALTERS, PACHECO DOES NOT IN SPLIT -- posted Saturday, March 15 2008
Junior centerfielder Chris Pacheco produced some big numbers in Saturday's doubleheader split.
INCARNATE WORD 12-3, TEXAS / PERMIAN BASIN 15-2
Incarnate Word and Texas / Permian Basin split a Heartland Conference doubleheader Saturday in Odessa and the two games could hardly have been farther apart in the way they played out.
The Cardinals (17-6; 14-5) scored in a bunch in game one but the pitching staff could not protect the lead while game two provided all the pitching UIW would need for the split.
Junior lefthander Chris Armijo gave the Cardinals exactly what they needed in game two as he went the full seven innings, slamming the door on what had been a UTPB (16-8; 12-8) hitting machine in the first game. Armijo in upping his season mark to 4-1 gave up five hits with two runs, only one earned. In walking five and fanning five, he faced serious trouble only once when the Falcons plated a run in the bottom of the first and left the sacks jammed when Armijo induced a ground ball third out.
Meanwhile, UIW got a run in the top of the first when sophomore leftfielder Chad Gregson singled home senior third baseman Chris Mojica who had doubled and advanced to third on an error. The second run came in the second when junior centerfielder Chris Pacheco doubled home a run.
In the fourth, Armijo got a third and final tally and that would be all he needed. Sophomore rightfielder Drew Hamilton singled and later scored on a wild pitch.
In the game, Pacheco was 3-4 in a followup to what he did in the opener. In game one he was 3-5, scored twice and drove home four with an RBI double and a three-run home run. All of his RBI came in a 10-run UIW third inning.
Down 8-0 after two, Incarnate Word erupted for 10 scores in the third on seven hits to go up 10-8. In addition to Pacheco's four driven in, the inning saw senior first baseman Dustin Walls get a pair home with a single and Hamilton plated two more with a double.
UIW starter, senior righthander Adam Rimlinger, was in trouble from the get-go. In his four innings of work he allowed 11 hits, 10 earned runs while issuing one walk and striking out three. But he did depart after the fourth in front 11-10.
Coming on in relief, senior righthander Jeff Jamnik found tough sledding. He could record but one out before allowing five earned runs on three hits and that was a hill the Cardinals could not climb. The loss was his first decision of the season.
On the day, Pacheco was a combined 6-9 with two runs scored and five RBI. His six hits included three doubles and the big blast.
These same two teams go at it again on Sunday with a doubleheader starting at noon.
GAME ONE
UIW 0 0 (10) 1 0 1 -- 12 15 3
UTPB 3 5 1 1 5 0 x -- 15 16 1
Rimlinger, Jamnik (4), Brancheau (4), Johnson (6), and Solis. Stachowski, Roberson (3), Gilliland (5), Strode (5) and Leigh. WP--Strode. LP--Jamnik (0-1). HR--UIW, Pacheco, Solis.
GAME TWO
UIW 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 -- 3 8 2
UTPB 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 -- 2 5 2
Armijo and Rodriguez. Frisby and Dibbens. WP--Armijo (4-1). LP--Frisby.
RECORDS:
UIW 17-6 (14-5)
UTPB 16-8 (12-8)
WIND PUSHES BASEBALL SERIES BACK -- posted Thursday, March 13 2008
Anticipated winds beyond normal in West Texas have pushed a weekend baseball series back a day for Incarnate Word and Texas / Permian Basin.
The Heartland Conference four-game series now will be contested on Saturday, March 15, with first pitch at 1 p.m. with another doubleheader on Sunday, March 16, beginning at noon in Odessa.
While the wind blows constantly in West Texas forecasters say the breezes on Friday will be beyond normal making baseball extremely difficult.
Heading into the headwinds, the Cardinals are 16-5 on the year and 13-4 in Heartland action while UTPB is 15-7 including 11-7 in league play.
