SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State baseball team will be on the road for the first time all season as it travels to San Antonio for a midweek matchup with St. Mary's at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The Rams (8-1) have opened the season with nine straight games at home and will play 33 of their total 50 games at Foster Field at First Community Credit Union Stadium this year.

ASU will look to keep the momentum going after a big weekend sweep of No. 6 Lubbock Christian. The Rams were down and came back at one point in all three games with solid performances at the plate, scoring 25 runs across the series.

Second basemen Jonathan Soberanes led the way at the plate, going .500 against the Chaparrals and keeping his season average at.500 as well. The junior transfer from Northeast Community has 13 hits on the year and is also second on the team in walks with six. His on-base percentage of .606 is highest on the team, and he is hitting .583 with runners in scoring position.

Tied for the team lead in hits this season is outfielder Elias Aguirre and third basemen Jacob Boston, as both have 15 hits through the first nine games of the season. Boston is the team leader in home runs with three, the total bases leader with 31, and the RBI leader with 14. Aguirre led the team against LCU with four RBI, and has seven on the year.

Steven Pinales is second on the team in total bases with 18, as he has hit two doubles and two triples so far this year. The senior outfielder is hitting .333 for the season and has scored a team-second eight runs.

Senior catcher and one of the Ram captains Matt Waller had one of his best games of the season Friday night against Lubbock Christian, going 4-for-4 with a walk and scoring twice. Waller is tied for second on the team with13 total hits this year, and he leads the Lone Star Conference in stolen bases with six.

The Rams did have one player make his collegiate debut against the Chaparrals as well in Nick Novak. The Minnesota native started at shortstop in two games against LCU, going 2-6 overall and scoring three runs in his debut weekend.

Several other Rams have made an impact at the plate as well.  Jay Gonzales who has six RBI on six hits this season as well as leading the LSC in hit-by-pitches. Mitch Henshaw has just four hits on the young season, but has had a flair for the dramatic, hitting a walkoff home run against Regis and drawing an RBI walk to win Friday night's game against Lubbock Christian. Michael Urquidi has helped out as well, starting in six of the nine games this year and hitting .318.

On the mound, ASU has used Matt Shannon, Shane Browning and Kenton Schroter in the starting role so far this year. Browning had one of his best outings of the season against LCU, striking out seven in 4.2 innings without giving up a run. He is the ASU strikeout leader on the season with 19 and is holding opposing batters to a .229 average this year. Schroter has followed right behind Browning with 17 strikeouts of his own, and the Canada native has won all three of his starts so far this year. Shannon has been solid on the mound as well, leading the Rams with 16.1 innings pitched and 12 strikeouts in that time.

In relief of the starters, ASU has been led by Joe Hauser, Ryan Smith and Jake Mathys. Hauser earned his second and third saves of the year in Saturday and Sunday's games against the Chaparrals. The senior has still not given up a run in his 10 innings pitched, and has held batters to an .067 average against him. Smith earned his second win out of the bullpen against LCU, and has pitched the most innings out of the bullpen this season with 11.1. Matthys helped control the game for the Rams in his second ever appearance on Friday night, throwing 4.1 innings without giving up a run.

The Rattlers will enter Wednesday's matchup having lost four straight with a 4-6 record overall. All four of the wins for St. Mary's have come at home. The team is led by Donnie Perez, who leads St. Mary's in most offensive categories including batting average, hits, home runs, RBI, slugging percentage and total bases.

Following the midweek game against St. Mary's, the Rams will not face an opponent this weekend. The next series will be back at home, March 3-5, as ASU takes on Eastern New Mexico in a four-game series at Foster Field at First Community Credit Union Stadium.