SAN ANTONIO — Vivian Tijerina hit her 10th home run of the season, a two-run shot, to help UTSA defeat Incarnate Word, 4-3, on Wednesday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
Tijerina’s blast in the first inning gave the Roadrunners (23-28) a lead that they would not relinquish.
Courtney Buchman also drove in two runs for the home squad, who played its final non-conference game of the regular season.
Meanwhile, reliever Kristen Hebert did not allow a hit in 4.1 innings of relief in a no-decision for the Cardinals (20-29).
Incarnate Word jumped ahead 1-0 on an unearned run in the top of the first. A throwing error allowed Alex Zepeda to advance to third with two outs and she scored on a wild pitch for the early advantage.
However, Tijerina quickly gave UTSA the upper hand in the bottom of the panel with her two-out, two-run homer to right center. Darian Blake started the inning with a single to left before Cardinals starter Brooke DuBois retired a pair.
The Roadrunners’ lead grew to 4-1 an inning later, when Buchman came through with a two-out single to right field that plated Angelica Niño and Taylor Oberg and chased DuBois from the game.
That’s where the score stood until the top of the fifth, when Incarnate Word picked up two runs on just one hit. Reliever Kacy Freeze entered the game and hit two batters with the bases loaded before getting out the jam.
With a 4-3 edge, UTSA turned to Nicole Merrill and the freshman did not allow a hit in her two innings of work. She improved to 9-10 on the campaign, while DuBois dropped to 7-15 after allowing four runs on four hits in just 1.2 innings.
UTSA will be back in action at 1 p.m. on Saturday when it hosts UAB (29-23, 13-7 C-USA) in a doubleheader.