GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Down to their final out which would have ended their season, the Angelo State Rams rallied to advance in the NCAA South Central Championship with a 5-2 win over St. Mary's in 10 innings on Friday at Suplizio Field.  

The Rams (38-16) will now play top-seeded Colorado Mesa at 4:30 p.m. (CDT) on Saturday after trailing the Rattlers 2-1 with two outs in the top of the ninth before Brett David hit a 2-0 pitch to center field which fell in front of a diving center fielder for a single which scored J.C. Snyder to tie the game. ASU would score three runs in the top of the 10th with Nehwon Norkeh reaching on an error and advancing to third on a Sam Kohler single. Paxton DeLaGarza brought in Norkeh with a single and then two runs would score on an error to give Dillon Becker a three-run lead which he finished off with a groundout and two strikeouts to earn the win.

"Our guys were not ready to go home," ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. "This is a special group and I'm proud of them. We've been in this situation before and we screwed up the bracket again. Hopefully this is something that can spark us and get us on a run."

Becker (8-2) struck out four and did not allow a hit or run in 2 1/3 innings of relief of starter Blake Bass who received a no-decision despite another strong start from the senior. Bass, who now has 105 strikeouts on the season, struck out six and surrendered only two runs which both came in the bottom of the seventh inning. Bass stranded nine Rattlers on base, including ending the fifth inning with a strikeout with the bases loaded.

"Blake continued doing what he's done for us all season," Brooks said. "He's been in these big games before. Great pitchers don't give up runs and Blake did a great job of making pitches when he had to. He got us really deep and got us to Dillon. You can't say enough about how good Becker was for us tonight."

DeLaGarza continued his assault on the postseason by leading the Rams with a 3-for-5 performance with two RBI and also had seven assists at shortstop. He started Angelo State scoring with an RBI single in the top of the first to score Norkeh who had led off with a walk and then double in the sixth before his RBI single in the top of the 10th. He is now hitting .408 on the season and is 14-for-23 (.609) with 12 RBI through five postseason games. Cameron Massengill went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, while Kohler, Snyder, Derek Tyner and Cody Semler each had singles to account for ASU's 10-hit night against the Rattlers. Massengill extended his team-leading hitting streak to eight games with his pair of hits, while DeLaGarza has hit safely in seven straight. 

Connor Comacho (2-2) received the loss for the Rattlers after surrendering three runs on three hits after relieving starter Matt McLain who went 8 2/3 innings and exited with David coming to the plate. McLain struck out 10 and scattered seven hits in a 145-pitch outing for St. Mary's, but like Bass, did not receive a decision. The Rattlers outhit the Rams 12-10 with Keith Funk, Scott Jones, Brooks Orton and Derek Hamilton each having two-hit performances. The Rattlers did not commit an error until making one in the ninth and two in the 10th.

"I thought this was a classic Angelo State-St. Mary's game," Brooks said. "They competed their tails off and so did ours. I had no doubt that we were going to get that though."

Bryce Zak will start for the Rams on Saturday against the Mavericks who staved off elimination by knocking off St. Edward's in a 10-inning game which started the tournament on Friday. CMU is 48-8 overall and 25-4 at home this season after its win over the Hilltoppers on Friday after a 6-5 loss to St. Mary's on Thursday. This will be the first time ASU and Mesa have ever met in program history and both teams will be looking to stay alive in the tournament. ASU would advance to play on Sunday with a win.