The 2024 Incarnate Word Cardinals baseball team represented the University of the Incarnate Word during the 2024 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Cardinals played their home games at Sullivan Field and were led by fifth–year head coach Ryan Shotzberger. They are members of the Southland Conference. They compiled a 26–31 overall record and finished with a 10–14 record in conference play in a three–way tie for 6th place. The Cardinals qualified for the SLC tournament as the 8th seeded team. The team had a 1–2 record in tournament play defeating 1st seeded Lamar 6–3 and falling to 5th seeded McNeese 2–6 and Lamar 6–18.

Previous season

The Cardinals had a regular season record of 28–26 and a conference record of 14–10 finishing in second place in SLC play. They participated in the 2023 Southland Conference baseball tournament as the second seeded team. The Cardinals were 0–2 in the conference tournament losing to fifth seeded Northwestern State 1–2 and sixth seeded McNeese 0–3.

Preseason Southland Conference Coaches Poll The Southland Conference Coaches Poll was released on February 8, 2024. Incarnate Word was picked to finish fourth in the Southland Conference with 81 votes.

Coaches poll 1 Nicholls 126 (14) 2 Lamar 106 (1) 3 New Orleans 92 (3) 4 Incarnate Word 81 5 McNeese 67 6 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 55 7 Southeastern Louisiana 53 8 Northwestern State 42 9 Houston Christian 26

Preseason All-Southland team Ray Mendoza was named to the conference preseason first team. Cameron Crotte, Isaiah Zavala, and Grant Randall were named to the conference preseason second team.

First Team Edgar Alvarez* (NICH, SR, 1st Base) MaCrae Kendrick (NICH, SR, 2nd Base) Ethan Ruiz (LU, SR, 3rd Base) Parker Coddou* (NICH, SR, Shortstop) Miguel Useche (UNO, SR, Catcher) Rey Mendoza* (UIW, GR, Designated Hitter) Mitchell Sanford* (UNO, RJR, Outfielder) Samuel Benjamin* (HCU, SR, Outfielder) Issac Williams (UNO, SR, Outfielder) Jacob Mayers* (NICH, SO, Starting Pitcher) Brooks Caple* (LU, SR, Starting Pitcher) Hunter Hesseltine* (LU, JR, Starting Pitcher) Gavin Galy* (NICH, RJR, Relief Pitcher) Kanin Dodge (LU, SR, Utility) *-2023 Southland All-Conference Selection

Second Team Cameron Crotte (UIW, SR, 1st Base) Austin Roccaforte (LU, SR, 2nd Base) Dylan Mach (UNO, SR, 3rd Base) Jake Haze* (SLU, GR, Shortstop) Bo Willis (NWST, SR, Catcher) River Orsak (LU, SR, Designated Hitter) Garrett Felix (NICH, SR, Outfielder) Cooper Hext (MCNS, SR, Outfielder) Christian Smith-Johnson (TAMUCC, SO, Outfielder) Chase Prestwich (NWST, JR, Starting Pitcher) Isaiah Zavala (UIW, GR, Starting Pitcher) Jacob Ellis (LU, SR, Starting Pitcher) Jackson Cleveland (LU, JR, Relief Pitcher) Isaiah Zavala (UIW, SR, Utility) *-2023 Southland All-Conference Selection

Personnel

Roster 2024 Incarnate Word Cardinals Roster Pitchers 5 – Adam Byrd – LHP – junior (6'0, 180) 11 – Larry Westall – RHP – senior (6'4, 185) 17 – Westin Walls – RHP – senior (6'5, 215) 18 – Luis Rodriguez – RHP – senior (6'0, 215) 19 – Garrett Coiner – RHP – sophomore (5'10, 165) 20 – EJ Garcia – RHP – sophomore (5'10, 170) 23 – Braden Berry – RHP – senior (6'3, 230) 27 – Dave Johnson – RHP – junior (6'4, 180) 30 – Thomas Urbina – RHP – junior (6'0, 200) 31 – Danny Davis – RHP – junior (6'6, 215) 34 – Carson Rollins – LHP – junior (6'2, 200) 37 – Sawyer Hansen – LHP – junior (6'1, 180) 38 – Ryan Schlotzhauer – LHP – junior (6'3, 190) 43 – Micah Berens – RHP – junior (6'4, 235) Catchers 3 – JD Gregson – junior (6'4, 205) 24 – AJ Herrera – freshman (5'10, 195) 25 – Luca Boscarino – junior (5'10, 195) 37 – Cole Williams – junior (6'2, 210)

