SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State baseball team will host Texas A&M-Kingsville in a three-game Lone Star Conference set this weekend at Foster Field starting with a 6:30 p.m. game on Friday before the two teams play a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.

The Rams (29-14, 16-13 LSC) enter the weekend in third in the conference standings behind the Javelinas (26-17, 20-9 LSC) and West Texas A&M (29-15, 18-11 LSC) with six regular-season games remaining. ASU is 19-4 at Foster Field this season, while the Javelinas are 6-11 outside of Kingsville. TAMUK took three of four from the Rams in the first meeting of the season at Nolan Ryan Field and the all-time series is now tied at 25-25 going into Friday's game. ASU enters this weekend with 398 wins in program history and in the head coaching career of Kevin Brooks who started the program in 2005.

Statistically speaking, the Rams lead the Lone Star Conference in 16 categories including offensive stats in batting average (.296), doubles (79), doubles per game (1.84), total hits (397), home runs (31), on-base percentage (.366), sacrifice flies (20) and slugging percentage (.432). The pitching staff leads the LSC in ERA (2.97), hits allowed (8.2), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.19), strikeouts per 9-innings (9.7) and WHIP (1.25). The Rams also lead the LSC with a .971 fielding percentage and a .674 winning percentage. Nationally, ASU ranks fifth in strikeouts per 9-innings and is 11th in strikeout-to-walk ratio and ERA. While ASU has hit 31 home runs this season, its opponents have only hit four homer off Ram pitchers.

Individually, there are 20 statistical categories that a Ram leads the conference in. Steve Naemark and Blake Bass each have seven wins to lead the LSC, while Naemark tops the conference with 92 strikeouts, a 0.69 ERA, a 0.86 WHIP and limiting opponents to 6.00 hits per 9-innings. J.C. Snyder leads the LSC with 17 doubles, a .599 slugging percentage and 0.40 doubles per game, while Paxton DeLaGarza leads the conference in total hits (61) and 92 total bases and is second in batting average (.379). Nehwon Norkeh is leading the conference with eight home runs and 42 runs scored, while Cody Semler tops the league with 12 stolen bases and Sam Kohler has proven to be the toughest strikeout victim in the league by striking out only 12.4 percent of his 87 at-bats.

ASU SEASON TRACKER
Overall Record:  29-14
Lone Star Conference Record:  16-13
At Foster Field:  19-4
Away from San Angelo:  10-10
Neutral Site Games:  0-0
LSC Home Games:  8-4
LSC Road Games:  8-9
Current Streak:  W2
Longest Winning Streak:  W15 (*program record)
Longest Losing Streak:  L4
Most runs scored:  18
Fewest runs scored:  0 (2)
Vs. Cameron: 7-0
Vs. Eastern New Mexico: 1-3
Vs. Tarleton State: 4-3
Vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville: 1-3
Vs. West Texas A&M: 3-4
 
ANGELO STATE PROBABLE STARTING ROTATION
Game 1: Steve Naemark, Junior, LHP (7-1, 0.69 ERA, 1 SV, 92K, 15BB, 52H, 1CG, 6 ER, 78.0 IP)
Game 2: Blake Bass, Senior, RHP (7-2, 2.67 ERA, 73K, 16BB, 72H, 2CG, 21 ER, 70.2 IP)
Game 3: Bryce Zak, Junior, RHP (5-5, 2.11 ERA, 65K, 26BB, 43H, 13 ER, 55.1 IP)
 
TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE PROBABLE STARTING ROTATION
Game 1: Ryan Benitez, Senior, RHP (6-3, 4.03 ERA, 69K, 12BB, 2CG, 30 ER, 68H, 67.0 IP)
Game 2: Ryan Scott, Senior, RHP (3-2, 2.17 ERA, 40K, 23BB, 9 ER, 19H, 37.1 IP)
Game 3: Matt Terrones, Junior, LHP (7-1, 4.36 ERA, 42K, 19BB, 26 ER, 31H, 53.2 IP)
 
