SAN ANGELO – Who needs to travel all the way to Colorado when you can get Colorado to come to you?

The No. 17-ranked Angelo State baseball team was originally scheduled to take a road trip to Golden, Colorado this weekend, but will instead be hosting Regis University in a three-game set on Saturday and Sunday at Foster Field. The Rams (7-1) are on a six-game winning streak after sweeping Texas A&M International and Lubbock Christian the past two weekends, while the Rangers (4-1) have won their past three games with wins over Northwestern Oklahoma, Central Oklahoma and Fort Hays State. Regis had an open date this weekend, while the Rams had their four-game series against Colorado School of Mines canceled because of severe winter weather in Golden, Colorado. RU is a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference team which is located in Denver, Colorado and went 20-25 last season. This will be the first time that the Angelo State and Regis baseball programs have ever played each other.   

The Rams come into the weekend hitting .369 as a team with 96 hits, including 22 doubles, two triples and 10 home runs. ASU, which has outscored its opponents 63-28 this season, has also reached base 24 times on walks and has advanced to first base nine times after making an attempt to dodge the baseball but were still hit by the pitch. ASU's pitching staff has a 3.52 ERA with 71 strikeouts and only 23 walks through 64 innings, while its opponents have an 8.24 ERA and have only struck out 43 Rams. Regis comes into San Angelo with a .311 batting average with 55 total hits, including 15 doubles, two triples and five home runs. The Rangers are 4-for-6 on stolen base attempts and have made 10 errors in the field through five games. RU is coached by Chris Terry who was at Eastern New Mexico for two seasons before taking over the Ranger program last season.

ASU is ranked No. 17 in the nation by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and No. 20 by Collegiate Baseball. The Rams are unranked by Perfect Game and d2baseballnews.com to round out the four Division II baseball rankings.

Angelo State currently has only 49 games on its schedule and could add one more later in the season. With the schedule change the Rams are now in the middle of a 12-game home stand and have 27 home games on their schedule.
 
Regis Rangers at Angelo State Rams Series Schedule
4 p.m. DH, Saturday at Foster Field (9/9)
11 a.m., Sunday at Foster Field (9)
 
Angelo State Probable Starting Rotation
Game 1: Steve Naemark, Junior, LHP (1-0, 1.06 ERA, 23K, 2BB, 10H, 17.0 IP)
Game 2: Blake Bass, Senior, RHP, (2-0), 1.69 ERA, 14K, 4BB, 13H, 16.0 IP)
Game 3: Bryce Zak, Junior, RHP (2-1, 1.93 ERA, 13K, 4BB, 7H, 9 1/3 IP)
 
STARTER REPORT: Naemark is coming off a 12-strikeout performance against Lubbock Christian last Saturday which earned him the NCBWA DII South Central and Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Week. A junior left-hander from Arizona, Naemark is an owner of a 1.06 ERA with 23 strikeouts and only two walks through his first three starts and 17.0 innings of work at Angelo State.  Bass is coming off a seven-strikeout performance against LCU where he allowed only five hits and only one run in 7.0 innings of work. A senior right-hander, Bass has a 1.69 ERA with 14 strikeouts through three starts and 16.0 innings of work. He was named the LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year and has been identified by Baseball America as the third top-prospect in Division II baseball. Zak made his first start of the season last Sunday and earned the win over LCU after striking out six and allowing only one run and three hits. Zak has struck out six in two straight games after a six-strikeout relief appearance win over TAMIU two weeks ago. A junior right-hander, Zak has a 1.93 ERA with 13 innings in three appearances and 9 1/3 innings.

BULLPEN REPORT: Graylon Brown, Trae Davis and Dillon Becker have all had strong starts to their seasons out of the bullpen for the Rams with all three owning 0.00 ERAs. Brown (1-0) leads the Rams with three saves and five appearances. A junior right-hander, Brown has four strikeouts and has allowed only five hits through 7 1/3 innings of work. Becker (1-0) earned the win in Bass's start last Saturday after coming in and throwing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts and only one hit allowed. A junior from Bastrop, Becker has six strikeouts and has allowed only three hits in 3 1/3 innings. Davis has shined from the bullpen early this season with five strikeouts and only two hits allowed through three appearances and four innings of work to start his senior season.   

LINEUP REPORT: Paxton DeLaGarza and J.C. Snyder lead the Rams through eight games with .484 and .483 batting averages, respectively, while Brett David leads the team with 11 RBI and seven hit-by-pitches. DeLaGarza, who has started every game at shortstop, is 15-for-31 with two doubles and a triple and also has seven RBI. He has hit safely in seven of eight games. Snyder comes into this weekend on a six-game hitting streak and has five doubles and eight RBI. A senior who has played in right field and at third base this season, Snyder hit .545 last weekend against LCU with six hits, including three doubles. David hit his third home run of the season and the fifth of his career last weekend and has a .400 batting average after starting his senior year 10-for-25 at the plate. A four-year player at ASU, David has started every game at first base for the Rams and has a double and a triple to go along with his three home runs. He hit a grand slam against TAMIU and currently leads all Lone Star Conference hitters with his 11 RBI.

Hunter Spear (.474), Derek Tyner (.429) and Nehwon Norkeh (.394) have also had strong starts to the season. Norkeh is tied with David for the team and conference lead with three home runs and also has five doubles. A sophomore from Minnesota, Norkeh has is Baseball America's No. 5 top-prospect in all of Division II. He has started all eight games for the Rams in center field and has 21 stolen bases in his career. Tyner has been in the lineup at designated hitter throughout the season and is 12-for-28 with six RBI to start his senior season, while Spear is 9-for-19 and also has six RBI. Jarryd Klemm has been a starter in left field and has also played some at catcher in his first season at ASU. He is hitting .321 (9-for-28) and has one double and three RBI. Cameron Massengill, who has started all eight games at catcher, has seven hits and Cody Semler has four hits. Massengill is coming off a LSC first-team selection as a junior and has five RBI. Semler has started seven of eight games at second base and started last Saturday at third base. A senior from Allen, Semler hit the first home run of his ASU career last Sunday with a solo shot to left-center field.                                 
 
UP NEXT: The Rams will open Lone Star Conference play by hosting Cameron next weekend in a four-game series at Foster Field. ASU went 5-2 against the Aggies last season, including winning 3 of 4 in Lawton before taking 2 of 3 in San Angelo. Cameron is currently 4-4 on the season and will play three games against Texas-Permian Basin this weekend and will play McMurry on Tuesday before coming to Foster Field.