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KINGSVILLE – Angelo State left Nolan Ryan Field on Saturday rightfully proud of the way it competed, but also knowing a must-win game slipped away. 

The Rams had the lead and victory within their sights two times, but couldn't put St. Mary's away and ultimately fell 7-6 in 13 innings when Jan Pual Reguero delivered the game-winning, dog-pile inducing hit for the Rattlers who ended the Rams season in an elimination game at the NCAA Division II South Central Championship.

ASU (37-21) led the game 4-1 going to the eighth inning, but would see the Rattlers stake their first comeback with three runs to tie the game. Angelo State would reclaim the lead in the top of the 11th on an RBI double by Andrew LaCombe that scored Quaid McKinnon followed by LaCombe scoring on an error. Down two with two outs, St. Mary's Ivan Sigala hit a two-run home run to left field (his first of the season) to tie the game and push it deeper into extra frames.

“They were one strike away from their season being over, so you have to give them a lot of credit,” ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. “We were there competing every step along the way with them. We needed to expand our lead during that time, and we just didn't get it done. It was a great baseball game where you have to find a win, and it just didn't happen for us today.”

Angelo State, which has advanced to four regional tournaments since the program was started in 2005, is now 8-7 all-time in regional play. The 13-inning game is the second longest game in program history at regional tournament, falling short of a 16-inning win over St. Edward's in the 2007 tournament.

“That was a game right there,” LaCombe said. “It really was baseball at its finest. It was two teams where neither one of them gave up the whole way. Somebody has to lose, and unfortunately that was us.”

“That's one of the best games I've ever been a part of,” McKinnon added. “You really saw just about everything happen. We left it all on the field and that's all you can ask for.”

Billy Richard started the bottom of the 13^th inning with a single to right field and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Mario Maldonado to set up Reguero's pinch-hit heroics.  

Angelo State had staked itself to the 4-1 lead with a three-run sixth inning. Christian Summers opened the inning with a walk and scored on a wild pitch. The highlight of the inning came with two outs as freshman David Goggin hit a single to right field to score LaCombe and McKinnon. The Rams would hold that lead until the bottom of the eighth when the Rattler scored three runs on three hits to tie the game. Brandon Bates delivered the big hit for the Rattlers in the inning with a two-RBI single to left field.

LaCombe led the Rams with three hits, three runs scored and the RBI in the eighth. Ryan Greer added two hits to end his career on a six-game hitting streak, while Lee Neumann and Reggie Rodriguez also added hits for the Rams.

“We really did a good job of scoring runs, because we really didn't hit the ball well all day,” Brooks said.

Jake Albert (4-5) received the loss after surrendering the game-winning hit in his second inning of relief. Albert struck out two  in two innings, while Graylon Brown struck out two, allowed five hits and four runs in 3.2 innings of relief. Starter Michael Lange struck out two and allowed only four hits in a seven-inning outing where he allowed only two runs. Lange did not walk a batter in the 83-pitch outing.

Jonathan Perez (7-2) earned the win for the Rattlers after throwing 5.1 innings of relief. Perez struck out four, scattered four hits and didn't allow a walk in the game. St. Mary's starter Matt McClain struck out five and gave up four runs in the no-decision.

St. Mary's advances to play St. Edward's at 1 p.m. on the tournament's final day. The Rattlers will have to beat St. Edward's twice on Sunday if the Hilltoppers win tonight against Texas A&M-Kingsville. If the Javelinas win tonight, the Rattlers will play St. Edward's at 1 p.m. and then would play the Javelinas for the championship.