Angelo State at Texas A&M-Kingsville
6 p.m. on Friday at Nolan Ryan Field
1 p.m. on Saturday at Nolan Ryan Field (doubleheader)
1 p.m. on Sunday at Nolan Ryan Field

Angelo State Rams
Overall Record: 16-4; LSC: 0-0
Streak: Won 1
Rankings: No. 4 Collegiate Baseball; No. 20 NCBWA; No. 21 D2BaseballNews; No. 22 College Baseball Lineup

Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas
Overall Record: 10-3; LSC: 0-0
Streak: Won 2
Rankings: None

Pitching Matchups
Game 1
ASU: Jake Feckley, So. (3-0, 2.52 ERA, 25.0 IP, 19 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 6 BB, 26 K)
TAMUK: Jaden Dillon, Sr. (3-0, 1.07 ERA, 25.1 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 8 BB, 34 K)
Game 2
ASU: Rick Reyna, Sr. (3-2, 3.00 ERA, 27.0 IP, 23 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 3 BB, 32 K)
TAMUK: Adam Aspaas, Sr. (2.49 ERA, 25.1 IP, 23 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 24 K)
Game 3
James Conlee, Jr. (2-0, 2.53 ERA, 21.1 IP, 18 H, 6 ER, 6 ER, 12 BB, 18 K)
Zach Pettiford, Jr. (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K)
Game 4
ASU: Michael Lange, Jr. (2-0, 2.70 ERA, 13.1 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 11 K)
TAMUK: TBA

Program vs. Program
Overall Series: ASU leads 18-10
At Nolan Ryan Field: ASU leads 8-4
Last season: TAMUK won series 2-1 at Foster Field

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ANGELO STATE BASEBALL

SAN ANGELO, Texas – No. 4 Angelo State opens Lone Star Conference action this weekend away from home with a four-game series against the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas at Nolan Ryan Field.

The Rams (16-4) have not played in 12 days after winning a three-game series over Central Oklahoma at Foster Field, while the Javelinas are coming off a 10-1 win over No. 7 St. Mary's on Tuesday. TAMUK (10-3) is 5-1 in its last six games and have outscored its opponents 33-14 during that stretch.

“They are playing as good, or better, than anyone else in the conference and it's going to be a huge challenge for us,” ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. “They are pitching unbelievably and they are starting to swing the bats and playing good defense. They are always very tough at home, so it's going to be a huge challenge for us. Hopefully we'll be up for the task.”

Team Breakdowns

Angelo State Rams

The Rams have won all four of their series this season, including sweeps over Ouachita Baptist, Southeastern Oklahoma and Colorado State-Pueblo. ASU is outscoring its opponents 131-64 this season and have a pitching staff earned run average of 2.60 going into the weekend series at Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Rams are off to their best start in school history and are ranked in every Division II poll, including a program's best No. 4 ranking in the Collegiate Baseball poll.

ASU has had two extended winning streaks, including streaks of six and eight-games... Angelo State is 281-153 all-time in program history after going through its 2012 non-conference schedule with a 16-4 record and are 146-81 all-time in LSC play going into this weekend... The Rams are outscoring opponents 17-7 in the first inning, 15-6 in the second, 16-2 in the fifth and 7-0 in the eighth… ASU is 4-1 in away games and 2-2 in neutral site games this season… The Rams are 13-3 when playing during the day and 3-1 at night… ASU is 18-10 all-time against the Javelinas and are 8-4 when playing at Nolan Ryan Field.

The Rams are hitting .307 as a team this year with seven players hitting over .300… Ryan Greer , a junior from Glendale, Ariz., leads the team with a .373 average and the conference with 11 stolen bases… Greer, who has six multi-hit games this season, is tied with Toby Semler for the team lead with 25 hits for the year… Semler, who started his collegiate career at Midland College before coming to ASU last year, leads the team with five doubles and 72 plate appearances… Andrew LaCombe, who is a Southlake native, is hitting .351 with four doubles in his first season with the Rams after transferring from Texas State and leads the Rams with a .493 on-base percentage and has thrown out nine runners trying to steal a base… Tate Allison leads ASU with three home runs this season is double-digits in runs scored (12) and hits (11).

