SAN ANTONIO — UTSA scored runs in five of eight innings against Incarnate Word on Tuesday night en route to a 16-0 shutout of the Cardinals at Roadrunner Field.
UTSA (18-17) scored multiple runs in the first three innings of play and batted around in two of those to jump to a 14-0 lead.
The Roadrunners held the Cardinals (16-21) to four hits and the home team tallied 17. All but two in the starting lineup notched at least one hit with five going for multiple hits.
Jesse Baker, Ben Brookover, Kevin Markham and C.J. Pickering each had three hits with Brookover extending his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games. Brookover was 3-for-3 with four RBIs, three runs scored, a double and a pair walks, while Pickering was 3-for-4 with four RBIs, two home runs, two runs scored with a double.
UTSA's pitching also played a big role in the Roadrunners first shutout of the season.
Southpaw Steven Dressler went five innings, allowing just two hits while striking out three to earn the win.
Dressler's counterpart, Luke Taggart, went two-thirds of an inning and was charged with the loss after surrendering five runs on four hits.
Two of Incarnate Word's (16-21) hits came from third baseman David Anaya, as he went 2-for-3.
UTSA's big innings came in the first and third and with five and six runs respectively. Three of the five runs in the first inning came from Pickering's first home run of the night as he swung on a 2-1 pitch. The first runs of the game scored on Brookover's two-run single that scored Markham and Baker.
The Roadrunners put up another three runs in the second with scores from Brookover, Chris Estrada and Trent Bowles. Bowles' double down the third-base line drove in Brookover and, two batters later, Pickering reached via throwing error that allowed the inning to continue and the two runs to score.
The third inning saw UTSA bat around for the second time, but this time, the Roadrunners plated six runs.
Single runs in the fifth and sixth innings capped off the scoring for UTSA.
The Roadrunners will return to Conference USA action on Friday when they host Florida Atlantic at 6 p.m.
