SAN ANGELO – Steve Naemark struck out nine through eight innings and
Paxton DeLaGarza drove in three runs to help lead Angelo State to a 6-1 Lone Star Conference win over Texas A&M-Kingsville on Friday in the series finale at Foster Field.
The Rams (30-14, 17-13 LSC) have now won 399 games in program history and Naemark has 101 strikeouts after the win over the conference-leading Javelinas (26-18, 20-10 LSC). ASU and TAMUK will resume and conclude the series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday at Foster Field. The Rams also reached the 30-win milestone for the ninth time in 11 seasons.
Naemark (8-1) earned the win after scattering six hits and allowing only one earned run – coming in the second inning before throwing six straight scoreless frames – and walked only one. A junior left-hander, Naemark is the first Ram to reach triple-digit strikeouts in program history after he struck out two in the top of the eighth to reach the milestone.
"I knew I was going to have to hit my spots today against them," Naemark said. "I didn't really have my best stuff early in the game, but my team picked me up with offensive support and some big defensive plays. They made it easy on me to coast through eight and get the win. Every game is important for us and this gets us going in the right direction this weekend.
"My parents drove in from Tucson today to watch me pitch tonight and I really wanted to get to that number and let them see it," Naemark added. "It was important for me to have them here to support me and see me reach that milestone. It was a really great moment that we'll cherish forever."
While Naemark was in control of the game on the mound, DeLaGarza was the offensive leader for the Rams. He started the scoring with a two-out, solo home run in the first inning into the left-field bullpen. He would add two more RBI in the bottom of the fifth with a double to right-center field to score
Sam Kohler and
Nehwon Norkeh. ASU finished the game with 11 hits with Kohler, DeLaGarza and
J.C. Snyder each having two hits.
Snyder went 2-for-4 with two doubles and now leads the conference with 19 doubles this season, while
Elias Aguirre went 1-for-3 with a bunt single for the first hit of his collegiate career.
"I feel good about how we are swinging the bats at this point of the season," ASU head coach
Kevin Brooks said. "We're a different team offensively than the last time we played against them a month ago and our pitching is still really tough. I thought we had some really good approaches and competed throughout the game with the ball in the zone."
Ryan Benitez (6-4) took the loss for the Javelinas after allowing five runs on eight hits in six innings of work. Benitez, who is a Brett Tomko Award semifinalist along with Naemark, had seven strikeouts before exiting with a his team down four runs. Cline Andrews led the Javelinas at the plate, going 2-for-4 and scoring their only run in the second inning after hitting a leadoff triple.
Blake Bass (7-1) will make the start for the Rams in the first game on Saturday, while
Bryce Zak (5-5) is scheduled to start the series finale. ASU and Brooks are now one win away from 400 victories after the program was started in 2005. Brooks has been the head coach all 11 seasons and enters Saturday with a 399-227 record.
