Saturday: 4 p.m. at Wilder Park
Sunday: 1 p.m. at  Wilder Park
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game One
ASU: Rick Reyna, Sr. (3-3, 2.77 ERA, 39.0 IP, 37 H, 15 R, 12 ER, 6 BB, 42 K)
WT: Justin Kuks, Sr. (5-0, 2.65 ERA, 34.0 IP, 31 H, 13 R, 10 ER, 14 BB, 38 K)
Game Two
ASU: Jake Feckley, So. (3-1, 3.22 ERA, 36.1 IP, 36 H, 16 R, 13 ER, 9 BB, 27 K)
WT: Ryan Houston, Sr. (2-1, 4.15 ERA, 30.1 IP, 29 H, 15 R, 14 ER, 8 BB, 20 K)
Game Three
ASU: James Conlee, Jr. (2-0, 3.68 ERA, 29.1 IP, 26 H, 15 R, 12 ER, 17 BB, 25 K)
WT: Billy Gonzalez, Jr. (3-0, 2.82 ERA, 22.1 IP, 26 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 9BB, 26 K)
Game Four
ASU: Michael Lange, Jr. (3-0, 2.84 ERA, 25.1 IP, 23 H, 13 R, 8 ER, 6 BB, 21 K)
WT: TBA

Rankings
ASU: No. 7 Collegiate Baseball; No. 10 NCBWA; No. 20 College Baseball Lineup; No. 21 D2BaseballNews
WT: No. 22 Collegiate Baseball
 
Program vs. Program
Overall record: ASU leads 25-3
In Canyon: ASU leads 10-2
At the LSC Tournament: ASU leads 1-0
Last season: ASU won series, 3-0, in San Angelo

Media Links
Facebook.com/AngeloStateSports
Twitter.com/AngeloSports
Radio (All 4 games on KKSA & AngeloSports.com)
Live Stats
 

ANGELO STATE BASEBALL

 
SAN ANGELO, Texas – The seventh-ranked Angelo State Rams travel to Canyon this weekend to play a four-game series at Wilder Park against Lone Star Conference-leading and 22^nd-ranked West Texas A&M.
 
Angelo State (21-7, 5-3 LSC) is making its seventh road trip of the season and is 6-3 in those games away from San Angelo. The Buffs (20-6, 7-1 LSC) are 12-3 at home this season and have won 10 of their last 12 games.  WT has won both its LSC series this season – first sweeping Cameron by a combined score of 50-24 before topping Tarleton in three of the four games played. ASU opened LSC play with a 2-2 split against Texas A&M-Kingsville before taking three games last weekend against Incarnate Word.
 
ASU has swept WT in four of the seven series played between the two universities, including last season when the Rams took three games at Foster Field from the Buffs. ASU has won 10 of 12 games played in Canyon, but has not played at the Buffs' new field which is entirely artificial besides the pitching mound. This will be the first time ASU has played on artificial turf since the Rams split a doubleheader against Lubbock Christian at Hays Field in 2010.
 
“They are a very talented team that can find a lot of ways to score runs,” said ASU head coach Kevin Brooks of West Texas A&M. “They pitch well and play good defense. We are looking forward to the challenge.”
 
Team Breakdowns

ANGELO STATE RAMS (21-7, 5-3 LSC)
 
The No. 7 Rams are led by Kevin Brooks who is in his eighth season and has guided the program to 286 wins coming into the weekend. Brooks, whose father-in-law, Dennis Walling, was inducted into the WTAMU Hall of Champions in 2009 after coaching the Buffs' basketball team from 1967-73, has a 25-3 record against WT in his head coaching career.
 
ASU is coming off a solid offensive weekend where the team hit .368 in its four-game series against UIW. Quaid McKinnon and Lee Neumann lead the Rams' offensive production which is averaging 6.2 runs per game. The starting pitching rotation of Rick Reyna, Jake Feckley, James Conlee and Michael Lange provided four strong performances last weekend while the bullpen – led by Austin Church and Michael Weatherly – have the Rams owning a 17-0 record when they lead after six innings.
 
The Rams are hitting .302 for the season with 50 doubles, 13 triples and 16 home runs through the first 28 games, while the pitching staff has an impressive combined earned run average of 2.80. ASU is ranked third in batting, second in pitching and second in fielding in the LSC.
 
