G2 BOX SCORE: ENMU 7, Angelo State 6 (10 innings)
PHOTO GALLERY: #RamBaseball @ ENMU

PORTALES, N.M. – Blake Bass went the distance on the mound and the Angelo State baseball team continued giving him run support throughout the game as the Rams secured a berth to next week's Lone Star Conference Baseball Championships with a 9-4 win over Eastern New Mexico in Saturday's opener at Greyhound Field.

ASU (26-24, 15-20 LSC) responded from a tough series-opening loss on Friday by once again jumping out to a lead, but this time added late-inning runs for the win. ENMU (26-24, 15-20 LSC) was eliminated from the postseason with the loss. The Rams will be the fourth seed in the tournament and open at 3 p.m. on Thursday against Texas A&M-Kingsville which will host the tournament at Nolan Ryan Field.

"I thought we played like the team I have been saying we are all season," ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. "We showed a lot of pride and did a great job of putting last night behind us and earning this win."

ENMU went on to take the second game of the day and the regular-season finale 7-6 in 10 innings on a walk-off single from Dylan Nault. The Rams won the season-series 4-3 over the Greyhounds - a series which had four extra-inning games and ASU winning by a combined score of 46-42. ASU hit .330 in the three-game set and scored 21 runs.

The Rams led 2-0 through two innings with Cameron Massengill hitting a solo home run and Nehwon Norkeh adding an RBI single in the second. ASU went up 5-0 with three runs in the second inning on four hits, highlighted by Tyler Coughenour leading the inning off with a solo home run to left-center field and Brett David delivering a one-out RBI single.  

"The offensive approach was to not let up," said ASU sophomore David Goggin, who hit a two-out, two-run single in the top of the seventh for the final runs of the game. "It was nice to get some early runs, but we knew after yesterday that they weren't going to give up. We stayed with our approach to bear down and get it done. We knew that we needed one win to advance and we wanted to get it in the first game. It happened because we executed when we needed to execute."

While the Rams were putting up runs, Bass (4-4) continued going out to the mound and shut the Greyhounds down through four innings. The right-hander has now thrown five complete games this season after striking out three and scattering seven hits. Bass worked through a three-run fifth inning by the Greyhounds and stranded four runners on base in a 92-pitch performance. He was assisted by two double plays by the middle of the infield and also saw Massengill turn a double play by throwing out a runner after a strikeout in the sixth.

"I really was going out there trying to throw strikes and let our defense take care of them," Bass said. "Our hitters did a great job of continuing to score runs and that gave us confidence as the game went on. Coughenour made two great double plays for us and Cam made a great throw to get that double play after the strikeouts. It's always great to get some runs and then see your defense pick you up with plays like that."

The Rams added insurance runs with Norkeh hitting a sacrifice fly RBI to right field in the fifth to score Massengill and Goggin came in on an error by ENMU shortstop Brett Ackerman in the sixth. Goggin's two-run single scored Reggie Rodriguez and Norkeh who were at second and third after JP Zapata advanced them a base with a sacrifice bunt.

Along with his catching duties, Massengill hit his career's first home run and went 2-for-4 and scored two runs. His hits extended his hitting streak to nine games and is now hitting .326.

"They were coming in on us throughout the game and we hit the good pitches we got," Massengill said. "Blake gave us everything he had. He always battles for us and we needed that performance from him. He always pounds the zone and did a great job of getting them out today."

Coughenour, Goggin, Norkeh and Derek Tyner also had two-hit games for the Rams who pounded out 13 hits to ENMU's seven. Coughenour's home run was his team-leading fifth homer of the season and Goggin had his seventh double of the season. Reggie Rodriguez and Christian Summers had singles to add to ASU's hit total.

ENMU's Ben Monticello (5-5) received the loss for the Greyhounds after allowing five runs on eight hits through three innings. Monticello struck out two and didn't walk a Ram, but left the game with a 5-0 deficit. The Rams also scored two runs off Kiegan Basso and Dylan Montano who both came into the game in relief. Blake Cooper led ENMu with two RBI on one hit, while Chad Highberger went 2-for-3 and scored a run.

"We overcame some mistakes we made in the field and did a great job of continuing to score runs," Brooks said. "I had a good feeling about today because I know our guys have a lot of heart. We need to get tougher as we move on, but this is a team that can do some things."
 
In the second game of the day, Massengill drove in the go-ahead run with a one-out single to center that score Tyner who had walked, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error on the catcher who was trying to cut him down. The hit gave the Rams a 6-5 lead, but ENMU responded with Nault driving in Steven Moore with a one-out single down the third base line.

ASU would go scoreless through the first four innings before tying the game at one in the top of the fifth with a Choate single to right field to score Bass who had reached on a single. ENMU responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning before ASU took its first lead of the game with three runs on three hits in the top of the sixth. Goggin got the scoring started with a two-run single up the middle of the infield to score Tyner and Zapata. Tyner had reached on a double and Zapata was hit by a pitch. The third run came across on Norkeh single to left field.

ENMU would score a run in the sixth and seventh and led 5-4 before a Massengill groundout scored Zapata who led off the eighth inning with his third triple of the season. Both teams went scoreless in the ninth inning to force the second extra-inning game of the series.

Graylon Brown (5-3) received the loss for the Rams after throwing 3 1/3 innings of relief and allowing the 10th-inning comeback. Brown struck out three in his time on the mound, while Jake Albert had a no-decision in a 2 1/3 inning start.

The Rams finished the game with 10 hits, including a 2-for-4 performance from Choate and two RBI from Goggin and Massengill. Tyner and Choate both recorded their sixth doubles of the seasons in the game, while Zapata went 1-for-3 with his third triple of the season. Massengill, who was inserted as a sub, extended his team-leading hitting streak to 10 with a 1-for-2 showing.

Jorge Quezada (3-1) earned the win in four innings of relief for the Greyhounds, while Brett Ackerman and Ryan Forkel each had three hits. ENMU finished the second game with 15 hits and secured its first winning season since the 2000 season.

SERIES NOTES: The Rams snapped an 11-game road losing streak with their 9-4 win on Saturday but finished the regular season with a 10-16 record away from San Angelo… ASU secured the fourth seed in next week's LSC tournament and will open against Texas A&M-Kingsville at 3 p.m. on Thursday in Kingsville… David Goggin led the Rams with five RBI against ENMU and finished the three-game set 5-for-10 with two doubles, a triple and five runs scored… Christian Summers went 6-for-14 with a double and two RBI and two steals in the series… Massengill extended his hitting streak to 10 games and went 4-for-11 with four RBI… Massengill hit the first home run of his career in Saturday's first game… JP Zapata and Tyler Coughenour each had four hits in the series and Derek Tyner and Nehwon Norkeh each had three hits… Norkeh and Brett David both finished the weekend with three RBI.