SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State baseball team will travel to Grand Junction, Colorado, for the first round of the NCAA DII South Central Regional tournament to face West Texas A&M in a rematch of the Lone Star Championship finale on Thursday, May 19 at 7 p.m. MST/ 8 p.m. CST.

The Rams are 35-20 overall this season and will enter the regional tournament with a 12-8 all-time tournament record.  This will also mark the sixth time that ASU has made the trip to the South Central Championship and the second consecutive year that ASU has traveled to Grand Junction. In the 2015 regional tournament, the Rams dropped the first game to Colorado State-Pueblo.  ASU rallied back taking four straight games to advance to the NCAA DII College World Series.

This will be the third time in six days and the 10^th time this season that the two teams will square off but the first meeting between the schools in the NCAA postseason. After downing the Buffs, 5-1, last Saturday in game six of the LSC tournament to force a do-or-die final game seven, ASU fell to WTAMU 4-2. West Texas A&M will be taking a 36-18 overall record into the tournament and trail the Rams 6-3 in the series between the two teams this season. 

Expected to see work on the mound during the tournament will be Matt Shannon (6-5) and Bryce Zak (8-2). Shannon is currently sporting a 2.69 ERA and has tied Blake Bass for the No. 3 spot for single season strikeouts in the history books with 106. He remains third in the LSC rankings in strikeouts this season and has moved up to eighth in the nation. Zak, who is ranked second nationally in single season strikeouts, is boasting a 2.64 ERA after completing his second consecutive 10 strikeout performance. The senior out of San Angelo, has totaled 135 strikeouts thus far and is now only four away from breaking the ASU all-time single season strikeout record.  In last weekend's LSC tournament, Zak tied the LSC all-time career strikeout record with 258 and will be looking to take sole ownership pf it in this tournament.

Kenton Schroter (4-0, 1) and Graylon Brown (6-6, 9) could also make appearances on the hill for the Rams. Brown, the LSC all-time career saves leader (26), has climbed to a tie for 18^th in the nation. The Brownwood, Texas native also leads the squad with a 2.30 ERA and has struck out 43 hitters. Schroter is coming off a spectacular complete game performance in the LSC tournament. The junior struck out seven and gave up only one run on four hits in nine innings of work against West Texas A&M. The Canadian national has now improved his ERA to 2.83.

Paxton DeLaGarza and Sam Kohler continue to lead the Rams offense attack. DeLaGarza leads the team with 68 hits on the season. After cranking a pair of home runs in the conference tournament he amassed nine homers on the year, which ties his 2015 total. The senior is hitting a team second .343 with a .581 slugging percentage and a .405 on base percentage. He has also stroked 16 doubles and a pair of triples while plating a team leading 43 RBIs. The senior has also scored a team most 43 runs for the Rams. Kohler, who is 10^th in the nation with 12 sac bunts, is rocking a .333 batting average. He has stroked a team second 67 hits and has driven in 26 runs which is a team third. On the bags, Kohler leads the team having pocketed 12 stolen bags. He still remains the only player on the team to have played in and started all 55 games this season. The duo has proven to be a force in the middle of the diamond as each has fielded at least 25 double plays this season.

The Rams will also look to designated hitter/outfielder Jarryd Klemm, first baseman Jay Gonzales and utility player Tyler Coolbaugh to produce numbers at the plate. Klemm is leading the Rams with a .349 batting average. After a stellar performance in last weekend's conference tournament, he has a team third 51 hits and has crossed 18 total runners. Coolbaugh, who is batting .308 on the season, has recorded a team second 31 RBIs this season. He is also tied for a team second with nine doubles thus far. Rounding out the group, Gonzales has boosted his batting average to .312 having chalked up seven hits in the last four games for a total of 44 on the season. He has hit nine doubles and one homer in 2016.

Also, looking to make big contributions for the Rams in this tournament will be Elias Aguirre and David Goggin. Aguirre has stolen 11 bases on the year and is second on the team in the category. He has recorded 40 total hits with six of those being multi-base hits. Goggin has tallied three home runs and nine doubles this season. The senior cranked his last homer against Cameron in the LSC Tournament and has pushed 23 runs across for the Rams off of 36 total hits.

Thursday's game will be broadcasted on 1260AM KKSA, with Jeremy Bryant on the call, and video will also be available.