STARTER REPORT: Steve Naemark became the Angelo State single-season record holder for strikeouts after striking out six last Friday at West Texas A&M to take his season total to 92 strikeouts through 13 appearances and 78 innings pitched. A junior left-hander, Naemark is third in the nation with his 92 strikeouts and fourth with a 0.69 ERA – both of which lead the Lone Star Conference. Naemark, who will make his 13th start of the season on Friday night, has three double-digit strikeout performances this season, including establishing the program record with 15 strikeouts in a win over Regis and then having a 12-strikeout performance against Lubbock Christian and then 11 strikeouts at Eastern New Mexico. Naemark has been named a semifinalist for the Brett Tomko Award which is sponsored by d2baseballnews.com and goes to the best pitcher in Division II. Naemark is a two-time LSC Pitcher of the Week and has earned national awards from Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. He is in his first season with the Rams after transferring from Cochise College where he helped lead his team to the JUCO World Series in back-to-back seasons. He has allowed only six earned runs in his 78 innings of work this season and has only walked 15. Naemark took his first loss of the season against the Javelinas on March 22 in Kingsville after TAMUK scored two unearned runs and won 2-0 over the Rams. He had five strikeouts and scattered four hits in six innings of work in the loss.

Blake Bass is tied with Naemark for the conference lead with seven wins, is second in strikeouts with 73 and fourth with a 2.67 ERA. Bass, who is 11-6 in his two seasons at ASU and has 112 career strikeouts, has been identified as the No. 3-ranked professional prospect by Baseball America and is coming off earning LSC and all-region honors last season. A senior transfer from Texas Tech, Bass established a career-high earlier this season by striking out 10 in a win over Tarleton State and has struck out five or more batters in nine games this season. He is coming off a six-strikeout performance against WT. Bass has walked only 16 batters in 70 2/3 innings of work this season and leads the team with two complete games. Bass will start the first game of Saturday's doubleheader which will be the 25th start of his Angelo State career.

Bryce Zak is coming off a 10-strikeout performance last Saturday in a win over West Texas A&M and enters this weekend with 65 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings of work. Zak is third in the conference with a 2.11 ERA and sixth with his strikeout total. A junior from San Angelo, Zak has 103 career strikeouts in 101 innings during his time at ASU. He started his collegiate career at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before transferring to ASU as a sophomore in 2013. He went 5-1 with 38 strikeouts in his sophomore season, but then missed last year due to an arm injury. Back this season, Zak has shined throughout despite taking five losses with limited run support in those games. He established a career-high with 11 strikeouts in a win over Regis and has five or more strikeouts in nine games this season – including five strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings at Kingsville. Zak, who has limited opponents to a .219 batting average this season, will start the second game on Saturday which is scheduled for nine innings.
 
LINEUP REPORT: Paxton DeLaGarza lead the LSC with 61 total hits and is second with a .379 batting average and 30 RBI. A junior shortstop, DeLaGarza has recorded 18 multi-hit games this season including six three-hit performances. He is currently tied with J.C. for second on the team with six home runs, but did not have a home run until the Rams traveled to Kingsville for the first meeting between the two teams. DeLaGarza was one of the offensive bright spots for the Rams during that weekend where he hit two home runs and went 10-for-18 against Javelina pitching. He went 3-for-5 last Saturday in the series finale at West Texas A&M with two RBI and now has a team-leading eight multi-RBI games. He comes into this weekend with 11 doubles, one triple, six home runs and 43 singles.

Snyder leads the conference and is 24th in the nation with his 17 doubles and is second on the team with his six home runs and a .355 batting average. In his first season at ASU after transferring from BYU, Snyder has produced 17 multi-hit performances and has 22 RBI. He has started 12 of the last 13 games at third base and has started every game this season with the majority of his early-season starts coming in the outfield. A right-handed hitter, he has 54 total hits this season coming into the Kingsville series. Nehwon Norkeh leads the Rams and the conference with eight home runs and 42 runs scored. A sophomore from Minnesota, Norkeh has shined this season from the leadoff spot of the lineup where he has 11 doubles, one triple, eight home runs and 23 RBI. He stole home on Monday night in the win over McMurry and comes into this weekend with 27 stolen bases. He also has 12 career home runs and 88 total hits. Norkeh has been identified as the No. 5-ranked Division II professional prospect by Baseball America. He has started all 43 games in center field for the Rams this season.

Cameron Massengill has started all but one game at catcher and comes into this weekend with 91 career hits for the Rams after transferring from Cisco Junior College where he played his first two seasons at. Massengill was an LSC first-team and all-region selection for the Rams last season and has committed only one error this season. That takes his fielding percentage to the second best in program history behind only Ryan Greer who had a perfect fielding percentage in center field during the 2013 season which earned him an ABCA Gold Glove. Massengill, who has 12 multi-hit games as a senior, has thrown out 19 runners attempting to steal this season and 30 in his two seasons for the Rams. He has nine doubles, 32 singles and 19 RBI this season.

