Angelo State Baseball (2013) Gallery NCAA DII South Central Championship Thursday, May 16 Game 1 - No. 3 St. Edward's University (38-15) vs. No. 4 Angelo State University (36-19), 11:00 a.m. Game 2 - No. 2 Colorado University Mesa (44-8) vs. No. 5 St. Mary's University (37-15), 3:00 p.m. Game 3 - No. 1 Texas A&M University-Kingsville (39-16) vs. No. 6 Colorado State University Pueblo (32-20), 7:00 p.m. Friday, May 17 Game 4 – Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 2, 11:00 a.m. Game 5 – Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 1, 3:00 p.m. Game 6 – Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 1, 7 p.m. If four teams remain after Game 6, the following schedule will be followed: Saturday, May 18 Game 7 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 11:00 a.m. Game 8 – Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 6, 3:00 p.m. Game 9 – Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7, 7 p.m. Sunday, May 19 Game 10 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 1 p.m. Game 11 – If necessary, same teams as in Game 10, 4:30 p.m. If five teams remain after Game 6 and two after Game 9, the following procedure will be observed: Saturday, May 18 Game 7 – Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 11:00 a.m. Game 8 – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 3:00 p.m. Game 9 – Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, 7 p.m. Sunday, May 20 Game 10 – Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 1 p.m. Game 11 – If necessary same teams as in Game 10, 4:30 p.m. If five teams remain after Game 6, and three after Game 9, the following procedure will be observed: Saturday, May 18 Game 7 - Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 11:00 a.m. Game 8 - Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 3:00 p.m. Game 9 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 6, 7 p.m. Sunday, May 19 Game 10 – Loser Game 9 vs. Winner Game 8, 1p.m. Game 11 – Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 4:30 p.m.

SAN ANGELO – Angelo State is returning to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship for the fourth time in program history after earning an at-large bid and the fourth seed in the South Central region which will be played at Nolan Ryan Field in Kingsville.

ASU (36-19) will open the six-team, double-elimination tournament at 11 a.m. on Thursday against No. 3 St. Edward's. The tournament also includes No. 1 Texas A&M-Kingsville, No. 2 Colorado Mesa, No. 5 St. Mary's and No. 6 Colorado State-Pueblo. The teams are vying for the regional championship which earns them a spot in the NCAA DII College World Series in Cary, N.C.

Angelo State, which is 7-5 all-time in regional tournaments, is making its first in-state regional appearance after traveling to Arkadelphia, Ark. in 2007 and then Warrensburg, Mo. in 2009 and 2012. ASU won the 2007 South Central regional tournament to advance to the NCAA DII World Series. Angelo State and the Hilltoppers have split a pair of regional tournament matchups against each other. St. Edward's took a 13-10 win last year to the Rams' season.

The Rams are 23-8 this season in games played away from San Angelo.

St. Edward's (38-15) earned the automatic bid out the Heartland Conference with a tournament championship over St. Mary's on Saturday. The Hilltoppers are headed to their third NCAA tournament in school history. The Rams and Hilltoppers have split their previous 10 all-time meetings. ASU's regional win over St. Edward's came in 2007 en route to its regional championship and DII College World Series appearance.
 
When the Rams have the baseball

The Angelo State pitching staff brings a 4.42 ERA into the tournament with 335 strikeouts and 186 walks through 448.1 innings of work this season. ASU has started nine different pitchers this season with 14 total pitchers making appearances. The Rams have thrown five shutouts and are limiting opponents to a .283 batting average. ASU has not announced a probable starter for Thursday's game.

Jake Feckley (10-4) enters the regional tournament with 57 strikeouts and a team leading 2.17 ERA through 10 starts and 18 appearances. The ASU junior right-hander was named to the LSC first-team and has four complete games this season and was second in the conference with a 2.08 ERA in the regular season.

“I need to go out there and throw a lot of strikes and keep their hitters off balance,” Feckley said. “I'm not going to worry about strikeouts, but instead make them hit the ball on the ground. Winning the first game is important. Losing the first game last week (at the conference tournament) made our trip a lot more difficult than we wanted.”

A transfer from Texas A&M in his second year at Angelo State, Feckley has 105 career strikeouts, a 15-7 overall record, three saves and his 3.04 career ERA is the best in program history. His 15 wins are tied with Jeremy Tietze (2007-10) for third in program history and his 105 strikeouts joins him with teammate Mike Weatherly for seventh all-time. He was a second-team all-conference selection last year as a junior and has won LSC Pitcher of the Week once this season.

Weatherly (7-3) is coming off a 4-0 win over Tarleton State at the conference tournament where he threw seven scoreless innings for the Rams. A right-handed senior from Mesquite, he was selected to the LSC second-team after posting a 2.88 ERA in the regular season with a team-leading 55 strikeouts in 65.2 innings of work and holds the program's record with six combined shutouts. With his two appearances at the conference tournament, he now has 59 strikeouts and a 2.64 ERA in 113 innings of work this year. ASU's closer last season, Weatherly recorded nine saves as a junior and has made a seamless transition into a starter's role. He was named to the LSC All-Tournament team last week and was a first-team all-conference selection last season.

