G2 BOX SCORE: Angelo State 3, Texas A&M-Kingsville 2

SAN ANGELO – Christian Summers went 3-for-3, drove in what proved to be the game-winning run and recorded the save in his first pitching appearance of his career to lead the Angelo State baseball team to a 3-2 Lone Star Conference win over Texas A&M-Kingsville in a game that snapped a six-game losing streak for the Rams on Saturday at Foster Field.

ASU (17-11, 7-8 LSC) dropped the first game of the doubleheader, 3-2, but received a strong start from Blake Bass (3-1) in the second game. Bass recorded six strikeouts, didn't walk a batter and scattered five hits in 6.0 innings before Summers came into the game following an error and a single. The Rams improved to 8-3 at home this season with the win.

"I was just going out there trying to do my best and throw strikes to give us a chance to win," Bass said. "It was a big sigh of relief to end the losing streak. We still have a long ways to go, but hopefully this gets us going in the right direction."

The Javelinas, who were down 3-1 entering the final inning, would score on a Clint Wallace sacrifice fly to left field and had runners on first and third with two outs. Summers, who had not pitched since his days at San Angelo Central, earned the save by striking out Dustin Aguilar looking on a 1-2 count.

"More than anything I was just going out there trying to throw strikes and close it out for Bass who threw a great game for our team," Summers said. "I was just trying to get ahead in the count and threw a good set up pitch to get the called strikeout there."

Summers recorded two fly outs before the strikeout to end the game and finished the day 5-for-6 after going 2-for-3 with a triple in the first game. The senior, who started the game at third base, had a double and two singles in the second game. A single to left field in the fifth inning by Summers with two out brought in Cameron Massengill to give ASU a 3-1 lead.

"Last weekend wasn't a great one for me, but I wasn't going to give up and I came in this week and put a lot of time in the cage to clear my head," Summers said. "I'm looking at this weekend as the start of a new season for me."

Without pitching experience and in a game they needed to win, ASU head coach Kevin Brooks didn't hesitate to bring Summers into the game in the bottom of the seventh.

"I've said all week that I believe in him and so does our entire team," Brooks said. "I knew he was going to come in this weekend and be good and contribute to help us win. If you're saying those things then you need to follow up by putting him in situations like that to succeed. I knew that he would get it done."

Angelo State got on the board early with two runs in the first inning after Tyler Coughenour reached on an infield single and Summers doubled to right field. David Goggin pulled the second pitch he saw to the second baseman who made an error and scored Coughenour for the first run. Derek Tyner would drive in the second run with a sacrifice fly to right field.

"We've been needing this for six games now and it was good to finally get the win," Brooks said. "There are still a lot of areas we need to improve on, but it was good to close this one out.

"It was really important for us to win this game and stop the losing streak," Summers added. "We've been playing a lot of close ball games and we needed to get one to go our way."

Jason Zgardowski (2-2) received the loss in the first game despite striking out five and throwing a complete game. The junior allowed eight hits and walked two, but kept the Rams in the game throughout the day by getting eight groundouts and eight fly outs. The Javelinas scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh after Augilar led the inning off with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error by Zgardowski. Derrick Walls, a transfer from Incarnate Word, drove in Augilar with an opposite field double to left field.

The Rams managed only four hits in the loss with Summers going 2-for-3 with a walk and Tyner and Massengill delivering singles. Denver Diefenbach (5-1) earned the win in the game after striking out four and holding the Rams in check. ASU scored its runs when Coughenour scored on a wild pitch in the first inning after reaching on an error and in the third when Summers led off the inning with a triple and scored on a Goggin ground out to third base.

Texas A&M-Kingsville leads the series 2-1 going into Sunday's 1 p.m. series finale at Foster Field. The Rams, who are on a 13-game home stand, will host Eastern New Mexico in a four-game series next weekend at Foster Field.