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SAN ANGELO – Bryce Zak threw six scoreless innings and No. 15 Angelo State used a three-run eighth inning to break open a close game in a 4-0 non-conference win over Bellarmine University on Monday at Foster Field.

Zak (3-0) has now thrown 15 straight scoreless innings for the Rams (11-5), while Reggie Rodriguez hit his third home run of the season to lead off a two-hit, three-run eighth inning. The Knights (3-3) finished the game with five hits and didn't commit an error in the field.

“I'm feeling really confident in what I'm doing,” Zak said. “I have a feel for all four pitches right now and that's really helping me keep the hitters off balance. I know I have a great defense behind me and they're making all the plays. I'm pitching to my strengths.”

Zak, who now has a 1.53 ERA through 29.1 innings of work this season, had a season-high seven strikeouts in the win and didn't walk a single Knight in the game.  

“Bryce didn't have his velocity, but he kept the ball down and had good movement,” ASU head coach Kevin Brooks added. “He attacked the zone early and used his slider and changeup well. I think that's big for him moving forward to show that he doesn't have to be 90 to go get guys out.”

Mike Weatherly made his first appearance of the season out of the bullpen, going two innings of hitless baseball with two strikeouts. Austin Church completed the game with two strikeouts in the ninth inning.

Ryan Greer led the Rams with three hits in the game, while Tyler Coughenour had two RBI. Coughenour grounded out to third base to score Luke Solomon in the third inning for the game's first run and also earned an RBI with a bases loaded walk to make the score 3-0 in the eighth. Quaid McKinnon also took a bases loaded walk for an RBI.

Angelo State improves to 4-3 at home on the year and finished the game with six hits, but did strikeout 12 times and stranded 11 runners on base.

“We need to start swinging at strikes,” Greer said. “We were swinging at a lot of pitches out of the zone today. We need to produce more.”

Kyle Grana (0-1) received the loss despite striking out 11 Rams in six innings of work for Bellarmine. Grana allowed only three hits and worked around five walks in a 124-pitch effort.

“We have to cut down on our strikeouts,” Brooks added. “I thought their pitcher was really good, but I thought we could have had better approaches with more plate discipline. I was pleased with how we competed throughout the game though. We got after it for nine innings.”

Angelo State and Bellarmine will complete their two-game set at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Foster Field. Bryant Rutledge (0-1) is scheduled to make his third start of the season for the Rams.