Brenham native Lee Neumann (.333) and Phoenix, Ariz. native Quaid McKinnon (.324) have provided consistent hitting and run production. McKinnon leads the team with 17 RBI with Neumann and Brett Parsons adding 14 RBI each… Doug Snover leads the team with 50 fielding assists from second base and has become a threat at the plate, boosting his batting average to .305 and scoring 18 runs. Snover, who along with LaCombe and Neumann are on team-leading three-game hitting streaks, is currently on a 13-game streak of reaching base… Greer leads the team this season with a stretch of 16 games of reaching base… Senior shortstop Zach Cohen missed the first two weeks of the season with injury but has returned to solidify the defense and add to the offense.

Jake Feckley (3-0) carries a 2.52 earned run average and 26 strikeouts into the weekend and is coming off a win over Central Oklahoma in his previous start. Feckley, who started his college career at Texas A&M after a stellar high school career at Wylie, has been named LSC Pitcher of the Week and D2BaseballNews.com's National Pitcher of the Week this season… Rick Reyna (3-2) is a two-time LSC Pitcher of the Week and leads the team with 32 strikeouts and has been named the LSC Pitcher of the Week twice and the NCBWA's National Pitcher of the Week.

Game 3 starter James Conlee (2-0) is coming off his best start of the season in a win over UCO in the series finale and his a .253 ERA coming into the Rams' trip to Kingsville. The junior from Georgetown has pitched in six games this season and is holding opponents to a .228 batting average… Michael Lange (2-0) has added depth to the Rams' pitching staff this season, earning both of his wins in starts and also serving as a reliever… Lange has a 2.70 ERA and has struck out 11 in 13 innings of work this season… Michael Weatherly (2-0) has solidified his spot as the team's closer and showed he can go more than an inning if needed. Weatherly, who is a Mesquite native and has a LSC Pitcher of the Week honor to his name, went three innings of relief of Conlee in the Rams' series finale over UCO and pushed his strikeout total to 22 in only 13 innings of work.



Texas A&M-Kingsville
The Javelinas are led by Cuero native Jason Gonzales who is in his fourth year as head coach. TAMUK is 10-3 this season after ending last season with a 24-24 record. The Javelinas, who are 9-2 at home this season, are off to their best start to a season since 2006 where they finished with a 35-19 season.

Dillon will carry an impressive 1.07  ERA and 3-0 record into his Friday night start for the Javelinas. The senior from Bridge City, pitched two years at McNeese State before transferring. He ranks ninth in the nation in hits per game and has recorded 34 strikeouts in 25.1 innings of work. Game 2 and 3 will be started by native Californians in Aspaas and Pettiford. Aspaas comes into the series with a 2.49 ERA in his senior season, while Pettiford has a 0.00 ERA through 10.0 innings. He has struck out 10 and allowed five hits in those frames. Denver Diefenbach, a big right-hander from Victoria, is a possible Game 4 starter. The sophomore has one start and four appearances this season and has struck out four in 7.1 innings of work.

Ben Villafuerte leads the Javelinas with a .359 batting average and is one of three players to hit a home run this season. The junior, who went to Corpus Christi Carroll, is also has six RBI. Trent Wagner, a junior out of Victoria, is hitting .333 through the first 13 games of the season. Wagner, who went to St. Joseph High and Memorial High before heading off to Kingsville, is tied with Dustin Aguilar for a team-leading seven stolen bases. Wagner now has 31 stolen bases for his career.

Leadoff hitter Joe Tallerine is hitting .282 and leads the team with 14 runs scored, while Jake Mendiola (.318) and Mario Siller (.308) round out the four Javelinas who are hitting over .300. As a team, TAMUK is hitting .250 with 95 hits, 21 doubles, three triples and three home runs.