Derek Tyner provided the dramatics on Monday with a walk-off two-run double to center field to lift the Rams to their win over McMurry. Tyner is hitting .315 this season with 46 total hits which includes nine doubles and four home runs. He has solidified himself as the team's designated hitter and has provided 26 RBI. He comes into this weekend with 16 multi-hit performances. Tyner hit two home runs in the series finale against Tarleton State at Foster Field two weeks ago.

Brett David is second on the team with 29 RBI and enters this weekend with 112 career hits. A senior from El Paso, David has four home runs this season and has started all 43 games at first base where he has routinely turned in highlight-worthy plays. He had a career-high four hits in game earlier this season at Tarleton State and hit the first grand slam of his career against Texas A&M International in a win at Foster Field. David hit one home run in his freshman and sophomore seasons before hitting two last season and four this year. David Goggin hit the first home run of his career last weekend at West Texas A&M and comes into this weekend with 12 hits and 10 walks. He missed the first half of the season with injury, but has since returned to play in 22 games. Goggin is this year's team captain and was selected as the Holland's Award winner for baseball. He was named an Academic All-American as a sophomore.

Cody Semler comes into this weekend having gone 9-for-22 in the past six games and leading the conference with 12 stolen bases this season. Semler, who is a senior from Allen, has five doubles, one home run and 21 singles this season for the Rams. He has also provided 13 RBI and has taken 14 walks. Sam Kohler has played the majority of the season as the team's starting second baseman and has provided 21 hits and six RBI at the plate. One of the top fielding second basemen in the conference, Kohler has not made an error in 31 of 33 games he's played in. He has four errors on the year – with that stat being misleading by him committing three errors in one game at St. Mary's. He also made an error at Tarleton State, meaning he has not made an error at home this season.

BULLPEN REPORT: Graylon Brown (2-2) enters this weekend with nine saves which has matched the single-season record which was established by Mike Weatherly in the 2012 season. Brown has been one of the most dominant relievers in the nation this season and has a 1.54 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 35 innings of work this season. A junior right-hander from Brownwood, Brown has 101 career strikeouts and 14 career saves. He owns a 10-6 career record. Dillon Becker (5-2) earned the win over McMurry on Monday and is now 8-5 in his two-year career at Angelo State. A junior right-hander from Bastrop, Becker has five saves and 42 strikeouts this season for the Rams and 77 career strikeouts. Without a midweek game remaining on the schedule, Matt Shannon (3-1) heads to the bullpen for the remainder of the regular season. A redshirt freshman who has proved his value in multiple roles, Shannon has 25 strikeouts in 13 appearances. He has two wins over St. Mary's on his resume and also a win over Cameron in conference play.

The Javelinas are coming off a 5-3 loss against St. Edward's on Tuesday after taking two of three from ENMU last weekend in conference action. TAMUK, which is 6-11 away from Kingsville this season, comes into San Angelo with a .285 team batting average with 74 doubles, 15 triples and nine home runs.

REGIONAL RANKINGS: The only NCAA Division II baseball rankings that truly matter were released on Wednesday for the first time this season and have Angelo State at No. 5 in the South Central region. The Rams (29-14) went 13-1 in their non-conference schedule this season and are currently 16-13 in Lone Star Conference play with upcoming home series against Texas A&M-Kingsville and Eastern New Mexico at Foster Field to finish off the regular season. Regional tournaments in DII baseball are a field of six with the South Central region including automatic bids from the LSC, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Heartland Conference tournament champions and then three at-large bids to the highest ranked teams who did not win their conference tournament. Colorado Mesa is atop the regional rankings with a 37-5 record, while Colorado State-Pueblo (31-9) is second in the region. St. Edward's (31-10) is third, West Texas A&M (28-15) is fourth and Texas A&M-Kingsville (23-15 in-region) is sixth. Tarleton State has a 16-17 in-region record and is seventh, while St. Mary's is 20-9 in-region and is eighth in the initial regional rankings. Colorado Mesa hosted last year's regional tournament in Grand Junction, Colorado. ASU's non-conference record included going 8-0 against the Heartland Conference and 3-0 against the RMAC. The Rams swept St. Mary's in a two-game season series which was played in a home-and-away format, while they are 3-4 against the Buffs after dropping two of three last weekend in Canyon.


Angelo State Single-Season Records Watch