SAN ANGELO - The No. 2 Angelo State baseball team opened the series against No. 4 West Texas A&M with a 7-1 win Friday night at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium.
The Rams (17-2) outhit the Buffs (16-3) eight to five and also drew eight walks in the game, leading to their seven runs.
The scoring started early for ASU outfielder Elias Aguirre worked a one-out walk to get on base. Aguirre then stole second before the second out of the inning was recorded. Matt Waller followed with a two-out walk of his own and Mitch Henshaw was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The next three batters in the inning all walked as well, scoring three runs for the Rams without the benefit of a hit.
Angelo State tacked on another two runs in the second inning when Jonathan Soberanes walked and Aguirre singled to start the inning. The pair both scored one batter later when Waller singled over the third basemen's head.
Those two RBI were Waller's first two of the day, and the senior captain finished the day 2-for-3 with a walk, three RBI and a run scored.
The five runs gave an early lead to ASU starting pitcher Matt Shannon, who earned his third win of the season in the game. The junior hurler went seven innings, giving up just one run on two hits in that time.
Soberanes would lead off the third and final run-scoring inning for the Rams in the bottom of the fourth when he singled up the middle. Steven Pinales to give ASU another base runner before back-to-back singles from Waller and Henshaw scored the pair of runners.
Shannon's only run allowed came in the top of the sixth, but was unearned as the batter reached via an error. Back-to-back singles followed to score the runner, but Shannon got out of the inning with a ground ball to shortstop Nick Novak to end the threat.
ASU pitcher Kenton Schroter finished out the game for the Rams on the mound, allowing just one hit and striking out two in his two innings pitched. Schroter closed the door on the Buffs and held onto the 7-1 lead for the Angelo State win.
The Rams will be back at Foster Field for three more games this weekend, taking on the Buffs in a doubleheader Saturday that begins at 4 p.m. before playing the series finale at 1 p.m. Sunday. Â
