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SAN ANTONIO – Jake Albert threw 7.2 innings with seven strikeouts and no runs allowed to lead the Angelo State baseball team to a 4-3 Lone Star Conference win over Incarnate Word in the series finale on Sunday at Daniel Sullivan Field.

"Jake really put the team on his back in this game,” ASU senior Andrew LaCombe said. “It was a really big series for us that we had to win. The team never gave up in any of these games and we couldn't have asked anymore from Jake.”

The Rams (18-10, 4-4 LSC) won the series 3-1 with each of their three runs coming in one-run decisions. The Cardinals (16-11, 2-6 LSC) jumped out quick on ASU starter Bryce Zak with three runs in the first inning and led the game through the first six innings. Albert, who also earned the win in the series opener on Friday and improves to 3-1 on the season, finishes the series with a 0.93 ERA in 9.2 innings of work against the Cardinals.

“He threw strikes and kept getting ahead in the counts,” ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. “Jake doesn't beat himself. He's the type of pitcher who is going to make the other team beat him. He made some big pitches at crucial times and just kept competing. He was out of gas the last three innings he threw, but he kept finding ways to get outs.”

Bryant Rutledge earned his third save of the season by keeping the Cardinals scoreless in 1.1 inning of relief. Rutledge appeared in each of the four games against UIW and did not allow a run in 6.2 innings during the series.

LaCombe drove in the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly to center field to score Lee Neumann who had just delivered an RBI triple to right center that scored Christian Summers. Ryan Greer started ASU scoring with an RBI double down the right field in the top of the seventh and was followed by Reggie Rodriguez driving in Greer with a single to left field.

“I was really just trying to move the runner over and get a good swing at it,” Neumann said. “We struggled all game getting runs in and we had to do it in that inning.”

Summers led the Rams with three hits in the game and finished the four-game series hitting .500 with six hits in 12 at-bats. Summers is now hitting .365 for the Rams and leads the team with a .649 slugging percentage. Rodriguez had two hits in the series finale for the Rams who finished the game with seven hits.

LaCombe finished the series hitting .429 with six hits and four RBI. The senior captain played the final two games of the series in left field and continues to show his value.

“He's a great athlete and was huge for us this weekend,” said Brooks of LaCombe. “That's kind of the cornerstone of our program to have players who can play in multiple spots. Andrew is extremely versatile. David Goggin also came in there as a freshman catcher and did a great job for us this weekend.”

McKinnon struggled on Sunday with no hits in five at-bats, but had a strong series for the Rams. The senior first baseman hit .357 with five hits and five walks, while also scoring three runs. Neumann finished the series hitting .333 with three triples, a home run and three walks. The senior from Brenham is now hitting .373 with six triples and 29 RBI through the first 28 games of the season.

Geno Encina (4-4) received the loss for the Cardinals after allowing the two eighth inning runs, while Ryan Pudwell led the Cardinals with two RBI.

Angelo State returns to action this week with a four-game conference series against West Texas A&M at Foster Field. The series starts at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday with a doubleheader at 4 p.m. on Friday and the series finale at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Rams' game on Thursday will be the 500th in program history.