Cardinals deal sweep to Hounds

SAN ANTONIO — After getting hammered in the first two games of their Lone Star Conference baseball series, Eastern New Mexico University got the pitching outing it needed in relief from senior Ryan Pruitt on Saturday.

The Greyhounds just could never get their bats going, dropping a 3-2 decision to Incarnate Word in the second game of a doubleheader.

ENMU (19-19, 6-13 LSC), which lost 13-1 on Friday night and 10-1 in Saturday's opener, will try to salvage the series finale in a noon (MDT) start.

Pruitt (5-2) relieved starter Ryan Boydstun two runs in, the bases loaded and one out in the second and got out of it by getting Lukas Miller to fly into a double play, with left fielder Derek Crenshaw throwing out the Cardinals' Jonathan Armijo trying to score from third.

He ended up blanking UIW (24-15, 10-9) until the eighth, when Miller and Thomas Rinn opened with singles, moved up on a sacrifice and, after an intentional walk, scored on Blake Woosley's sacrifice fly to right field.

The Hounds, who had only two hits, manufactured a couple of runs to pull even, but left the go-ahead runs in scoring position in both the sixth and eighth innings.

Josh Cunningham scored on the back end of a would-be double steal in the fourth — Matthew Spradlin was thrown out at second on the play — and Cunningham hit a one-out RBI double down the left field line in the sixth. He advanced to third as Jacob Rogers fouled out to left, but UIW starter Dylan Boss got Spradlin on a groundout to end the inning.

Pruitt allowed five hits, walked three and struck out two in 6 1/3 innings, throwing 82 pitchers.

Boss went six innings before giving way to Geno Encina (6-5), who got Cunningham on a called third strike in the top of the eighth after Daniel Binz drew a one-out walk and pinch-runner Rawley Gomez stole second with two out.

UIW pitchers struck out 13, but issued eight walks in the game.

In the opener, John Zule's three-run homer keyed a four-run UIW first and the Cardinals never looked back, pounding out 12 hits.

ENMU's only run came in the fifth when Rafael Romo and Luis Quinones walked and Colton Sims hit an RBI single. Sims moved up to second on the play, but Alexis Garza (5-0) escaped by striking out designated hitter Peter Creamer and getting Daniel Binz on a grounder to short.