SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State baseball team will return home after its first month of play on the road to host Texas A&M – Kingsville in a four game series that will kick off on Friday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. with free admission being offered for all fans.
ASU will then have a doubleheader on Saturday, March 12 that begins at 4 p.m. which will be followed by a final game four on Sunday, March 13 at 1 p.m. The Rams return home with an 11-6 overall record and are currently 4-0 in the Lone Star Conference. The team will be seeking to continue its strong performance as it swept Eastern New Mexico in last week's four game series. The Javelinas (10-4, 3-1 LSC) will be looking to rebound after losing its last game to a No.10 Cameron team. The Rams edged TAMUK four games to three in last season's overall series sweeping the Javelinas on Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium.
To officially open the new and improved Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium the team will host a ribbon cutting ceremony at 6:10 p.m. on Norris Diamond prior to Friday's game. The Game has also been designated as a "blackout" game by the Angelo State athletic department and fans are encouraged to wear black as the team will be showcasing its new black uniforms. The first 300 fans through the gates will be given a free commemorative black t-shirt.
Sam Kohler has been an important part of the ASU offensive attack with a team leading and conference second 25 hits on the season. This gives him a stellar, team leading .410 batting average and a .513 on base percentage. He has a successfully stolen four bags this season and leads ASU and the LSC having scored 22 runs. On the field he has turned a conference first 12 double plays and has amassed 63 assists.
Paxton DeLaGarza has also made great contributions to the Rams efforts at the plate as he is one of two players leading the team with 17 RBIs a piece. This also ties him for the second most runs batted in in the LSC. DeLaGarza leads the team with six doubles and three home runs on the year. He is currently boasting a .353 batting average leads the team with a .569 slugging percentage. As well as excelling at the shortstop position, DeLaGarza has also made a quality appearance on the hill for ASU. In the series finale against Eastern New Mexico he tossed a five hitless and scoreless innings and earned the win for the game. Prior to that he pitched 2/3 of an inning in the Rams season opening series against Texas A&M International. He has tallied 5 total strikeouts on the year and a 0.00 ERA.
Tyler Coolbaugh is the second player on the team with a recorded 17 RBI's. The Infielder will enter this weekend's match-up with a .394 batting average and a .426 slugging percentage. He is third on the squad with 18 hits this season and second with a pair of homers. The junior's most recent homer coming in the form of an inside-the-park home run in ASU's 11-0 win over the Greyhounds.
Senior David Goggin is also third on the team with 18 hits on the year. He is currently hitting .327 and is boasting a .487 slugging percentage. He has an on base percentage of .458 and has also recorded a team third nine RBIs thus far.
Leading the conference and the team with 48 strikeouts, Bryce Zak is sporting a team low 2.64 ERA. Having started both games of the team doubleheader against ENMU, Zak has pitched a team first and conference third 30.2 innings this season. He leads ASU and the LSC with a 4-0 record this season and has limited opposing hitters to a conference fourth .198 batting average.
Graylon Brown and Matt Shannon have been paramount to the Angelo State pitching staff. Brown leads the Rams and the conference with three total saves this season. This places the senior only one save away from tying the conference career save record of 21. He has recorded 16 strikeouts this season and is currently sporting a 3.38 ERA. Finally, Shannon has pitched a team and LSC second 43 strikeouts this season. With a 3.23 ERA, he has a 2-2 record on the year. In 30.2 innings pitched during 2016 he has only walked five batters. In his last outing against the Greyhounds, Brown tossed three innings giving up only two hits and striking out three. This combined with DeLaGarza's five hitless innings almost completed a no hitter that would have been the first in program history.
Live video, audio and stats will be provided for all four games of this series.
