SAN ANGELO – Michael Lange struck out seven and threw a complete game to lead the No. 14th-ranked Angelo State baseball team to a 7-4 series finale win over No. 11 Southern Arkansas and give the Rams a 2-1 series win on Saturday at Foster Field.

The Rams (6-1) opened the day with a 17-8 loss to the Muleriders (5-2), but used a 118-pitch performance by Lange (2-0) to earn the series win.

“As the game went on I really felt like I was getting stronger,” Lange said. “I was able to spot my fastball low and keep my slider on the corner. It was a huge win for us and one that we really needed. I knew that I had a job to do and that was to keep them from not scoring too much. I knew we were going to get some runs and I just needed to keep the score low.”

Angelo State, which improved to 2-5 all-time against Southern Arkansas, finished the series hitting .315 with six doubles, two triples and three home runs. Reggie Rodriguez delivered a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Lange a three-run cushion, while Quaid McKinnon had a double and triple and finished with three hits in the series finale. Ryan Greer added three hits for the Rams, while Lee Neumann had two RBI and hit his second triple of the season.

Rodriguez and Neumann each finished the series hitting .500, with Rodriguez leading the team with seven hits and Neumann leading the Rams with six RBI in the three-game series. Greer, Neumann, Tyler Coughenour and McKinnon all had four hits in the series.

The Rams trailed 3-1 in the series finale after four innings, but scored three in the fifth to take a lead that they would never give back. Andrew LaCombe led the inning off with a walk and scored on a single by Rodriguez through the right side of the infield for the first run of the inning. Rodriguez would score on McKinnon's double to right field and Neumann would follow with a triple to score McKinnon.

The run support was enough for Lange who threw his career's first nine-inning complete game and established a new career high with the seven strikeouts.

“That was a dude that went out there and competed,” said ASU head coach Kevin Brooks of Lange. “That was awesome what he did for us. He'll always tell me the truth and we all trust him to get the job done. I'm glad he's on our team.”

The win came after Southern Arkansas put it on the Rams in the first game of the doubleheader and gave an early-season glimpse into the resolve of this year's team.

“I think it does show that we have mental strength and toughness early in the season,” said Christian Summers, who turned a 5-3 double play to end the game. “We knew we had to get this win after the lopsided score and win the series. It was a close one at the end but we did what we had to do to win the series.”

Reggie Rodriguez and Tyler Coughenour had three hits each to lead the Rams who finished the first game with 13 hits as a team. Christian Summers hit his first home run as a Rams with an opposite field two-run shot that went over the left-field fence to give ASU a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Rams would tack on two more runs on RBI singles from Andrew LaCombe and Luke Solomon to give ASU a 4-0 lead after the opening inning. Solomon had two hits, including the first double of his career.

Southern Arkansas, which hit three home runs, improved to 5-1 on the season with the opening-game win behind a 17-hit performance. The Muleriders broke open a close game that had the Rams leading 7-5 through five innings with seven runs in the top of the seventh inning. Jason Dahl had three doubles, while Ryan Dardenne, Bryan Capshaw and Ryan Bell had home runs.

Mason Leavitt had three strikeouts in 3.2 innings after entering the game in the first inning for starting pitcher Jake Feckley who left the game after facing one batter with an undisclosed arm issue. Leavitt gave up four runs in his longest outing of the season.

The Rams used six pitchers in the opener, including Feckley, Leavitt, Albert, Bryant Rutledge, James Conlee and Graylon Brown.

Angelo State returns to action at 3 p.m. on Tuesday against McMurry University at Walt Driggers Field in Abilene before hosting a three-game series against Lubbock Christian next weekend at Foster Field.