Neumann has been on a tear in the month of March and takes a seven-game hitting streak into the weekend. The junior from Brenham leads the Rams with a .368 batting average, nine doubles, five triples and is tied with Tate Allison with three home runs for the top spot. Neumann is only three triples away from the all-time single-season record at ASU after only the first 28 games of this year.
 
McKinnon was named the LSC Diamond Hitter of the Week on Monday after hitting .667 last weekend. The junior is hitting .357 for the season with 28 singles, six doubles and two triples. Toby Semler leads the Rams with 36 hits and is hitting .353 with six doubles, while Brett David (.343), Ryan Greer (.340), Andrew LaCombe (.325) and Brett Parsons (.302) account for the seven Rams hitting over .300. LaCombe leads the team with a .460 on-base percentage, while Greer leads the team and conference with 16 stolen bases. Greer's stolen base total matches the entire WT team's total. ASU has stolen 49 bases as a team this season with Doug Snover adding 10 and Neumann nine.
 
Reyna (3-3) will start Friday's game for the Rams against the potent Buff lineup. Reyna received a no-decision in his last start after providing six solid innings of work against UIW. The senior from Mission leads the Rams with 42 strikeouts in 39.0 innings of work and brings in a .277 earned run average. Jake Feckley (3-1) gets the rock for Saturday's first game for his seventh start of the season. The sophomore from Wylie also had a no-decision in ASU's second win of last weekend's series against UIW. Feckley has a 3.22 ERA through his first seven appearances and has struck out 27 in 36.1 innings. James Conlee (2-0) will start his sixth game of the year in Saturday's second game and brings in a 3.68 ERA and has limited opponents to a .239 batting average. The junior from Georgetown has compiled 25 strikeouts through 29.1 innings. Michael Lange (3-0) is coming off a win last Sunday against UIW where he struck out four in six smooth innings against the Cardinals. Lange will be making his sixth start of the season and has 21 strikeouts in 25.1 innings.
 
Church (2-1) and Weatherly (4-0) have been Brooks' go-to guys from the bullpen. Church was tagged with the loss last weekend against UIW, but has been above steady for the Rams this season. The junior from Missouri has struck out 26 in just 20.1 innings and has held opponents to a .197 batting average. Weatherly has established himself as the team's closer and leads the Rams with four wins this season. The junior from Mesquite has struck out 28 in 18.2 innings and limits opponents to a .188 average.
 
 
West Texas A&M Buffs (20-6, 7-1 LSC)

Matt Vanderburg is in his fourth season as the head coach at WT after three years at Clarendon Community College. Vanderburg has the Buffs leading the LSC in hitting with an overall .352 batting average and in the national polls this week for the first time this year.
 
Justin Henderson leads WT and the conference with a .429 batting average. The junior outfielder from Irving, has 30 hits in 70 at-bats and has four triples and 19 RBI. Eric Dorton (.398) has eight doubles, three triples and 25 RBI in his senior season, while Jess Cooper (.330) and Jordan Easom (.389) lead the Buffs and LSC with 26 RBI each. Cooper, a senior from South Dakota, was tabbed the LSC's Preseason Hitter of the Year, and is also tied with Easom and Parker Wood (.299) with five home runs each – also tops in the LSC.
 
The Buffs' pitching staff ranks fifth the conference with a team ERA of 4.83. Just Kuks (2.65 ERA), a senior from California, is slated to start on Friday and brings in a 5-0 record with 38 strikeouts through 34.0 innings of work. Ryan Houston (2-1) possesses a 4.15 ERA with 20 strikeouts through 30.1 innings and will start Saturday's first game, while Billy Gonzalez (3-0) has a 2.82 ERA through eight appearance. Saturday's nightcap with be Gonzalez' second start of junior season out of Rockdale. The series finale will be started by Jonathan Paez (1-0) or Steven Diaz (1-1).
 
WT has been outscored 14-12 in the first innings of games this season, but have outscored its opponents by a total of 235-133 through 26 games. The team leads the conference with 20 home runs, 77 doubles and 14 triples.
 
 
Up next
Tuesday, April 3, at 5 p.m.
Angelo State at Texas Tech
Thursday-Saturday, April 5-7
Eastern New Mexico at Angelo State