Infielders 2 – Grant Randall – senior (5'10, 165) 7 – Tyler Cowan – junior (5'11, 180) 8 – Jayden Ramos – sophomore (5'9, 180) 13 – Cameron Crotte – senior (6'4, 195) 14 – Ryder Hernandez – junior (6'0, 190) 16 – Weldon Sherrell – junior (5'10, 180) 21 – Tony DeJesus – sophomore (6'0, 190) 26 – Matt Crump – junior (6'1, 200) 32 – Matt Marlow – graduate student (5'11, 200) 35 – Ryan Scott – junior (6'2, 225) 40 – Julio Riggs – graduate student (5'9, 175) 41 – Rob Liddington Jr. – junior (6'3, 190) Outfielders 1 – Daniel Calabrese – junior (5'11, 170) 4 – Sterling Sutcliffe – senior (6'2, 185) 29 – Sam Tormos – R/R – junior (6'3, 205) 36 – Jacob Caraway – L/L – freshman (6'3, 190) 46 – Matthew Flores-King – R/R – freshman (6'0, 175) 

Coaching staff Name Position Seasons atIncarnate Word Alma mater Ryan Shotzberger Head coach 5 McDaniel College (2004) Greg Evans Assistant Coach 5 Ole Miss (1985) Butch Rea Assistant Coach 1 Northeastern State Andrew Stumph Volunteer Assistant Coach 2 Texas State (2013) Chance Medina Director of Player Development 3 Incarnate Word (2021)

Schedule and results Legend Incarnate Word win Incarnate Word loss Postponement/Cancelation/SuspensionsBoldIncarnate Word team member * Non-Conference game

