SAN ANTONIO, Texas – SIUE baseball dropped game two of its season-opening series at Incarnate Word, falling 5-1 Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars and Cardinals are each 1-1 and will play the rubber game Sunday at 12 p.m.

UIW starter Isaiah Zavala (1-0) struck out 11 Cougars in 5.1 innings. The Cougars' only run came when Brady Bunten walked with the bases loaded in the sixth inning.

"He did a nice job mixing his pitches," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. "Our approach needs to be a little better, but he was good using the slider against us."

Otto Stacey and Steve Hayward combined to throw 3.2 scoreless innings.

SIUE starter Hayden Cooper allowed five runs on seven hits in his SIUE debut. Alec Carr hit a solo home run in the fourth before the Cardinals scored four times in the fifth inning. Cooper did not walk a batter and he struck out four.

"Hayden pitched well for four innings," Lyons said. "He ran into trouble in the fifth. It wasn't really self-induced. They got some hits off him.

Tyler DeLong made his first appearance for the Cougars finishing the fifth and working 3.2 scoreless innings in relief. He struck out two, did not walk a batter and gave up just a single hit.

"Tyler was great," Lyons said. "He gave us an opportunity to chip away at the lead."

Ole Arntson finished 2-4 with a pair of singles. He had the Cougars' only two hits. Carr was 1-3 with two RBIs for Incarnate Word. Wilson Ehrhardt had two hits for the Cardinals.

"We're tied 1-1 and we have the opportunity to win a series tomorrow," Lyons said.