SAN ANGELO – The No. 26-ranked Angelo State baseball team begins the second half of Lone Star Conference play this weekend with a three-game set against Cameron in Lawton, Oklahoma.

The Rams (21-10, 10-9 LSC) swept a four-game series against the Aggies (14-16, 8-11 LSC) earlier this season at Foster Field and own a 29-17 all-time advantage in the series history. The series begins with a 2 p.m. game on Friday before a 1 p.m. doubleheader (7/9 innings) on Saturday.

ASU is coming off a 4-3 non-conference win over No. 13 St. Mary's on Tuesday, while the Aggies did not play a midweek game after splitting a four-game series against West Texas A&M last weekend at Cameron Field. ASU, which is 5-8 on the road, will complete an 11-game conference road trip with the three games at CU and will host Tarleton State in a four-game series next weekend at Foster Field where the Rams are 16-2 at this season.  Cameron is 7-6 at home this season.

Angelo State entered this week leading the Lone Star Conference in 16 statistical categories which includes batting average (.307), doubles (63), doubles per game (2.03), ERA (2.89), fielding percentage (0.977), total hits (295), hit allowed per game (8.13), home runs (19), on-base percentage (.374), total runs (169), sacrifice flies (13), scoring (5.4), slugging percentage (.440), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.23), strikeouts per 9-innings (10.2) and won-loss percentage (0.677). The Rams have outscored their opponents 169-100 this season with their pitching staff limiting the opposition to a .238 batting average. ASU ranks third in the nation with 10.2 strikeouts per game and are fifth in the nation with its .977 fielding percentage. ASU has now hit 19 home runs this season after Derek Tyner and Brett David both hit homers in the win over the Rattlers to surpass the 18 home runs the Rams hit in 53 game last season.

The Rams enter the second half of LSC play third in the standings behind Texas A&M-Kingsville (13-6 LSC) and WT (12-8 LSC), while Cameron (8-11 LSC) is fourth, Tarleton State (6-9 LSC) is fifth and ENMU (5-11) is sixth. Along with the ASU-CU series, ENMU travels to play at Tarleton State and Kingsville is at West Texas A&M this weekend. ENMU and TSU will play a four-game series after their first series was canceled earlier this season, while TAMU and WT are playing a three-game set in Canyon.
 
ASU SEASON TRACKER
Overall Record:  21-10
Lone Star Conference Record:  10-9
At Foster Field:  16-2
Away from San Angelo:  5-8
Neutral Site Games:  0-0
LSC Home Games:  6-2
LSC Road Games:  4-7
Current Streak:  W1
Longest Winning Streak:  W15 (*program record)
Longest Losing Streak:  L4
Most runs scored:  18
Fewest runs scored:  0 (2)
Extra-inning games:  1-1
 
ANGELO STATE PROBABLE STARTING ROTATION
Game 1: Steve Naemark, Junior, LHP (5-1, 0.64 ERA, 74K, 10BB, 37H, 56.0 IP)
Game 2: Blake Bass, Senior, RHP (6-1, 2.38 ERA, 55K, 11BB, 53H, 53.0 IP)
Game 3: Bryce Zak, Junior, RHP (4-4, 2.11 ERA, 45K, 21BB, 28H, 38.1 IP)

LINEUP REPORT: Paxton DeLaGarza leads the Rams and is second in the conference with a .397 batting average which includes nine doubles, one triple, two home runs and 34 singles through 116 at-bats. A junior shortstop, DeLaGarza also leads the Rams with 15 multi-hit games this year which includes five three-hit games. He went 1-for-3 with a single on Tuesday against St. Mary's and hit .313 with two doubles and three singles in the four-game series against Cameron earlier this season. DeLaGarza, who owns an impressive .961 fielding percentage with only four errors and 63 assists and 35 putouts at shortstop, has reached base in a team-leading 14 straight games for the Rams entering this weekend. Brett David hit his fourth home run of the season and eighth of his career on Tuesday against the Rattlers and leads the Rams with 28 RBI through 31 games. A senior from El Paso, David has started all 31 games at first base this season and has a .308 average with five doubles, a triple and 22 singles to go along with his four home runs. He led the Rams with a .385 average (5-for-13) during the first series against Cameron and also had two RBI. David has seven multi-RBI performances this season and 67 career RBI.

J.C. Snyder is second on the team with a .376 average this season and leads the team with 15 doubles. He has 41 total hits with four home runs and 22 singles to go along with his conference leading 15 doubles. Snyder, who is a senior transfer from BYU, has two four-hit performances this season and has 13 multi-hit games. He has played the majority in right field, but has also played at third base in seven games this season. Nehwon Norkeh leads the Rams with five home runs this season and comes into the second half of LSC play with a .307 batting average which includes nine doubles, one triple and 19 RBI from the leadoff spot in the lineup. A sophomore center fielder from Minnesota, Norkeh has 10 multi-hit games this season including going 2-for-4 on Tuesday in the win over St. Mary's. Norkeh hit one of his five home runs this season against Cameron where he finished the series with a .375 average which included delivering a walk-off win on an RBI single to end the third game of the series. Identified as the No. 5-ranked professional prospect in Division II, Norkeh has nine home runs, 16 doubles and 38 RBI through the first 81 games and 279 at-bats at Angelo State.