WALLS GETS WEEKLY PING!BASEBALL RECOGNITION -- posted Tuesday, March 11 2008
Senior first baseman Dustin Walls has received national recognition for his four-game performance.
Senior first baseman Dustin Walls at Incarnate Word has gained national attention as a Ping!Baseball Spotlight Performer of the Week.
Walls is featured on the website www.pingbaseball.com after his four-game performance during the period March 3 to March 9.
In the four games, he batted 8-15 for .533. He scored seven times himself and drove in nine teammates. Included in his eight hits were home runs in three consecutive games against St. Mary’s in Heartland Conference action.
Those hits combined with three bases-on-balls and being hit three times gave him an on-base percentage of .650.
Walls was one of three players receiving this week's recognition. The others were from Rice and Coastal Carolina, both NCAA Division I schools.
ANOTHER OUTBURST DOOMS UIW -- posted Saturday, March 8 2008
ST. MARY’S 18, INCARNATE WORD 11
It was game three of a three-game weekend Heartland Conference series and just like the two contests played the day before this one came down to a big inning, actually two big innings, and Saturday it was St. Mary’s outburst that decided the outcome as the Rattlers won at Incarnate Word 18-11.
Incarnate Word drops to 16-4 for the year and to 13-3 in the league while the Rattlers are now 14-6 and 12-4 in the Heartland.
On Friday UIW got eight runs in one inning on the way to victory while in game two St. Mary’s turned the tables with a seven-spot in one frame for its win and a split of the twinbill.
Saturday, after Incarnate Word had taken a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run triple to right centerfield from junior second baseman Josh Hood who then scored himself the ensuing overthrow at third, Cardinals starter Chris Armijo ran into trouble after allowing three runs in the first two innings and then throwing blanks for the next five.
In the top of the eighth, after UIW had scored the three times to take the lead, the first two St. Mary’s reached before Armijo got an out on a fielder’s choice. A double steal moved the runners to second and third.
That is when the Cardinals’ bullpen sprung into action and produced bad results for UIW and an amazing nine-run inning for St. Mary’s. All-in-all, five UIW throwers worked two innings allowing a cumulative 13 runs (12 earned) on 11 hits while walking three, two wild pitches, two hit batsmen, and striking out two. Armijo suffered the loss as the tying run and the go-ahead tally were his responsibility although he had no control over the results after he departed. He is now 3-1 for the year.
After that 16-run, two-inning deluge, Incarnate Word managed to send seven across the dish in the bottom of the ninth but it was far too little and way to late in the day.
Ryan Morrow who took the hill for the Rattlers in the fifth was the beneficiary of the Rattlers’ splurge. He is now 2-0 for the year.
On the day, senior first baseman Dustin Walls continued his torrid hitting string by blasting his third home run in three straight games. His left centerfield line blast was part of that last inning production for UIW. Walls now has the team lead with eight long balls and 33 RBI. His season average, after going 2-4 Saturday, is now. .476.
That sensational mark falls short of the team leader however. Saturday junior Chris Pacheco went 3-4 with two doubles. His yearlong average is now .505.
The other UIW multiple hit guys were junior leftfielder Trey Hogan who was 2-4 and junior shortstop Tyler Jett who went 3-5 with two RBI.
St. Mary’s got a home run from Collin Stock who was 2-5 with four RBI in the game.
StM 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 6 -- 18 14 2
UIW 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 7 -- 11 14 4
Cales, Morrow (5), Flores (9), Villarreal (9) and Soto. Armijo, Jamnik (8), Langston (8), Johnson (8), McAnelly (9), Roohan (9), and Rodriguez. WP—Morrow (2-0). LP—Armijo (3-1). HR—StM, Stock. UIW-Walls.
RECORDS:
StM 14-6 (12-4)
UIW 16-5 (13-4)
CARDINALS AND RATTLERS SPLIT FRIDAY'S PAIR -- posted Saturday, March 8 2008
Senior first baseman Dustin Walls was the power show Friday going yard in both games.
