By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
San Antonio’s Cole Tabor launched a game-winning, two-out, three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday afternoon to lift the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals to a 13-11 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners.
In a dramatic finish to a non-conference game between San Antonio’s two NCAA Division I programs, UIW (15-14) trailed 11-9 going into its last at bat against UTSA (20-9) when Drake Anderson led off with a walk against Roadrunners reliever Mike DeBattista.
Anderson moved up to second on a ground ball by Thomas Lyssy for the first out of the inning.
After Enrico Carrion struck out, Trent Rucker singled into right field, allowing Anderson to score and cut the lead to one run.
Preston Newberry followed with a single to center, putting runners at first and second and bringing Tabor to the plate.
The left-side swinging Tabor responded by hitting a 2-1 pitch from Battista far over the right field wall to end the game.
It was the third homer of the day for the Cardinals and the team-leading ninth of the season for Tabor.
The finish was reminiscent of a 2023 UTSA at UIW game when former Cardinals slugger Rey Mendoza walked it off with a towering three-run homer to beat the Roadrunners.
Tabor came out of Reagan High School and played two years at Temple Junior College before transferring to Texas State, where he played in the 2025 season.
Records
UTSA 20-9
UIW 15-14
Coming up
UTSA at Rice, Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
Southeastern Louisiana at UIW, Thursday, 2 p.m.
Notable
The Roadrunners, who open a three-game American Conference series at Rice on Thursday night, held leads of 9-5 after the top of the fifth inning and 11-7 after the top of the sixth and couldn’t hang on.
The Cardinals, who will host Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday in the Southland Conference, scored one run in the seventh and eighth innings and four in the ninth to win.
UIW senior righthander Colin Huspen (1-0) gave up one hit in a scoreless top of the ninth to earn the victory. Huspen was the 10th pitcher used by first-year Cardinals coach Nick Zaleski.
UTSA head coach Pat Hallmark, who coached at UIW in 2018 and 2019, used nine pitchers. DeBattista (2-2) took the loss after yielding five runs on five hits in two innings.
Rucker, the brother of UTSA softball player Skylar Rucker, had a big day for the Cardinals. He hit a two-run home run in the third inning and added two outstanding plays in center field.
One came on a diving catch of a drive off the bat of UTSA’s Cade Sadler for the third out in the seventh inning.
In the ninth, UTSA’s Jordan Ballin tried to go from first to third on a single up the middle but was thrown out on Rucker’s one-hop throw to end the inning.
Tony DeJesus also homered for the Cardinals, hitting a two-run shot to left in the fifth.
For UTSA, Lane Haworth went three for five and scored twice, including once on a solo homer in the top of the sixth. He finished with one RBI.
Andrew Stucky also homered for UTSA. His two-run blast to left in the second lifted the Roadrunners into a 3-0 lead. Sadler and Jacob Silva also had two hits.
Incarnate Word beat UTSA for the second straight time and improved to 3-3 against its cross-town rival since the 2023 season.
In 2023, the Roadrunners downed the Cardinals 2-1 at UTSA but dropped the second meeting of the season, losing 9-6 on Mendoza’s walk-off homer at UIW.
In 2024, the Roadrunners won 13-3 at UTSA and won again, 7-4, at UIW.
Last season, the Cardinals claimed an 8-5 victory at Roadrunner Field.