Derek Tyner is second on the team with 14 multi-hit games for the Rams this season and is hitting .336 with 18 RBI. Tyner, who is a senior designated hitter, hit his second home run of the season with a two-run homer in the first inning against St. Mary's. Tyner also has eight doubles and has taken eight walks through 104 at-bats this season. He is a .327 career hitter at Angelo State after hitting .321 as a junior and comes into this weekend's series with 39 RBI. Cameron Massengill has started all 31 games behind the plate at catcher for the Rams this season and is hitting .295 with seven doubles and 15 RBI through the first 105 at-bats of his senior season. A reigning first-team all-conference selection, Massengill has nine multi-hit games this season and three multi-RBI performances. A Kennedale native and Cisco College transfer, Massengill has 81 total hits and 36 career RBI through 82 games played and 260 at-bats for the Rams. Massengill went 6-for-16 with two RBI and Tyner had four RBI on four hits in the first series against the Aggies at Foster Field.

STARTER REPORT: Steve Naemark (5-1) will start the series opener on Friday and comes into this weekend third in the nation with 74 strikeouts and a top-10 ERA of 0.64. Naemark earned a win over the Aggies in the first series after striking out six and not allowing an earned run through six innings of work. A junior left-hander, Naemark is coming off an 11-strikeout performance against Eastern New Mexico where he received a no-decision. He has recorded three double-digit strikeout performances including setting the program record with 15 strikeouts in seven innings against Regis after matching the school record with 12 strikeouts in seven innings of domination against Lubbock Christian. Naemark lead the LSC with his 0.64 ERA and 74 strikeouts which he has amassed over 56.0 innings to start his career at ASU.

Blake Bass (6-1) will start the second game of the series for the Rams and is coming off earning his sixth win of the season after he struck out five and allowed only three hits in a win over ENMU last Saturday. Bass owns a 10-5 record and has 94 strikeouts in his career at Angelo State after transferring from Texas Tech where he played at during his freshman and sophomore seasons. Bass, who is a Lubbock native, has a 2.58 career ERA through 22 appearances and 129 innings pitched for the Rams. An LSC first-team pitcher as a junior, Bass was selected as the LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year this year and comes into this weekend second in the LSC with 55 strikeouts through 53 innings to start his senior season.

Bryce Zak (4-4) is scheduled to start the third game of the series and comes into the weekend with 45 strikeouts and a 2.11 ERA through 38 1/3 innings of work to start his junior season. Zak, who missed last season with an arm injury, has a 9-5 career record at ASU after going 5-1 during his sophomore season (2013) following pitching at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as a freshman. A San Angelo native who went to Central High, Zak has 83 career strikeouts as a Ram through 84 innings of work coming into this weekend against Cameron. He had a career-high 11 strikeouts earlier this season against Regis and also had seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings of work against Cameron in a no-decision in the first series.

BULLPEN REPORT: Graylon Brown leads the Rams with six saves this season after striking out four in two innings of relief to close out the win over St. Mary's on Tuesday and enters this weekend with 11 career saves and a 10-5 career record. Brown, who has 92 career strikeouts, is dominating in his roles as a setup man and closer this season with a 0.36 ERA and 25 strikeouts through 25 1/3 innings this season. He leads the Rams with 16 appearances, while Dillon Becker is second on the team with 15 appearances and five saves. Becker is a junior right-hander who is in his second season with the Rams after transferring from Blinn. He has 29 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings of work, while Trae Davis has 11 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings. Davis is a senior right-hander who started his career at Baylor where he pitched for three seasons. He transferred to ASU last year, but was a medical redshirt after suffering an injury. He has made 10 appearances from the bullpen this season for the Rams.

CAMERON AGGIE REPORT (14-16, 8-11 LSC)
Cameron is coming off a series where it opened up with a pair of 2-1 wins over West Texas A&M before dropping the final two games at home to split with the Buffs. CU comes into this weekend with a .253 batting average with 43 doubles, nine triples and six home runs. The Aggie pitching staff owns a 3.90 ERA with 174 strikeouts and 96 walks through 233 innings of work.

Jonathan Reyes leads the Aggies with a .317 average through 101 at-bats, while Tyler McKinzie lead the team with eight doubles and Russ Colgan has three triples. Dirk Masters (4-4) has a 2.60 ERA with 51 strikeouts through 45 innings on the mound, while Codey Upton is 3-0 with a 3.88 ERA and 27 strikeouts. Deven Youngstedt (2-0) and Logan Fanning (1-2) lead the team with two saves each.
Cameron will return to action next weekend with a four-game series at Texas A&M-Kingsville.