2024 Incarnate Word Cardinals baseball game log Regular season (25–29) February (7–2) Date Opponent Rank Site/stadiumSite Score Win Loss Save TV Attendance Overall record SLC RecordFebruary 16 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 12–7 ESPN+ 215 1–0 February 17 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 7–6 144 2–0 February 18 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 9–6 ESPN+ 92 3–0 February 20 at * 8 Olsen Field at Blue Bell ParkCollege Station, TX 3–9 None 4,870 3–1 February 21 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 22–7(7 inn) ESPN+ 53 4–1 February 23 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 14–4(7 inn) ESPN+ 74 5–1 February 24 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 15–0(7 inn) ESPN+ 92 6–1 February 25 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 18–1(7 inn) ESPN+ 94 7–1 February 27 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 10–15 ESPN+ 44 7–2 March (8–9) Date Opponent Rank Site/stadium Score Win Loss Save TV Attendance Overall record SLC RecordMarch 1 at * Lou St. Amant FieldMonroe, LA 5–6 936 7–3 March 2 at * Lou St. Amant FieldMonroe, LA 7–4 967 8–3 March 3 at * Lou St. Amant FieldMonroe, LA 1–7 961 8–4 March 5 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 7–5 ESPN+ 45 9–4 March 6 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 23–20 ESPN+ 37 10–4 March 8 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 11–4 ESPN+ 65 11–4 March 9 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 6–0 ESPN+ 195 12–4 March 10 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 11–4 ESPN+ 162 13–4 March 12 at * 23 UFCU Disch–Falk FieldAustin, TX 1–7 7,211 13–5 March 19 at * UTRGV Baseball StadiumEdinburg, TX 4–5 ESPN+ 1,612 13–6 March 22 Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 12–2(7 inn) ESPN+ 103 14–6 1–0March 23 Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 5–11 ESPN+ 144 14–7 1–1March 24 Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 12–14 ESPN+ 152 14–8 1–2March 26 at * Cecil Ballow Baseball ComplexStephenville, TX 4–8 403 14–9 Mar 28 at Maestri Field at Privateer ParkNew Orleans, LA 2–12(8 inn) ESPN+ 324 14–10 1–3Mar 29 at Maestri Field at Privateer ParkNew Orleans, LA 2–0 ESPN+ 308 15–10 2–3Mar 30 at Maestri Field at Privateer ParkNew Orleans, LA 9–10 ESPN+ 367 15–11 2–4 April (8–9) Date Opponent Rank Site/stadium Score Win Loss Save TV Attendance Overall record SLC RecordApril 2 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 4–7 ESPN+ 88 15–12 April 5 at * Baylor BallparkWaco, TX 7–13 1,783 15–13 April 6 at Baylor* Baylor BallparkWaco, TX 3–15 1,837 15–14 April 7 at Baylor* Baylor BallparkWaco, TX 14–1(8 inn) 1,667 16–14 April 9 at * Reckling ParkHouston, TX 11–5 1,783 17–14 April 10 at * Lee–Hines FieldBaton Rouge, LA – – Apr 12 at Joe Miller BallparkLake Charles, LA 8–6 ESPN+ 945 18–14 3–4Apr 13 at Joe Miller BallparkLake Charles, LA 10–3 ESPN+ 986 19–14 4–4Apr 14 at Joe Miller BallparkLake Charles, LA 10–5 ESPN+ 989 20–14 5–4April 16 * Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 10–8 ESPN+ 105 20–15 Apr 19 Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 6–3 ESPN+ 75 21–15 6–4Apr 20 Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 10–6 ESPN+ 84 22–15 7–4Apr 21 Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 5–0 ESPN+ 94 23–15 8–4April 23 at * Bobcat Baseball StadiumSan Marcos, TX 0–10(7 inn) 1,777 23–16 Apr 26 at Vincent–Beck StadiumBeaumont, TX 3–11 ESPN+ 1,307 23–17 8–5Apr 27 at Vincent–Beck StadiumBeaumont, TX 2–3 ESPN+ 1,011 23–18 8–6Apr 28 at Vincent–Beck StadiumBeaumont, TX 2–8 ESPN+ 1,009 23–19 8–7Apr 30 at * John W. Tankersley FieldPrairie View, TX 6–7 72 23–20 May (2–9) Date Opponent Rank Site/stadium Score Win Loss Save TV Attendance Overall record SLC RecordMay 3 Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 7–6 ESPN+ 97 24–20 9–7May 4 Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 6–7 ESPN+ 115 24–21 9–8May 5 Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 7–10 ESPN+ 117 24–22 9–9May 7 at * Crutcher Scott FieldAbilene, TX 5–9 ESPN+ 337 24–23 May 10 Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 0–9 ESPN+ 113 24–24 9–10May 11 Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 7–13 ESPN+ 136 24–25 9–11May 12 Sullivan FieldSan Antonio, TX 11–12 ESPN+ 153 24–26 9–12May 14 at * Roadrunner FieldSan Antonio, TX 3–13(8 inn) 682 24–27 May 16 at Husky FieldHouston, TX 2–4 113 24–28 9–13May 18 vs Vincent–Beck StadiumBeaumont, TX 3–5 ESPN+ 24–29 9–14May 18 vs Vincent–Beck StadiumBeaumont, TX 14–4 ESPN+ 25–29 10–14 Postseason (1–1) (1–1) Date Opponent (Seed)/Rank Site/stadium Score Win Loss Save TV Attendance Overall record Tournament recordMay 22 vs. (1) Lamar (8) Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni FieldHammond, LA 6–3 ESPN+ 26–29 1–0May 23 vs. (5) McNeese (8) Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni FieldHammond, LA 2–6 ESPN+ 26–30 1–1May 24 vs. (1) Lamar (8) Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni FieldHammond, LA 6–18(7 inn) ESPN+ 26–31 1–2 Schedule source:

*Rankings are based on the team's current ranking in the D1Baseball poll.

See also 2024 Incarnate Word Cardinals softball team

References