GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado – The Angelo State baseball team defeated No.3 St. Edward's, 6-4, in the second round of the NCAA DII South Central Regional to remain one of two undefeated teams left in the tournament on Friday night.
The Rams moved to 37-20 on the season with the win and will advance to the third round of the tournament to face fellow undefeated No. 7 Lubbock Christian at 12 p.m. MST/ 1 p.m. CST on Saturday afternoon. ASU starter Matt Shannon (7-5) earned the win over the Hilltoppers, while Graylon Brown was credited with his 11th save of the season. With 113 total strikeouts this season, Shannon has now taken sole possession of third in ASU history for single season strikeouts. Brown is also now one save away from tying his 2015 total of 12. The Angelo State offense outhit St. Edward's 9-8, despite leaving nine runners stranded to the Hilltopper's five. St. Edward's dropped to 44-11 with the loss and will move on to face Texas A&M – Kingsville at 3:30 p.m.
"I thought we did a great job of getting ahead early," commented head ASU baseball coach Kevin Brooks. "I'm really proud of our guys and how they fought. We knew we would have our hands full facing one of the best pitchers in the country. We just kept competing and fighting throughout the game. Matt [Shannon] did enough to get us to Joe [Hauser], and then Graylon [Brown] came in and was awesome for us."
Taking advantage of an overthrown ball to the SEU first baseman in the first inning, Jay Gonzales and Paxton DeLaGarza crossed to place the first two runs on the board for the Rams. A Steven Pinales double would then plate Jarryd Klemm to give ASU a 3-0 lead at the end of the first. The Rams bats would remain hot in the second inning, as Sam Kohler pushed a ball through the right side to add another run to the board. DeLaGarza followed with a double to left center that would bring Kohler home to take the score to 5-0.
Finally, Michael Urquidi hit a sac fly to center that would allow Klemm to score off the tag up at third. St. Edward's then posted three runs in the third and another in the fourth to cut the Rams lead to two runs. The score would remain 6-4 for the remainder of the game as a combination of the ASU pitching staff and defense efforts would stifle any scoring attempts by SEU.
Shannon tossed 5 1/3 innings giving up four runs on seven hits. The sophomore retired seven hitters on strikes. Joe Hauser entered in relief for 2/3 of an inning giving up one hit and recording his 31st strikeout of the season. Brown completed the game with a stunning three inning performance shutting down the Hilltopper offense by striking out four and giving up no hits.
Kohler led the ASU offensive attack going 3-for-4 at the dish, with one RBI and one run scored. Tyler Coolbaugh followed hitting 2-for-3 on the night. Klemm led the squad scoring a pair of runs and also stole a base. Urquidi, Pinales, DeLaGarza and Gonzales each added a double to their stats on Friday night.
Angelo State will face a No. 7 Chaps team that is 37-17 this season on Saturday afternoon. The last time that the Rams faced LCU was in a three game series in mid-February, in which ASU dropped the series 2-1. Saturday's game will be broadcasted on 1260AM KKSA, with Jeremy Bryant on the call, and video will also be available.
