SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State baseball team swept No. 17 West Texas A&M (7-5, 7-6) in Saturday's doubleheader with late come from behind wins in each of the two games.
The Rams jumped to 27-17 overall and remained in a tie for first place in the Lone Star Conference with a 19-9 LSC record. The team now sits tied with Texas A&M – Kingsville for the top spot in the conference. The ASU offense out hit the Buffs in both games on Saturday, racking up 33 total hits to the WT's 14. On the mound, game one reliever, Dustin Angiel (1-0), earned his first win of the season and game two closer, Graylon Brown (5-5), earned his fifth. Brown also recorded his sixth save of the season in game one. With 23 total career saves, this places the senior one save away from tying the LSC all-time record. West Texas A&M slid to 29-14, 17-12 LSC with the pair of losses, and closer Kyle Tinius (3-3) was credited with both losses.
Game one of the doubleheader saw WT get out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. Jarryd Klemm got things started for the Rams with a RBI single to left that scored Paxton DeLaGarza. The Buffs then placed two more on the board in the fourth, making its lead 5-1. With the four-point deficit and only two innings left in the seven inning game, the rally began.
ASU's six run, sixth inning started with the Rams taking advantage of a Buffs error and plating Elias Aguirre and Christian Abilla. Jay Gonzales then slapped a RBI single bring home Sam Kohler to tie the score at 5-5. Steven Pinales then pushed Gonzales across with a monster double. Senior, David Goggin, completed the rally by adding another RBI double to the teams six hit inning to give the team a 7-5 lead. Brown then entered the game and kept WT from mounting a comeback of its own as he only giving up a single hit out of three hitters faced.
A total of five pitchers saw the hill during the game. Bryce Zak got the game one start and put in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out five and gave up five runs on five hits. Joe Hauser, Kellen Rholl, Angiel and Brown all entered in relief. Rholl led the relief committee with its only strike out.
Klemm led the offensive attack going 3-for-4 at the plate with a RBI. Goggin also chalked up multiple hits for the game going 2-for-4, recording one of the two doubles hit for the game. DeLaGarza and Gonzales each recorded a team high two RBIs for the game. DeLaGarza also led the team recording two runs for the first game.
The second game of the day was almost identical to the first, with the Buffs crossing three base runners early in the game. It would not be until the bottom of the third when Gonzales would fly out to center and Kohler scored from third after the tag that the Rams would mark its first run of the game. WT added another in the top of the fourth and one in the top of the fifth to make the score 5-1.
Just as in the first game, with two innings left the Rams went to work on constructing its second comeback of the day. ASU started the eighth with Klemm ripping a ball that took a bounce over the right field fence for a ground rule double that brought Gonzales around to score. Tyler Coolbaugh then singled to the right side scoring Klemm. With the score now 5-3, Aguirre added the second double of the inning scoring two to bring the game to an even five runs apiece. Kohler rounded out the rally with a two RBI single to right field. With another two run lead to protect, Brown went to work again only giving up one run to secure the win and the series sweep.
This game also saw five Rams take to the mound, with Jayden O'Dell getting the start. The senior tossed 3 2/3 innings giving up four runs on one hit and sitting down a team high six hitters for the day. Kenton Schroter, Rholl, Angiel and Brown all entered in relief. Brown led the relief group putting in 2 1/3 innings and striking out three.
Coolbaugh, DeLaGarza and Kohler all recorded a team high two hits apiece for the game. Aguirre and Kohler each chalked up a pair of RBIs each to lead the team, while Michael Urquidi drew a team high two walks.
The Rams take to the road for its last regular season match-up away from home against Cameron. This will be a three game series that will begin on Friday, April 29 with a single game starting at 3 p.m. This will then be followed with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 30 at 1 p.m.
