ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The 14th-ranked Angelo State baseball team opened the 2013 season with a doubleheader sweep of Ouachita Baptist behind a 3-0 opening-game win followed by a 6-2 victory in the second game on Friday at Rab Rodgers Field.

The Rams (2-0) outhit the Tigers (0-2) 19-9 with 17 hits being singles to go along with a Lee Neumann triple and Reggie Rodriguez hitting a double. Mike Weatherly and Michael Lange earned the wins for the Rams, while Travis Stavinoha recorded the save in the day's first game. ASU and OBU will resume the four-game series at noon on Saturday with another doubleheader.

“I thought we did a good job of grinding it out and playing solid,” ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. “We made some good plays at the right time and came up with hits when we needed them. I thought the most exciting part was seeing some guys step up and take advantage of their opportunities."

Five Rams finished the day with three hits, including Tanner Kalina, Quaid McKinnon, Luke Solomon, Rodriguez and Neumann. Angelo State, which made only one error on the day, improves to 13-3 all-time against OBU going into Saturday's doubleheader. ASU hit .302 as a team in the doubleheader and .278 with runners in scoring position. The Tigers were held to a .180 team batting average by Angelo State pitching which combined for 10 strikeouts and 13 walks.

GAME TWO  // Angelo State 6, Ouachita Baptist 2 (7 innings)

Lange went six innings and earned the win for the Rams in the second game, striking out three and working through six hits and three walks. Lange, who went 9-1 last season, gave up two earned runs and is now 2-0 in his career against Ouachita Baptist.

“It was a typical Lange game where he goes out there and battles,” Brooks said. “He'll let some base runners on at times, but he usually finds his way out of it. If we can score a few runs behind him, he's usually going to pick up the win.”

Angelo State broke the game open with three runs in the fifth inning with Andrew LaCombe and Reggie Rodriguez providing RBI and Quaid McKinnon scoring on a passed ball which gave the Rams a 3-2 lead. Rodriguez delivered a double that scored Luke Solomon following LaCombe's sacrifice fly to center field which scored Lee Neumann who had reached base on a single to right field.

Hunter Choate singled to right field in the second inning to tie the game at 1-1 and Neumann scored on a passed ball to give the Rams a 2-1 lead in the third inning following a leadoff triple. Neumann, who set the ASU single-season record with nine triples last season, finished the game as the only Ram with two hits in the game.

“I thought we did a good job of hitting the ball the other way instead of trying to pull everything,” Neumann said. “I thought we did all right, but there's a lot we need to improve on to get to where we are capable of.”

Tyler Coughenour, McKinnon, Solomon, Rodriguez, Tanner Kalina and Choate accounted for the eight Ram hits in the game.


GAME ONE  // Angelo State 3, Ouachita Baptist 0 (9 innings)

Weatherly went six scoreless innings to help lead the Angelo State baseball team to a 3-0 season-opening win over Ouachita Baptist in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday at Rab Rodgers Field.

The Ramsscored all their runs in the fourth inning and outhit the Tigers (0-1) 11-3 in the game. Weatherly (1-0) struck out five hitters and allowed only three hits in his career's first start at ASU following serving as the team's closer last season as a junior. Stavinoha came in to pitch with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning to secure the first save of his career.

“I was excited to be out there in the starter's role,” Weatherly said. “I was trying to have a good start to get the momentum going for us and I thought I threw pretty well for the first game. I definitely have higher expectations for myself, but I thought it was a good game for all of us. We were all confident, but also relaxed and ready to take care of why we came here.”

Luke Solomon went 2 for 4 in the game and drove in the first run of the game with a single to right field that scored Ryan Greer who led off the fourth inning with a single and then stole second base and reached third on a throwing error. Hunter Choate followed with a RBI single to score Solomon to score the second run and Tanner Kalina stole home after reaching on a single.

The RBIs were the first in the careers of Choate and Solomon who were both redshirted last season and both played for the Hornets at Athens High School.

McKinnon, Rodriguez, Solomon and Kalina each led the Rams with two hits each, while Neumann, Greer and Choate each had one hit.

Mason Leavitt saw two innings of work in his first game as a Ram. He had two strikeouts and worked around two walks to hold the Tigers scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings. Jake Albert and Austin Church both pitched in the ninth inning before Stavinoha came in to coax a fly ball to center field to end the game.

Davis Ward takes the loss for OBU after giving up two earned runs and allowing eight hits in eight innings.

Angelo State is now 4-5 all-time in season-opening games.