INCARNATE WORD 16-6, ST. MARY'S 7-14
Two bitter rivals got together Friday for a baseball doubleheader and after they exchanged big-production innings Incarnate Word and St. Mary's had split a Heartland Conference pair of games played at UIW's Sullivan Field.
Incarnate Word is now 16-4 on the year including 13-3 in Heartland action putting them in second place in league play. St. Mary's is 13-6 overall and third in the conference at 11-4. St. Edward's top the league with an 11-2 mark.
In the first game of seven innings, the Cardinals piled on eight runs in the third frame to win 16-7 before the Rattlers came back with seven in the fourth inning of game two to win 14-6 and earn the split.
For the Cardinals, senior first baseman Dustin Walls put on a hitting show for the day. In the two games he was a combined 5-9 with the bat and had a home run in each contest. For the day he drove in six teammates.
The first game got to the last of the third with UIW leading 2-1 when the bottom dropped out for St. Mary's. Walls batted twice and both times singled to give him an RBI and one scored himself. The big blow however came from junior centerfielder Chris Pacheco who tripled with the sacks jammed. In the game Pacheco was 3-3 with four scored and the three RBI.
When the dust settled, UIW had plated eight runs on four hits and two Rattler errors. Senior catcher Chris Solis added to the St. Mary's woes with a triple and then scoring on a single from sophomore rightfielder Drew Hamilton. In the game Hamilton was 4-5, scored twice and drove in two teammates.
The beneficiary of the assault was senior righthander Adam Rimlinger who worked five innings to earn his sixth victory of the year against zero losses.
Game two saw the Rattlers turn the tables. The contest was deadlocked 2-2 heading into the visitor's half of the fourth. Sophomore righthander Jeff Langston ran into immediate trouble as the first five Rattler batters reached. Junior righthander Nathaniel Ramirez came on for Langston and two more St. Mary's batter reached. Before Ramirez could induce a ground ball double play five runs were across. When it was done the Rattlers plated seven and UIW could not catch up the remainder of the game.
Walls was the lone Cardinal to have multiple hits in game two going 2-5 with a home run and three RBI.
On the hill, Langston took the loss to even his season mark at 1-1.
The two will go at it again on Saturday in a single game of nine-innings with first pitch coming at 1 p.m. at Sullivan Field.
GAME ONE
StM 0 1 0 2 2 1 1 -- 7 9 4
UIW 1 1 8 0 3 3 x -- 16 15 3
Watson, Odom (3), Borges (6) and Morrow. Rimlinger, Jamnik (6) and Solis. WP--Rimlinger (6-0). LP--Watson (3-2). HR--St. M, Brzezinski, Cisneros. UIW, Walls.
GAME TWO
StM 2 0 0 7 0 0 3 1 1 -- 14 12 0
UIW 0 2 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 -- 6 6 5
Shimek, Villarreal (7), Flores (9) and Soto. Brancheau, Langston (3), Ramirez (4), Smith (8), Johnson (8), and Solis. WP--Shimik (3-0). LP--Langston (1-1). HR--StM, Vaio. UIW, Walls.
RECORDS:
StM 13-6 (11-4)
UIW 16-4 (13-3)
PACHECO BLAST FUELS UIW WIN -- posted Tuesday, March 4 2008
Junior centerfielder Chris Pacheco sent a ball over the right field wall for a grand slam in UIW's Tuesday win.
INCARNATE WORD 14, ANGELO STATE 8
Two bunts and a bloop got it started Tuesday evening but a grand slam finished it off as Incarnate Word staged a big inning on the way to a 14-8 win over ranked Angelo State in a non-conference game played at Sullivan Field.
The 20th-ranked Rams (15-6) were out 6-4 after four and one-half innings when Incarnate Word (15-3) plated a pair to tie at 6-6. Then came the big seven-run sixth to put UIW on top to stay.
