SAN ANGELO - The No. 8 Angelo State baseball team finished off a three-game sweep of No. 8 Lubbock Christian on Sunday with a 4-3 win at Foster Field at First Community Credit Union Stadium.
The Rams (8-1) earned their second straight sweep after beating Southeastern Oklahoma State in three straight games last weekend while dropping the Chaparrals to 7-4 in play overall.
Shane Browning got the start on the mound in the final game of the series for ASU and had his best outing so far. The junior transfer struck out seven Chaps on 78 pitches, working his second longest outing of the season. Browning did not complete fifth inning however, leaving the win to Ryan Smith, who earned his second out of the bullpen so far this year. Smith pitched 3.1 innings giving up just one earned run in the process, lowering his overall ERA to 2.38.
Joe Hauser came in to shut the door on LCU in the ninth inning, sitting down three straight batters and earning his third save of the young season. Hauser still has not given up a run this season and has held opponents to an .067 batting average on the year.
The Rams got on the board first in the game for the eighth time out of nine games, scoring two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Jonathan Soberanes led off the inning with a single through the left side of the infield. The hit was the infielder's second of the day and his third overall. Elias Aguirre followed with a bunt single to put two on with one out. Jacob Boston bunted the pair over, and a sacrifice fly from Jay Gonzales scored Soberanes. Aguirre came around to score as well when the next batter, Steven Pinales, doubled down the left field line, giving the Rams an early 2-0 lead.
The score would remain 2-0 until the top of the fifth when Lubbock Christian got on the board for the first time in the game. The Chaparrals scored their next and final two runs of the game in the top of the eighth, taking their first lead of the game.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Rams responded as Gonzales led off with a single. Pinales followed with a walk before catcher Matt Waller laid down a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. The Chaps forced Gonzales out at the plate on the next play, but ASU tied the game back up when Nick Novak worked a two-out walk two batters later. Soberanes finished off the comeback in the next at-bat with a perfectly placed drag bunt for an RBI single.
Hauser finished off the win in relief in the ninth inning and the game ended with the Rams on top 4-3.
The Rams will have their first road test of the season next as they travel to San Antonio to face St. Mary's at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
