SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State baseball team completed a series sweep of Texas A&M International with a pair of doubleheader wins on Saturday at Foster Field where the Rams scored 26 runs and had 28 hits in the two games.
The Rams (4-1) opened the day with an 11-9 win with
Derek Tyner leading the way with three hits before taking the series finale, 15-3, with
Brett David delivering a first-inning grand slam and
Nehwon Norkeh,
Cameron Massengill,
Jarryd Klemm and
J.C. Snyder each driving in two runs.
Blake Bass (1-0) earned the win in the first game, going five innings where he struck out five and survived a first-inning scare when the Dustdevils scored four runs and
Bryce Zak (1-1) claimed the win in the second game after striking out six in 3 1/3 innings of relief.
"I think we've already hit more home runs through five games than we did all of last season," ASU head coach
Kevin Brooks said. "That's great to see, but more importantly, the extra-base hits we're getting is even better to see. We are having really good at-bats right now. I'm really pleased with the way we are competing at the plate right now and I think we have the ability to keep it up."
ASU, which has hit six home runs this season, is actually 12 shy of the home run total from last season's 18 home runs. Norkeh added to this year's total by leading off the first game of the doubleheader with a solo home run that hit the scoreboard in right-center field and then David hit his first career grand slam off the left-field foul pole to give ASU a 4-0 lead in the second game. Klemm would hit the third home run of the day with a shot into the left-field bullpen to highlight a five-run second inning to put the Rams up 9-0 after two frames in the nightcap. ASU also had doubles from Tyner,
Chandler Patterson, Norkeh and Snyder had two doubles on the day. The Rams outhit the Dustdevils 17-3 in the nightcap and finished the three-game set hitting .456.
Paxton DeLaGarza continued swinging a strong bat, going 2-for-3 with two RBI in the first game and then went 3-for-4 in the second game. He leads the Rams with a .632 batting average after going 12-for-19 through the first five games of the season.
Zak struck out six of the 11 batters he faced and did not allow a hit in the win after coming into the game in the third inning in relief of starter
Jayden O'Dell who had one strikeout and allowed only two hits.
"We really needed to see Bryce have an appearance like that," Brooks said. "He struggled some on Monday against McMurry in a tough-luck loss. It was good to get him back out there today and get him some work. It's very encouraging to see him perform that way."
Norkeh finished the weekend 6-for-12 with three doubles and three RBI from the leadoff spot in the lineup and now has five doubles through five games. A sophomore center fielder, Norkeh had seven doubles during his freshman season and is hitting .455 (10-for-22) for the season.
"He's pretty strong and is a player who can change the mentality of a game when he's at the plate," Brooks said. "We were down 4-0 in that first game and then he comes up and goes oppo for a home run to get us some momentum. The team really started feeling fine after that and knew that we would score some runs. That's big right there. He's a presence at the top of the lineup."
Bass picked up his first win of the season despite allowing the four first-inning runs to start the day. He settled in and got run production from his offense to move his career record at ASU to 5-4. Bass struck out five, walked only two and allowed only one hit in the final four innings of his day.
Graylon Brown earned the save after coming into the game in the seventh inning and recording the final three outs. Brown struck out two batters, including a strikeout to end the game with the bases loaded.
The Rams return to action next weekend with a three-game, three-day set against Lubbock Christian back at Foster Field. ASU and LCU will start the weekend with a 3 p.m. game on Friday before playing at 2 p.m. on Saturday and at 1 p.m. next Sunday.