Senior third baseman Chris Mojica got it started with a bunt single down the third base line. Batting next, sophomore leftfielder Chad Gregson was watching from the on-deck circle. He did the same thing, bunting down the third base line and he too was safe at first. Senior first baseman Dustin Walls came to bat and looped a short shot to short center field sending Mojica homeward.
After one out was recorded, junior designated batter Trey Hogan singled home Gregson. An intentional walk to sophomore rightfielder Drew Hamilton and a fielder’s choice RBI from junior second baseman Josh Hood brought in another one. Junior shortstop Tyler Jett took one on the arm to load the sacks. Junior centerfielder Chris Pacheco put the finishing touches on the inning by lofting a two-strike pitch into the darker reaches of right field for the grand slam.
The sixth produced seven runs on five hits and the Cardinals were on their way to the important regional victory.
Pacheco finished the day with a 2-6 mark with two scored and the four driven in. Not too far back was Hogan who went 3-4 with two scored and three RBI. Mojica, Gregson, Solis and Hood all collected a pair of safe hits each.
On the mound, the Cardinals got in some work for their front liners, guys who will likely work in the upcoming weekend Heartland Conference series against St. Mary’s.
Junior lefty Chris Armijo worked the first three innings allowing five hits, five runs four of which were earned to go with three walks and three strikeouts. Senior righthander Jeff Jamnik came on in the fourth to work two innings. He gave up two hits, one earned run while walking one and fanning two.
Sophomore Nathan Ramirez put in his three frames, the sixth through the eighth. His numbers were one hit, two runs both unearned, two walks and four strikeouts. Senior Adam Rimlinger, normally the Cardinals number one, pitched the ninth without incident. He fanned one.
ASU 2 0 3 0 1 0 0 2 0 -- 8 8 1
UIW 3 1 0 0 2 7 0 1 X -- 14 14 4
Key, McKellar (4), Tietze (6) and Carter. Armijo, Jamnik (4), Ramirez (6), Rimlinger (9) and Solis. WP—Ramirez (2-1). LP—McKELLAR (0-4). HR—PACHECO
RECORDS:
ASU 15-6
UIW 15-3
LATE ERUPTION FUELS UIW SWEEP -- posted Saturday, March 1 2008
Sophomore rightfielder Drew Hamilton provided the clinching three-run homer in game one.
INCARNATE WORD 9-16, OKLAHOMA 6-1
Fast forward to the top of the seventh of game one and watch Incarnate Word correct its ills Friday on the way to a Heartland Conference doubleheader sweep at Oklahoma Panhandle.
With the pair of wins, 9-6 and 16-1, UIW upped its season mark to 13-2 including 9-1 in the Heartland. Oklahoma Panhandle falls to 4-10 and 3-8.
Down 5-0 and having managed just five scattered hits, the Cardinals exploded for nine runs and established a pattern for the remainder of the day in that seventh frame.
OPSU's Kyle Cremers was mystifying Incarnate Word and had recorded the first out in the seventh when things took a turn for the worse for the Aggie hurler. A hit batsman, a walk, a single, an RBI sacrifice, an RBI single and another RBI single produced three runs. Next came a three-run blast from senior first baseman Dustin Walls and the Cardinals were on top 6-5.
But Incarnate Word was not done with that inning. Following Walls' big fly, there came another single, a base on balls, and then the game-clinching home run off the stick of sophomore rightfielder Drew Hamilton. All-in-all it was nine runs on seven hits with one left on base.
All of that came in support of senior righty Adam Rimlinger who worked a complete game to run his season mark to a perfect 4-0. He gave up nine hits with six earned runs while walking two and fanning six.
That late outburst propelled the Cardinals into game two where they scored runs in six of seven innings on the way to a nightcap 16-1 victory.
The run production came from throughout the lineup as four Cardinals each collected a pair of safe hits and six had two or more RBI paced by three from senior third baseman Chris Mojica who had a double and a single in the game.
This time the run support benefited junior righthander Chris Armijo who went six innings for his third win against no losses.
He gave up four hits, one earned run and walked three while striking out a pair.