Jake Albert (4-4) has made five starts this season and has recorded 30 strikeouts in 54 innings of work. A reliever for most of his collegiate career, Albert has become a solid starter for the Rams. He has limited opponents to a .255 batting average through 43 appearances in his career. A junior from Conroe, Albert has only walked 14 batters this season in his 54 innings. Albert is second in program history with his opponent's batting average and tied with teammate Austin Church for fifth in program history with 43 career appearances.

Michael Lange (4-4) has 46 strikeouts in 64 innings of work this season. A senior right-hander from Nebraska (byway of Gateway Community College in Arizona), he has a 13-5 career record for the Rams and is seventh in program history with 133.2 innings pitched. He has struck out 93 batters in his career and was a first-team all-region and all-conference selection last season as a junior.

ASU's bullpen continues to play an important role with Graylon Brown, Bryant Rutledge, James Conlee, Church, Bryce Zak, Travis Stavinoha, Mason Leavitt and Jaime MacLean providing depth. Brown (2-0), a redshirt freshman from Brownwood, closed out the last two series finales of the regular season, including going four scoreless innings in earning the first win of his career at Abilene Christian. Showing that he's ready for the postseason stage, he went on to close out Weatherly's win over Tarleton State and then earned the win over Abilene Christian in relief at the conference tournament. A former star quarterback at Brownwood High, Brown has 23 strikeouts in 28 innings of work in 17 appearances. Conlee, who is a senior from Georgetown by way of the University of Houston, has made the most appearances on the team this season with 21 and is fourth in program history with 65 in his career. Zak is 5-1 on the year with 16 appearances and 38 strikeouts.

Scouting the Hilltopper hitters

St. Edward's swept through the Heartland Conference tournament with a win over Arkansas Fort Smith and then two wins over St. Mary's to claim their first conferment tournament championship. The Hilltoppers enter the regional tournament hitting .299 as a team with 406 singles, 80 doubles, 16 triples and 15 home runs this season. They have seven players hitting over .300 and have a team on-base percentage of .388 with the addition of 184 walks and being hit by 78 pitches. When on base, St. Ed's has stolen 70 bases in 85 attempts and have outscored its opponents 1,728-1,694 through 53 games. They went 5-1 against LSC opponents this season with a 3-1 mark against Incarnate Word and wins over A&M-Kingsville and West Texas A&M.

Taylor Johnson leads the Hilltoppers with a .356 batting average and 69 hits. The senior second baseman from Dripping Springs has 14 doubles, 27 RBI and 30 stolen bases this season. CJ Manning is hitting .347 with 68 hits and is tied for the team lead with 40 RBI in his junior season. A catcher from Tomball, Manning started his collegiate career at Howard College before transferring to St. Ed's this season.

Joe Pirozzolo comes from The Woodlands and is hitting .37 with 34 hits, including leading the team with three triples along with Idaho native Nate Bobrowski. Dylan Watts, a freshman from Round Rock, is at .325 with 14 doubles, while Ransom LaLonde is hitting .314 and is tied with Manning for the team lead with 40 RBI. LaLonde was a second-team all-Heartland selection last season in his first year in Austin after transferring from Texas-San Antonio.  


 When the Rams are batting

Angelo State is hitting .304 overall after hitting .302 in Lone Star Conference play this season. The Rams have hit 383 singles, 102 doubles, 24 triples and 21 home runs through their 50-game regular season schedule and five conference tournament games. The Rams also stole a conference-leading 122 bases. ASU has a .394 on-base percentage with the addition reaching base 194 times on walks and getting hit by 84 pitches.

Lee Neumann comes into the regional tournament with a .340 batting average, 12 doubles, seven triples, six home runs and 46 RBI after last week's conference tournament. He was named the LSC's Co-Player of the Year for the second consecutive season after leading the conference with seven triples, 45 RBI, 106 total bases and was second with six home runs, 64 hits and 45 runs scored in the regular season. The senior, who was named the LSC's Hitter of the Week twice this season, is a reigning All-American and is fourth in the nation in triples. For his career, Neumann has a program leading 16 triples along with 91 RBI, 31 doubles and 149 total hits. He leads the Rams with 11 multi-RBI games and had 18 multi-hit games.   

Andrew LaCombe is hitting .320 with 14 doubles and 42 RBI coming into the regional tournament. He finished the regular season with a .331 batting average and in a three-way tie for the second most in the conference with his 42 RBI. He is fifth on the team with 58 hits and had 14 multi-hit games and nine multi-RBI performances. A two-year team captain and first-team all-conference selection, he was also named the baseball team's Holland Award winner and earned the Academic Excellence Award which is given to the male and female student-athlete with the highest grade-point average. LaCombe holds the program record by throwing out 40 runners attempting to steal and won the conference's Hitter of the Week award once this season.

