SAN ANGELO – Steve Naemark threw eight scoreless innings and Cameron Massengill drove in Cody Semler with a two-out, full-count single to center field in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead the No. 5-ranked Angelo State Rams to a 1-0 Lone Star Conference win over West Texas A&M on Friday at Foster Field.

The Rams (17-2, 7-1 LSC) improved to 14-0 at home with the series-opening win and will host the Buffs (12-9, 4-5 LSC) in a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday before a 1 p.m. series finale on Sunday at Foster Field. Naemark (5-0) earned the win after striking out six and scattering five hits with no walks in 8.0 innings of work. Graylon Brown recorded his fourth save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth-inning which included a strong defensive play by Sam Kohler at second base and then routine groundouts to shortstop and second base.

"I came in focused on every hitter and not let things get under my skin when they were able to get into scoring position," Naemark said. "It was great to get a win to start the series and get the momentum going, but I feel like every game is just as important as the next so every time I'm out there I'm going to do everything I can to help us win."

With a scoreless game going to the bottom of the eighth after Naemark had stranded three in the previous two innings, Semler led the frame off with a walk and then stole second base to move into scoring position with one out. A ground-out by Paxton DeLaGarza made it two out but advanced Semler to third base. On a 3-2 count, Massengill drove in Semler with a shot up the middle  to give the Rams a 1-0 lead.

"I was just looking for a good pitch to hit and drive the other way," Massengill said. "He threw it down the middle of the plate though and I just drove it up the middle to bring home the run."

"I've been questioning whether he is a three-hole hitter, but the reason I know he is our guy is that every time we need a hit when it matters he's going to get it for us," Brooks said. "His numbers a little down this year, but he's a veteran who is going to come through for us."

Angelo State finished the game with a 6-5 hit advantage with neither team having an extra-base hit throughout the night. DeLaGarza, Massengill, Derek Tyner, J.C. Snyder, Hunter Spear and Semler each had hits for the Rams with no player having a multi-hit game. Tyler Gibson (2-2) received the loss despite striking out five and allowing only one run in 7 2/3 innings of work in the game.

Naemark continued to shine in seventh start of the season and now has a 0.63 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 43 innings this season. The eight innings on Friday was his longest outing of the season and came with him throwing only 96 pitches.

"Steve did again what he has done for our team all season," ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. "He came out and pitched really well from the start and did a good job of getting out of trouble in the later innings. He made a great play on a safety-squeeze with Brett David doing a great job of letting him know we had a play at work. That was a huge play in the game and kept them off the board. Steve though just continues to show us what a special pitcher he is."

Blake Bass (5-0) is scheduled to start the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, while Bryce Zak (3-2) will start the third game of the series. ASU, which was been limited to two runs in the past two games, will be looking to score more runs and give Bass and Zak more run production than Naemark experienced in the opener.

"I'm looking for us to do a little better job offensively tomorrow and get some runs early in the game," Brooks said. "At the beginning of the season we were really good at jumping out quick and I'd like to see us do that again tomorrow. West Texas is going to have good pitching against tomorrow, but with both games being sevens, getting out to an early lead is important."