These same two clubs meet again Saturday in another doubleheader in Goodwell, Okla.
GAME ONE
UIW 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 -- 9 12 0
OPSU 0 0 0 4 1 0 1 -- 6 9 0
Rimlinger and Solis. Cremers, Rapp (7) and Jameson. WP--Rimlinger (4-0). LP--Cremers (1-4). HR--UIW, Walls, Hamilton.
GAME TWO
UIW 1 1 3 3 6 0 2 -- 16 12 1
OPSU 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 -- 1 6 2
Armijo, McAnelly (7) and Rodriguez. Clinton, Maynard (4), Siedschlag (5) and Jameson, Meek. WP--Armijo (3-0). LP--Clinton (1-2).
ARMIJO TOP PITCHER A SECOND TIME -- posted Wednesday, February 27 2008
For the second straight week junior Chris Armijo is the Heartland Conferenc epitcher of the week.
Incarnate Word’s Chris Armijo for the second time in the still-young season has been selected Heartland Conference pitcher of the week.
With the way the Cardinals rotation is set up, the junior lefthander has been drawing game two in weekend conference series. In the period February 18 to February 24, he got the second game at Texas A&M International and under the league’s new format it was a nine-inning affair.
So what the San Antonio Highlands product did was go eight complete frames on the way to collecting the win. In the eight innings he allowed but five hits and two runs, one earned. He walked four and fanned his personal and a team high 12 opposing batters.
He was Heartland pitcher of the week the previous week when he worked a complete game of seven innings against Newman. On the year Armijo is 2-0 and the Cardinals are 11-2.
LATE RALLY SINKS CARDINALS -- posted Saturday, February 23 2008
Senior first baseman Dustin Walls was the hottest Cardinal of all going 10-12 in three games.
TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL 9, INCARNATE WORD 8
An eighth inning rally Saturday afternoon in Laredo pushed Texas A&M International to a 9-8 win over Incarnate Word handing the Cardinals their first loss in Heartland Conference action.
The Cardinals had won a doubleheader the day before and now stand 9-1 in league play and 11-2 on the season. The Dustdevils improved to 4-12 and 4-8 in the Heartland.
UIW was on top 8-6 through seven but could not close the deal as TAMUI sent eight batters to the plate in the eighth producing three runs on two hits, three free passes and one Cardinal error. The bases were juiced when the third out finally was recorded.
Prior to the winning rally, Incarnate Word had forged the lead with a pair of three-run innings. In the top of the second, senior third baseman Chris Mojica singled home a pair before senior first baseman Dustin Walls doubled home the third.
In the fifth, three more crossed home plate on a two-RBI triple by sophomore right fielder Drew Hamilton and a sacrifice fly to center by junior second baseman Josh Hood.
On the day, Walls was 4-5 with one scored and the one RBI. In the three-game series, he was a combined 10-12 with two doubles, one home run and five RBI. Hamilton was the only other Cardinal with multiple hits as he was 3-4 with the two RBI and one scored himself.
Senior righty Paul Brancheau worked the first three and one-third before running into trouble in the bottom of the fourth when the Dustdevils tagged him with four runs. Junior Nathaniel Ramirez came on to put out that immediate fire. Ramirez allowed another TAMUI run in the sixth before finding trouble of his own in the fateful eighth. Ramirez suffered the loss evening his season mark at 1-1.
UIW 1 3 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 -- 8 13 5
TAMUI 0 0 1 4 0 1 0 3 x -- 9 8 2
Brancheau, Ramirez (4) and Rodriguez. Encinas, Routos (5), Gonzalez (6) and Sanchez. WP--Gonzalez (1-0). LP--Ramirez (1-1).
UIW REMAINS ON TOP WITH SWEEP -- posted Friday, February 22 2008
Junior Chris Armijo fanned a season high 12 batters in UIW's game two victory.
INCARNATE WORD 8-7, TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL 7-2
The combination of hitting and pitching was the basis of Incarnate Word remaining spotless in Heartland Conference action Friday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep of Texas A&M International in Laredo.
