SAN ANTONIO - With the game tied at 3-3 during the bottom of the sixth on Wednesday evening at Cardinals Field, Incarnate Word got a key RBI single from Angel Villanueva's to complete its rally past UTSA softball, 4-3.
Leadoff hitter sophomore Celeste Loughman led UTSA (16-9) with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate while freshman Michelle Iparraguirre and senior Lizzy Fox (10-8) paced the Roadrunners in the circle. Iparraguirre threw for the first 2.2 innings of the contests as Fox took the loss in relief, as she allowed four hits and one unearned run while striking out four in 3.1 innings.
The Roadrunners attained a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, on two-run double from junior Hailey Garza after a pair of walks and a single from Loughman loaded the bases.
UIW (12-21) recovered one of the runs in the bottom half of the frame as the Cardinals drew a bases-loaded walk.
The home squad extended its momentum on back-to-back solo homers in the bottom of the third to take a 3-2 advantage.
UTSA pulled even in the fifth, thanks to sophomore Rylee Rodriguez's solo homer to center field. But the Cardinals answered in the bottom of the sixth as Villanueva's RBI single scored what would be the final run of the game.
The Roadrunners threatened in the top of the seventh with a one-out walk, but UIW collected the last two outs by keeping pinch runner Abigail Haston from stealing second and securing Rodriguez fly ball to center field.
UTSA will now look to its three-game Conference USA series at La Tech this weekend. The teams open the series with a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.
