KINGSVILLE – Here are your four words to put into a sentence.

Rams, Win, Conference, Championship.

Paxton DeLaGarza went 3-for-4 with four RBI and Graylon Brown struck out the final batter of the game with the bases loaded to lead Angelo State to its third Lone Star Conference Championship in program history with an 8-6 win over Tarleton State on Saturday in the finals at Nolan Ryan Field. The Rams (37-15) swept through the tournament for the first time after knocking off West Texas A&M on Thursday and the Texans on Friday and Saturday to win the title in only three games. 

"The biggest thing is that it gets us to the NCAA tournament, but it's also a great feeling of accomplishment for our team," ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. "We came down here and played some of our best baseball of the year at the most important time. We had guys step up for us in crucial situations and you have to have that to win a championship."

The Rams have now won the Lone Star Conference Championship in 2007, 2012 and 2015 and have earned a bid to the NCAA Division II South Central Championship where they'll be playing in their fifth regional tournament in program history. ASU will learn of its seeding, location and first-round opponent at 9 p.m. on Sunday when the NCAA selections are announced.

"We think we are good enough to go to the World Series and win it all," Brooks said. "This was the first step and now we go to the regional tournament and will be tested there. We're going to do everything we can to try and get back to the series and we feel good about the way we are playing right now. This was a fun weekend but there's more to our season that we are looking forward to."

The Rams broke a 6-6 tie with a two-out rally by scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning with Sam Kohler driving in Elias Aguirre who had reached on a two-out walk and advanced to third on a Nehwon Norkeh single through the middle. Kohler's game-winning hit was a grounder that bounced off second base and into center field. Norkeh would score the eighth run of the game after an error by the Texan catcher who was trying to throw out Kohler who forced the Texans into action by stealing second base. After leading for most of the game and then seeing TSU hit two home runs to square the game at six, Kohler stepped to the plate with an opportunity to drive in a run and give the Rams a lead going into the final inning. 

"I had a first-pitch approach right there," Kohler said. "I knew he didn't want to fall back in the count and that he would try to throw an early strike. He gave me a curve ball and I was able to sit back on it and hit it up the middle. Luckily it got through to score the run. Every guy on this team has stepped up at some point in the season and I'm just glad I was able to come through."

With an 8-6 lead, ASU turned to Brown who would be the all-time career saves leader in program history some adventure in the ninth. Brown started the inning by getting a flyout that Cody Semler tracked down to the left-field warning track for the first out before Kevin Meredith and Landon Merka hit back-to-back singles. A strikeout and then a walk set up a bases loaded situation with two outs that Brown slammed the door on with a full-count strike out for the 17th save of his career and the 11th of the season.

"I knew it was going to be a battle for me when I came in," Brown said. "They weren't going to let there season end without a fight. It was a mentality of just do whatever I could to get us out of it. It was a huge win for our team and program. We've had some tough losses in the past couple of years so to come through here was incredible. This team never gives up and it felt like we were meant to win it, but we also knew that we had to earn it."

Angelo State led 6-3 for the majority of the game after the two teams exchanged two-run first innings and then ASU won the second inning by a score of 4-1. DeLaGarza opened scoring for the Rams with an RBI double in the first to score Kohler who had walked and then drove in three runs on another double in the second. The second inning onslaught was all done with two outs and came with David Goggin, Norkeh and Kohler drawing walks and setting up DeLaGarza who sent a shot to the left-center field fence to clear the bases. J.C. Snyder followed with an RBI single to right field to give the Rams a 6-3 lead.

DeLaGarza, who is now hitting .401 on the season, was named the LSC Tournament MVP after hitting .643 (9-for-14) with seven RBI during the three-day stay in Kingsville.

"We've been through so much as a team and were able to get through the ups and downs," DeLaGarza said. "We never lost belief in ourselves though. We came here to play and proved that we were the best team here."

"Paxton really came through for us today and throughout the entire season," Brooks said. "He was our offense and has been played like the best player in the conference."

Dillon Becker (7-2) earned the win for the Rams after throwing three innings of relief where he allowed only one run and had three strikeouts. Becker entered the game with the Rams leading 6-5 and kept it that way by stranding two runners on in the seventh with a strikeout. TSU got to Becker though in the eight with a Elijah Christenson leadoff home run to tie the game, but Becker settled down and coaxed a 6-4-3 (DeLaGaza-Kohler-David) double play to end the eighth and set up the Rams comeback in the bottom of the inning.

Bryce Zak started for the Rams and finished with seven strikeouts and gave the Rams five solid innings. He struggled early in the game by giving up two runs in the first and another in the second, but threw three scoreless frames before a two-run home run by Peter McMahon ended his outing.  

"I was just going out there and trying to give our team a chance to win," Zak said. "I wanted to attack early and may have a little too much early. I gave them too many good pitches to hit by leaving pitches over the plate, but I made some adjustments and settled in and kept on grinding."

Snyder finished the game 2-for-5, including his conference-leading 22nd double of the season that hit the top of the left-field fence in the seventh. Norkeh, Kohler, Derek Tyner and Cameron Massengill each had singles to account for the nine ASU hits on the day.

Trevor Renfro (4-4) took the loss after keeping the Texans in the game by going 5 2/3 innings before ASU touched him up for two in the eighth. Renfro struck out eight and limited the Rams to four hits. The loss ends the Texans season at 22-25 and with Angelo State going 6-3 against them this season. ASU handed the Texans both of their losses in the conference tournament and outscored TSU by a 64-20 margin in their nine games this season.

ALL-TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS
DeLaGarza, Norkeh, David and Blake Bass were named to the LSC All-Tournament Team. Norkeh finished the tournament with a .545 batting average with six hits and three RBI, while David hit two home runs and finished with five total hits and four RBI. Bass (10-2) dominated the Texans on Friday with eight strikeouts in eight innings of work to help lead the Rams to the championship game.

C – Justin Hargrove, WT
1B – Brett David, Angelo State
2B – Landon Merka, Tarleton State
3B – Johnny Gaines, WT
OF – Dalton Weeks, Tarleton State
OF – Nehwon Norkeh, Angelo State
OF – Kevin Meredith, Tarleton State
DH – Jonathan Schmitz, Tarleton State
UT – Hayden Vesely, Texas A&M-Kingsville
P – Blake Bass, Angelo State
P – Kyle Gottardy, Tarleton State
P – Justin McAllister, WT
 
MVP: Paxton DeLaGarza, Angelo State