Series Schedule
Friday: ASU won 16-0
Saturday: 4 p.m. doubleheader
Sunday: 2 p.m.

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Program vs. Program
This season: ASU leads series 1-0
Overall series: Abilene Christian leads 23-13
At Foster Field: Abilene Christian leads 6-3
All-time postseason: Angelo State leads 1-0
Last season: Angelo State swept series, 3-0 (10-1, 13-7, 14-7)
 
 
SAN ANGELO, Texas – No. 15 Angelo State pounded out 18 hits and took a 16-0 run-shortened Lone Star Conference win over Abilene Christian on Friday at Foster Field in the first game of its four-game series which will close out the regular season.
 
Angelo State (33-14, 17-8 LSC) is now in sole possession of first place and a game and a half ahead of Texas A&M-Kingsville (16-10 LSC) which was swept in a doubleheader on Friday against Incarnate Word. The Cardinals (16-9 LSC) are a game behind the Rams in the standings, while West Texas A&M (15-10 LSC) is two games behind.
 
Quaid McKinnon led the Rams at the plate with three hits and five runs batted in – including hitting his first two home runs of the season. McKinnon, a junior from Phoenix, Ariz., set his single-game high with his RBI total while it was his 13th multi-hit game of the season.
 
“I was really just doing the same thing I've been doing all year,” McKinnon said. “All I try to do is see the ball and then hit the ball. I have never tried to hit a home run and I didn't do that tonight. I got really lucky a couple of times and they went out.”
 
Lee Neumann had his 22nd multi-hit game of the season with a three-hit game, including hitting his team-leading sixth of the season with a shot to center field in the fourth inning. At that point, the game had been broken wide open after the Rams had a seven-hit, eight-run first inning against the Wildcats. Brett Parsons, Ryan Greer, Toby Semler and Doug Snover each had two hits in the game, while Tate Allison, Brett David, Andrew LaCombe and Zach Cohen also contributed to the hit total. Cohen's leadoff ground-rule double into the left-field bullpen started the offensive explosion.
 
Matt Rechkemmer (2-0) earned the win for the Rams after going 5.2 innings in his fourth start of the season. Rechkemmer, a senior from Lubbock, took full advantage of the run support and only allowed four hits in 22 batters faced. Pitching in his final regular-season game of his career, the lefty left to a standing ovation from the Foster Field crowd.
 
“It almost made me tear up,” Rechkemmer said. “I had to bite my tongue as I walked off the mound and heard and saw everyone in the stands. It was an awesome moment for me. Any baseball player dreams of. It's a really good feeling knowing how appreciated all of our hard work is.”
 
Angelo State and Abilene Christian return to action at 4 p.m. on Saturday for a doubleheader before concluding the series with a single game at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The Rams' “Magic Number” is at three for its first LSC Championship since 2007.
 
“I expect Abilene Christian to come out here ready to go,” ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. “They are a great program and are not going to let this game's result affect them tomorrow. I don't expect another game like this one for the rest of the series.”

Additional Notes

• The win was the 298th in program history and in the head coaching career of Brooks
• It was the 11th time this season the Rams scored in double-digits
• The 16 runs matched a season high (16-3 win over Ouachita Baptist on Feb. 5)
• The shutout was the Rams' sixth of the season, but the first since Feb. 28 (2-0 win over Texas A&M International)
• ASU is now 21-4 overall and 11-2 in LSC play at Foster Field
• McKinnon also set a single-game career high with 9 total bases
• Greer leads the Rams with 42 RBI after adding two more on Friday
• Semler has 20 multi-hit games this season
• Neumann extended his hitting streak to 9 games, while McKinnon has a 6-game streak
• Reached-base streaks: Neumann (17), Semler (16), Cohen (12)
• ASU is 17-6 with Cohen batting leadoff
• Neumann leads ASU with 6 HR, 8 triples, 16 doubles, 116 total bases and a .393 batting average

 
Additional Quotes
 
Kevin Brooks // ASU head coach
On Matt Rechkemmer's performance on the mound for the Rams:
He has thrown great two weeks in a row for us. He has been really big for us and has answered the call when we needed him. He got some run support and didn't waste it.
 
On the Rams' offensive production in Friday's 16-0 win over ACU:
The team did a great job all night at the plate. They were just hitting the ball all over the park and were not trying to do too much out there. We are a great hitting team when we don't try to do too much.
 
On Quaid McKinnon hitting two home runs:
We were sitting in the cage this morning talking about him not hitting any home runs. We were kind of making fun of him, but he's just been a great hitter for us all season. It's nice to see him hit those home runs.

 
 
Matt Rechkemmer // ASU senior
On the importance of winning the series opener against Abilene Christian:
Getting the first game is huge. It builds momentum. If we continue to take care of business we are going to be conference champions. It's very important for us just to come out and take care of business.
 
On the Rams' offensive production on Friday against ACU:
It makes my job a lot easier when they go out there and do that. I just threw strikes and let the defense make plays. I didn't strike anyone out and we played solid defense.
 
 
 
Quaid McKinnon // ASU junior first baseman
On his general impressions of the Rams' 16-0 win on Friday over ACU:
It was a great overall game for us. Rechkemmer threw great and our defense made the plays it needed to behind him. It was a really good for us.
 
On staying focused the rest of the series and closing out the regular season:
We have a chance to win this conference and that is exciting. But we still have a lot of work to do to get this done. You can't try to do too much out there. We'll see how it goes.