KINGSVILLE – Nehwon Norkeh and Brett David hit a pair of two-run home runs and Graylon Brown recorded a four-pitch strikeout to strand the tying run at second base as the Angelo State Rams earned a 6-5 win over West Texas A&M on Thursday in the opening game of the Lone Star Conference Championship at Nolan Ryan Field.

The Rams (35-15) moved to the winner's bracket of the conference tournament where they'll play at 3 p.m. on Friday against Tarleton State which earned a 9-3 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville in the second game of the tournament. The top-seeded Javelinas and Buffs will play an elimination game at 7 p.m. tonight. 

"Our offense really stepped up big time and our pitchers did a great job for us once again," ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. "I was really proud of the way we competed and kept plugging away against a really good team."

Steve Naemark (9-1) earned the win for the Rams after striking out six and exiting the game with a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning. Naemark, who was named the LSC Pitcher of the Year on Wednesday, threw four scoreless innings to start the game before WT scored one run in the top of the fifth and two more in the sixth to take a 3-1 lead. Down two in the seventh inning, Norkeh stepped up and drilled a two-run home run to left-center field for his conference-leading 10th homer that scored David who reached base on a one-out single through the middle of the infield. Sam Kohler followed with a single to right field and then stole second base to get in scoring position. He would come in to score the third run of the inning on a Paxton DeLaGarza single through the left-side of the infield and give Naemark and the Rams a 4-3 lead.

After a one-out triple by WT's Matt Cole, Dillon Becker took the mound for the Rams where he coaxed two groundouts to strand Cole at third base and preserve the one-run lead. With a one-run lead going into the ninth and memories of two walk-off wins by the Buffs in the last series between the two teams, ASU understood insurance runs were important. Those runs were provided by David who came to the plate with Cameron Massengill at first base after a leadoff single. David hit the third pitch of his at-bat over the left-field fence for his fifth home run of the season to give the Rams a 6-3 lead.  

"I've been struggling the past couple of weeks and I just went up there trying to have fun and make something happen for our team," said David, who was earned an LSC honorable mention selection on Wednesday. "I got a good pitch to hit and did something with it. We knew that they were not going to go away easy so those runs were important. It was a really important win because you don't want to get in a hole right away."

Becker would once again get out of trouble in the eighth after he hit the leadoff hitter and then surrendered an infield single and walk. A strikeout, groundout and flyout to Norkeh in center field ended the inning through with the bases loaded stranded for the Buffs. The Rams went silent in the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning and went to the bottom of the ninth with a three-run lead. Becker got the first batter to foul out to Massengill behind the plate before hitting his second batter and then a groundout for two quick outs. Down to their final out, WT's Justin Hargrove reached on a walk and would score the second run of the inning on an Aaron Blair single.

With Mason Shiflett pinch running for Blair and at second following a wild pitch, ASU turned to Brown who made quick work of Max Brennan who struck out swinging as Brown earned his 11th save of the season and the 16th of his career which matches Joe Key for the all-time program record.

"It would have been a lot easier if we would have just got three outs right away, but that doesn't always happen," Brooks said. "I felt confident the whole time that we were going to get it done. Graylon came in and threw four great pitches to end the game. Those tack-on runs proved to be really important. We're a team that never takes anything for granted and we knew there in the eighth that getting a couple of runs was going to be big for us."

David led the Rams at the plate by going 3-for-4 with his two RBI coming on the home run, while Norkeh and DeLaGarza each had two hits. Norkeh finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBI and Massengill and Kohler each scored a run after reaching on singles. Becker went 2 1/3 innings with three strikeouts, while Brown made his 26th appearance of the season a short and productive one with his 40th strikeout of the season.

WT starter Tyler Gibson received the loss after allowing four earned runs on nine hits, while reliever Sean Michel gave up two runs on David's eighth-inning home run. Gibson fell to 6-3 on the season with the loss which sent the Buffs to an elimination game.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday's Results
Game 1: Angelo State 6, West Texas A&M 5
Game 2: Tarleton State 9, Texas A&M-Kingsville 3
Game 3: West Texas A&M 11, Texas A&M-Kingsville 5
Friday's Schedule
Game 4: Angelo State vs. Tarleton State
Game 5: Loser of Game 4 vs. West Texas A&M
Saturday's Schedule
Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 12 p.m.
Game 7 (If-Necessary): 4 p.m.