Baseball opens at home with weekend series

By Miranda Ramirez LOGOS SPORTSWRITER

The Cardinals baseball team will open the season at home with a threegame, weekend series Friday against the Cougars from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

Head Coach Ryan Shotzberger has been preparing the team for this season with long practices, scrimmaging, and plenty of field time.

Shotzberger has been running the show since June 2019 at the University of the Incarnate Word. During his collegiate coaching career, he’s seen 60 of his past players be drafted, a showing of how influential his teaching methods can be as he’s working with Cardinals such as seniors Steve Hayward, a right-handed pitcher, and catcher Hernan Yanez.

Before coming to UIW, Shotzberger was an assistant coach at the University of Houston. Prior to that he was at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. His first season at UIW was cut short due to COVID-19, with the team maintaining a 9-7 record before having to shut it down. The 2021 team posted a 21-28 overall record. In 2022, he led the team to its deepest run in the Southland Conference Tournament in UIW’s Division I program history.

The Cardinals ended the regular season 21-31, going 9-15 in SLC play. UIW defeated Northwestern State and Nicholls to meet McNeese in the semifinal round. Six UIW student-athletes were named to the SLC All-Conference team.

Besides what happens on the field, the coach and his staff also try to get the most from hi their players off the field, making sure the student-athletes are on top of their grades. The team has a 3.34 grade point average. And five players have 4.0s. Alumni also speak to the team, giving them advice as well as tips on becoming more successful.

“Baseball is different from many other sports,” Shotzberger said. “It is not a game against the air. The more you play the better you are.”