SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State baseball team returns to Lone Star Conference play this weekend with a four-game series against Eastern New Mexico at Greyhound Field in Portales, N.M.

ASU (21-12, 6-6 LSC) and ENMU (18-13, 5-7 LSC) are both coming into the series off Tuesday night wins with the Rams earning a 5-2 victory over No. 5 St. Mary's, while the Greyhounds took a 6-4 win over Wayland Baptist. ENMU has been dominant with a 14-1 record at home this season, including sweeping Cameron two weeks ago by a combined score of 34-17.

ASU, which is 11-3 on the road this season, will be making its fourth trip to ENMU in program history and are 6-5 all-time in Portales. The Rams, who hold a 22-10 all-time advantage over the Greyhounds, dropped their last series at ENMU (1-2) in 2011 and have not won a series there since 2006. ASU swept ENMU last season in a four-game series at Foster Field.

ANGELO STATE NOTES

Angelo State's pitching staff comes into the series with a 5.21 ERA with 216 strikeouts, 122 walks and 304 hits allowed. The Rams have used 14 different pitchers with seven different starters through the first 33 games.

Jake Albert (3-2) is scheduled to make the first start of his career in the first game of the series against ENMU. Albert, a junior right-hander from Conroe, has made 37 appearances out of the bullpen in his career and will be making his 11th appearance this season. He has a 4.12 ERA with 14 strikeouts and seven walks in 24 innings in 2013.

Jake Feckley (5-3) is coming off a complete game win over West Texas A&M last Saturday and is scheduled to start the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. Feckley, who was a second-team all-conference selection as a sophomore, has 39 strikeouts and a 2.61 ERA through 38 innings pitched as a junior. In his last three starts has shown his durability and competiveness with his pitch counts reaching 108, 111 and 98. He has only walked 10 batters all season.

Mike Weatherly (3-2) is scheduled to make his ninth start of the season in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader. Weatherly did not record a decision last week against WT, but continued to throw well for the Rams. The senior from Mesquite has struck out 39 and walked only 15 in 43.1 innings of work this season. Opponents have been limited to a .226 batting average against him this season and he has been a part of two shutouts.

The ASU starter for Sunday's series finale has not been determined.

Angelo State comes into the series hitting .310 with 227 singles, 71 doubles, 14 triples and 10 home runs. The Rams have a .406 on-base percentage with 133 walks and lead the conference with 84 stolen bases. ASU, which has seven players hitting over .300, is below its overall average with a .287 average in conference-only stats.

Lee Neumann leads the Rams' offense with a .364 batting average, 44 hits, six triples and 31 RBI this season. A senior from Brenham, Neumann is a .380 career hitter for ASU and ranks eighth in program history in that category. He is first in program history with 15 career triples and third with a .635 slugging percentage. His six triples this season rank first in the conference and puts him only one back for the national lead.

Quaid McKinnon took a bases loaded walk on Tuesday for an RBI against St. Mary's – his 29th walk of the season. He is 10th in the nation in walks and second in the Lone Star Conference. When he's not walking, McKinnon is putting up strong hitting stats. He is hitting .348 with 11 doubles and 16 RBI as a senior from Phoenix. He is currently third in program history with 70 walks and is only seven walks away from tying Trey Carter. He is a career .353 hitter with 110 hits – including 28 doubles, three triples and three home runs.

Ryan Greer had two hits at St. Mary's to take his career total to 108. The senior from Glendale, Ariz. is a .348 career hitter through his first 310 at-bats at ASU and is a constant threat once he gets on base. Greer has stolen 19 bases this season and has 48 steals in his career. He is currently second in the conference in steals and 20th in the nation.

Andrew LaCombe and Christian Summers are tied for the team and conference lead with 12 doubles this season. LaCombe, who is only nine hits shy of 100 for his career at ASU, comes into the series at ENMU with a .350 batting average this season along with 29 RBI. The senior from Southlake was a first-team all-conference selection last season. Summers, who is in his first year at ASU, has played great at shortstop this season and is hitting .352 on the season. He is second on the team with 22 walks and has hit three triples and two home runs to go along with his 12 doubles.

Reggie Rodriguez continues to lead the team with three home runs this season and is hitting .331 coming into the ENMU series. The junior right fielder has 11 doubles and a triple to go along with his three home runs and is third on the team with 22 RBI. He has started all 33 games this season.

Hunter Choate's stock continues to rise as the redshirt freshman continues to put together a strong season at third base. Choate is hitting .311 for the Rams and has seven hits and five RBI in his last five games. The Athens native has 12 RBI this season off 13 singles and a double in 45 at-bats. Tyler Coughenour had three hits last weekend against WT and is hitting .282 in his first season at ASU. The Wichita State transfer has three doubles, a triple and 13 RBI to his name this year. David Goggin is hitting .275 in his freshman season with seven RBI in 23 games played and 51 at-bats.

ENMU NOTES

Eastern New Mexico comes into the game hitting a conference-leading .351 as a team with 270 singles, 56 doubles, seven triples and 13 home runs. ENMU also leads the conference with 220 runs scored and has five players hitting over .380.

Peter Creamer, a senior catcher from Boston, leads the Greyhounds and the conference with a .460 batting average. A left-handed hitter, Creamer has 46 hits, 29 RBI and seven doubles. His batting average ranks fifth in the nation entering the weekend. In conference games, Creamer is hitting .500 through 36 at-bats.

Luis Quinones, a senior outfielder, is not far behind with a .438 batting average with seven doubles and 24 singles. Colton Sims is hitting .422 and has four home runs, while Jacob Rogers is hitting .391 with 14 RBI. Sims is a junior infield from Nevada. The Greyhounds have a .432 on-base percentage as a team. ENMU is hitting .322 in conference this season.

The Greyhounds enter the weekend with a 7.03 staff ERA in conference games this season. Ryan Pruitt (4-1, 2-0 LSC) has made five appearances out the bullpen for his wins, while Brett Humphries (4-2, 1-1 LSC) has six strikeouts and a 5.89 ERA through three starts in conference play. Jaspreet Shergill (2-3) has recorded 14 strikeouts through nine appearances, while Ben Monticello (3-2) has 23 strikeouts in 32 innings.
 
Humphries and Monticello are expected to start the first two games of the series for ENMU, but it has not been announced which pitcher will start which game. Shergill is the probable starter for the third game of the series with Ryan Boydstun (1-2, 5.62 ERA) the probable in the series finale.

SIDE NOTES

There's no getting around the fact Angelo State has committed 50 errors this season in 33 games, but it may not be as bad as it sounds. Of the errors, 58 percent of them have come in seven games this season. Those games include a seven and six-error game, a four-error game and four three-error games. The Rams have been errorless in 12 games this season and have only committed one error in five more games. ASU has a .958 team fielding percentage and four of the top fielder's in program history with 100 or more chances. Ryan Greer leads the program with a .992 career fielding percentage, while Quaid McKinnon is second with a .991 percentage, Andrew LaCombe third with a .990 percentage and Lee Neumann sixth with a .988 percentage.
Angelo State teams are known for getting better as seasons progress. The Rams are 134-65 all-time in games played after April 1 in program history.

UP NEXT
Following the four-game series at ENMU, the Rams will return home for their final five games at Foster Field this season. ASU will host McMurry on Tuesday in a non-conference game before playing Tarleton State next weekend. Sunday's game will be Senior Day for Nate Alter, Austin Church, James Conlee, Ryan Greer, Andrew LaCombe, Michael Lange, Quaid McKinnon, Lee Neumann, Bryant Rutledge, Travis Stavinoha and Mike Weatherly.