Christian Summers leads the Rams with 17 doubles this season and enters the regional tournament with a .345 batting average in his first season at ASU where he earned second-team all-conference honors. Along with his 17 doubles, he has six triples, two home runs and 29 RBI. His six triples are the third most in a single season by any Ram behind Neumann and Drew Caraway (2005-07). He is second on the team with 30 walks and leads the team with a .451 on-base percentage. Summers has 18 multi-hit games and five multi-RBI games this season.

Ryan Greer is hitting .305 with 62 hits, including nine doubles, three triple and two home runs. A senior from Glendale, Ariz., Greer has stolen 22 bases this season and 51 in his career at ASU. He is third in the program's history in steals and first in fielding percentage at .994. Greer, who was second on the team with 56 hits in the regular season and an LSC honorable mention selection, has not made an error this season with 89 putouts and six assists from the outfield. He has started all 112 games Angelo State has played since he arrived in San Angelo after transferring from Paradise Valley Community College.

Quaid McKinnon is hitting .303 with 40 singles, 13 doubles, four home runs and a triple in his senior season out of Phoenix, Ariz. He hit a three-run home run against Texas A&M-Kingsville in the first game of the LSC tournament final to spark a rally and earn himself a spot on the all-tournament team. He leads ASU with 18 multi-hit games this season and has six multi-RBI games. He is second in program history with 80 career walks and was 15th in the nation with 36 walks in the regular season. He took three walks last week at the conference tournament and now has 39 walks this season. McKinnon has 32 RBI and has also stolen 14 bases in 15 attempts. He was named to the conference's all-academic team and to the LSC's second-team this season. Along with Greer, McKinnon has started all 112 games Angelo State has played since he arrived in San Angelo after transferring from Paradise Valley Community College.

David Goggin, who was named LSC Freshman of the Year, led the Rams with a .351 batting average in conference games this season and is hitting .298 overall in his first season out of Red Wing, Minn. Playing a dual defensive role at catcher and in the outfield, Goggin has 34 singles, three doubles and 18 RBI.

Hunter Choate is hitting .302 in his redshirt freshman season with 30 singles, five doubles and 21 RBI. Choate, who has started 34 games this season, delivered a two-run single to lift ASU to a win over the Javelinas in the conference tournament following a three-run double in the eighth inning of the final game of the regular season in the Rams' 4-2 win over ACU. Second baseman Tyler Coughenour is hitting .298 with 43 singles, seven doubles, three triples and a home run. Coughenour, who earned second-team all-conference honors as a utility player, leads the Rams with 24 stolen bases this season and was second in the conference.

Reggie Rodriguez was named to the LSC's second-team and has played the role of hero with two walk-off hits this season. A junior, originally from Puerto Rico, Rodriguez hit a two-out, two-run walk-off home run against Lubbock Christian and a two-out walk-off double in a 1-0 win over Tarleton State this season. He is hitting .318 with 39 singles, 14 doubles, three home runs, a triple and 30 RBI. Rodriguez has 17 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games this season. Rodriguez, who has a .480 slugging percentage, has started 50 games in right field for the Rams.

Scouting Hilltopper pitching

The St. Edward's pitching staff carries in an impressive 2.82 staff ERA with 315 strikeouts and only 119 walks through 449.1 innings of work this season. The Hilltoppers have used seven different starters with six other pitchers making appearances. The St. Ed's pitchers are limiting opponents to a .246 batting average, and like the Rams, have shut out five opponents this year.

Brannon Easterling is thought to be the probable starter for Thursday's game against Angelo State. Easterling (11-3) is a junior right-hander from College Station who started his collegiate career at Texas Tech before transferring to play for the Hilltoppers this season. He owns a 2.28 ERA with 68 strikeouts and only 17 walks through 15 starts and 106.2 innings of work. Easterling made the start for Texas Tech last season when the Rams traveled to Lubbock to play the Red Raiders. ASU jumped out quick on him, scoring three runs on four hits and two walks in the first inning. Tech would go on to claim a 13-8 win over the Rams and Easterling would not receive a decision in the 34-pitch, one inning start.

Cody Ellerbee (5-4, 2.62 ERA) has struck out 34 in 11 starts, while Collin Sherrod (4-1, 2.04 ERA) has 45 strikeouts in 53 innings of work. Sherrod, a freshman left-hander from Garland, has made seven starts and seven relief appearances and is limiting opponents to a .210 batting average. Matt Davis (5-3) started against the Rams in last season's regional matchup and leads the team with 20 appearances out of the bullpen this year. Davis, a right-handed senior from California, has struck out 35 in 39 innings of work and is limiting opponents to a .193 batting average. Davis allowed six runs on nine hits through 4.2 innings of work against the Rams last season in the no-decision.