SAN ANGELO – Bryce Zak struck out six and allowed only three hits and one run in five innings of work to help lead the Angelo State baseball team to a 4-1 non-conference win over Lubbock Christian on Sunday and also a three-game sweep of the Chaps at Foster Field.

The Rams (7-1) limited LCU (5-4) to only three runs and 15 hits throughout the series and have now won six straight game and are 6-0 at home this season. The Chaps were held to a .158 team batting average in the series against ASU which had a 1.00 pitching staff ERA and had four home runs against LCU pitching. ASU outscored LCU 15-3 in the three-game series. Nehwon Norkeh hit his third home run of the season, while Cody Semler hit the first home run of his ASU career in Sunday's 4-1 win.

"If you would have told me before this weekend that we would only give up one run a game in a three-game series against Lubbock Christian I definitely would have taken it," ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. "They had been putting up great offensive numbers, so that's a credit to our pitching staff and defense. That's what we expect from our pitchers this season and we think they can be a really special group."

Zak (2-1) was one strikeout away from matching his career-high, striking out six of the 21 batters he faced and allowing only three hits in five innings. After two first-inning walks that would not result in any damage after he got a line-out and groundout to strand two, Zak settled in and earned the win in his first start of the season.

"I wasn't attacking early in the first inning, but I was able to find my rhythm and kept the ball low in the zone and away from them," said Zak, who threw 54 of his 81 pitches for strikes. "I was also able to execute with my off-speed pitches to keep them off balance."

While Zak was cruising, the Angelo State offense kept tacking on one-run innings to give the team a 3-0 lead through five innings. The Rams got on the board first in the second inning off a sacrifice fly to right field off the bat of Hunter Spear to score Brett David who had reached on an error and then scored another run in the third on a Derek Tyner shot to dead-center field which went over the LCU fielder's head and brought Cameron Massengill who came in all the way from first base and slid in safely as Tyner advance to third base on the throw. Up two runs going into the fifth, Norkeh drilled his third home run of the season over the left-center field fence to lead off the inning and give ASU the 3-0 cushion.

LCU scored its first and only run of the game in the sixth on a Hunter McFall double off Zak, but that would be all the damage that could be done to the Rams who turned to Trae Davis out of the bullpen. Davis came in and got three straight outs in the sixth and then struck out two in the seventh to keep the Rams in front by two. The lead went back to three in the seventh when Semler hit a leadoff home run to left-center field. ASU has now hit 10 home runs through eight games after hitting 18 all of last season.

J.C. Snyder and Derek Tyner each went 2-for-4 with a double, while Norkeh went 2-for-4 with his home run and also stole a base. Snyder led the Rams over the three-game series going 6-for-11 with three doubles and Brett David and Massengill led ASU with three RBI. David and Paxton DeLaGarza both went hitless in Sunday's game to snap seven-game hitting streaks, while Snyder extended his hitting streak to six games.

Lubbock Christian, which came into the series hitting .402 and averaging 12.3 runs per game, were stifled for the third straight day by the Ram pitching staff. The combo of Zak, Davis and Brown scattered five hits and had eight strikeouts. Brown recorded his third save of the season, while Davis now has five strikeouts and has not allowed a run in four innings of relief.

"Bryce did a good job of not going deep into counts," Brooks said. "His breaking ball was working and helping him get outs. Trae was just unbelievable today and Graylon dug deep and got out of a jam before the easy ninth. We'll take those performances any day and feel good about our chances of winning."

Levi Westerlund received the loss for the Chaps after surrendering three runs on five hits in six innings of work. Westerlund did record five strikeouts and only walked one, but the Rams offense gave the pitching staff all they needed for the win. McFall led LCU's offense with two hits and the RBI.

The Rams are now 7-6 all-time against Lubbock Christian and swept a series over the Chaps for the first time. ASU had lost the past two series against the Chaps who will play Eastern New Mexico next weekend in a series being played in Midland after hosting a midweek game against Wayland Baptist.

Angelo State will return to action next weekend with a non-conference series at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. The Rams, who have swept both of their series this season, will be playing their first four-game series of the year after playing Texas A&M International and LCU in three-game sets. ASU swept a four-game series over the Orediggers last season at Foster Field in the first meeting between the two programs. Mines will come into the series with a 4-1 record after its game against Fort Hays State was canceled on Sunday.