SAN ANGELO, Texas – The No.1 seeded Angelo State baseball team will host No.4 seeded Cameron in the first round of the Lone Star Conference baseball tournament on Thursday, May 12 at 7:00 p.m. on Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium.
After finishing the regular season 32-18, 25-10 LSC and claiming its third LSC championship, the Rams will seek to claim its second consecutive LSC tournament championship. ASU is 14-4 when playing at home and currently riding a four game winning streak after sweeping Tarleton State in its last regular season match-up. This season the Rams are 5-2 against the Aggies.
The Rams lead the LSC in pitching with a 3.50 team ERA and on the field with a 0.972 fielding percentage. ASU's top ranked pitching staff has also moved up in the national ranking to No.18 from with its earned run average and it remains nationally ranked with six shutouts (12th). The staff has been holding the Rams opponents to a .257 average at the plate. Offensively, the Rams have climbed back into the top 15 to 11th in the nation in sac bunts (51) and lead the conference in stolen bases (66).
Cameron will also be entering this weekend's tournament coming off a sweep as it took three straight from Eastern New Mexico on the road. CU is 14-10 when playing away from home with three of those wins being earned at a neutral site. The Aggies finished the regular season second in the LSC with a .300 team batting average and third in pitching with a 4.05 ERA.
Expected to start in the first two games for the Rams this weekend will once again be Matt Shannon (6-4) and Bryce Zak (7-2). Shannon completed the regular season with a 2.51 ERA and 100 strikeouts. With these numbers he continues to remain third in the conference and 14th in the nation. Zak, who is ranked within the top ten in the LSC with seven wins, is currently boasting a 2.81 ERA. With 125 strikeouts to his name, the senior is now only 13 away from breaking the Angelo State all-time single season strikeout record. Zak has held the opposition to a .218 average at the dish.
Graylon Brown (6-6, 8), Kenton Schroter (3-0, 1) and Joe Hauser (3-1, 1) will also most likely make appearances as relievers for the Rams. Earning the 25th save of his career in last week's match-up with Tarleton State, Brown is now the LSC all-time career saves. He also leads the squad with a 2.47 ERA and has struck out 40. Schroter, who is sporting a 3.34 ERA on the year, has struck out 17 in 32 1/3 innings, while Hauser has 3.83 ERA and has retired 27 hitters.
Sam Kohler and Paxton DeLaGarza will be leading the Rams at the dish. The two hitters lead the Rams with 61 total hits on the season, which places them in a three-way tie for second in the LSC that included Camron's Cody Bower. Kohler is sporting a .335 batting average after going 5-for-10 at the dish in last week's series. This included a 3-for-3 performance to kick off the three game series. He has cranked in a team third 23 RBIs and continues to lead the team having scored 40 runs. Around the bases, Kohler co-leads the team with 10 stolen bags. He is the only player on the team to have played in and started all 50 games this season. DeLaGarza continues to lead the team with seven home runs on the year. The senior is hitting a team high .345 with a .565 slugging percentage and a .412 on base percentage. He has also stroked 14 doubles and two triples while plating a team leading 38 RBIs. The senior has also scored a team second 37 runs for ASU.
The Rams will also look to Tyler Coolbaugh, Jay Gonzales, and Jarryd Klemm to produce big hits. Coolbaugh, who completed the regular season with a .313 average at the plate, has recorded a team third 45 hits this season. He has also stroked a team second nine doubles and 31 RBIs thus far. Gonzales is currently boasting a .306 batting average and has tallied 37 hits on the season. He has hit eight doubles on the season. Klemm rounds out the group having improved his batting average to .325 with solid showing at the dish in the Rams last series. Going 5-for-12 for the weekend, the Australian native recorded three RBIs, a double and a triple. He has a team fourth 41 hits in 2016 and has plated 14 total runners.
Also, looking to make offensive contributions for ASU will be Elias Aguirre, Christian Abilla and David Goggin. Aguirre currently co-leads the squad with 10 stolen bases on the year. He has recorded 37 total team hits with six of those being multi-base hits. Abilla has knocked 35 hits this season and has accrued a team fourth 23 RBIs. Finally, Goggin has tallied a pair of home runs and eight doubles this season. He has pushed 20 runs across for the Rams off of 33 total hits.
Thursday's match-up will be broadcasted live and in high definition on RamTV (Suddenlink channel 6) and on 1260AM KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call. Regardless of the outcome of Thursday's game, the Rams will play again on Friday, May 13 as this is a double game elimination event. Tickets for the tournament will be $10 for adults (18 and older) and $7 for youth and students per day. A tournament pass for all games can be purchased for $25. Angelo State students and students from the three other participating universities will receive free admission with a university ID.