The Cardinals won the pair of games 8-7 and 7-2 to up their season mark to 11-1 including the perfect 9-0 in conference play. With the sweep UIW remains on top of the league standings.
As hot as senior first baseman Dustin Walls was at the plate, the Cardinals' pitching perhaps was the highlight of the day. Walls in the two games was 3-4 with a home run and two RBI in game one and 3-3 with a double and two more RBI in the nightcap.
The opener, a seven-inning affair, saw UIW jump out early to a 3-1 lead after three innings only to see the Dustdevils rally with three in the fourth for a 4-3 lead. But that was short-lived when Incarnate Word put up five in the top of the fifth on five hits. The damage was all done with four singles and a sacrifice fly. That was all UIW would get in the game but it would prove to be enough.
Starting pitcher Adam Rimlinger (4-0) worked his way into the seventh before running into serious trouble. He retired the first batter before a pair of singles sandwiched around two wild pitches plated one marker to cut the lead to 8-6. A double brought home another making it 8-7. Sophomore righthander Jeff Langston came on in relief to retire two hitters and notch his first save of the year.
On the day, Rimlinger allowed nine hits, seven runs (six earned) while walking two and striking out three.
In addition to Walls' outburst, sophomore left fielder Chad Gregson went 2-4 with a double and two RBI.
Game two belonged to Cardinals starting lefthander Chris Armijo. He gave UIW eight strong innings on the way to his second win of the year against no losses. Armijo allowed five hits, two runs (one earned) while walking four and fanning a personal and team high 12 batters. He gave way in the ninth to freshman righty Matthew Roohan who worked a one-hit frame.
Offensively, of the 10 Incarnate Word safe hits; only one was for extra bases and it was a double by Walls in the top of the first scoring senior third baseman Chris Mojica who had been plunked with a pitch. Batting leadoff for the Cardinals, junior center fielder Chris Pacheco went 3-6 scoring twice and driving one teammate.
With his performance Friday, Pacheco extended his hitting streak to all 12 games and kept his season average above the .500 mark.
The two clubs on Saturday will conclude the three-game series with a nine-inning contest with first pitch at noon.
GAME ONE
UIW 2 0 1 0 5 0 0 -- 8 8 2
TAMUI 1 0 0 3 0 1 2 -- 7 9 3
Rimlinger, Langston (7) and Solis. Bonugli, Gonzalez (5) and Sanchez. WP--Rimlinger (4-0). LP--Bonugli (1-3). HR--UIW, Walls.
GAME TWO
UIW 1 0 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 -- 7 10 2
TAMUI 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 -- 2 6 5
Armijo, Roohan (9) and Rodriguez. Lopez, Z. Gonzalez (7), R. Gonzalez (7), Soto (9) and Dixon. WP--Armijo (2-0). LP--Lopez (0-2).
ARMIJO GETS HEARTLAND HONOR -- posted Wednesday, February 20 2008
Lefty Chris Armijo is the Heartland Conference pitcher of the week.
Junior lefthander Chris Armijo of Incarnate Word has been named the Heartland Conference pitcher of the week for the period February 11 to February 17.
Getting one start in a weekend conference series against Newman, the San Antonio Highlands High School product turned in a complete, seven-inning game for the Cardinals.
He allowed just two hits with no runs. He walked four and struck out his season high eight. The Cardinals won the contest 3-0.
UIW DROPS SLUG FEST -- posted Tuesday, February 19 2008
ANGELO STATE 22, INCARNATE WORD 12
Incarnate Word's baseball team of 1988 can rest easy. Its school record of 11-0 to open a season still stands after the current UIW squad dropped a run-rule game Tuesday afternoon to Angelo State.
A torrid start by the Cardinals (9-1) produced seven runs in the top of the second inning and a 7-0 lead but it didn't hold up as Angelo State (8-4) put up big numbers from the second through the seventh frames to post a