SAN ANGELO - The No. 3 Angelo State baseball team will travel to Stephenville for its first road Lone Star Conference series of the 2017 season this weekend against Tarleton State.

The Rams (22-4, 4-0 LSC) and Texans (16-12, 0-4 LSC) will now begin the series with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Friday with game two to follow roughly 30 minutes after the first game concludes. Game three will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale will remain at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. 

ASU leads the conference and is one of the top teams in the nation offensively so far this season. The Rams rank No. 3 nationally in on-base percentage and No. 10 in batting average, while also ranking in the top 20 in triples, stolen bases and slugging percentages. ASU is No. 1 in the LSC in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentages and stolen bases as well as doubles and triples.

Senior captain Matt Waller has been the best offensive player for the Rams through the first 26 games of the year and was recognized as LSC Hitter of the Week for his performance in the four games against Cameron last weekend. He had 11 hits in 16 at-bats including six hits for extra bases to hit .688 and recording a slugging percentage of 1.250 against the Aggies. The senior had four doubles and got a triple and a home run as well.

For the season, the catcher and Ram captain leads the team in batting average (.444) and slugging percentage (.722) as well as hits (40), doubles (12) and RBI (33). Waller currently also has a 13-game hitting streak dating back to the second game of the series against Eastern New Mexico.

Two other regular players are also hitting above .400 for the season in freshman Nick Novak and junior Jacob Boston, while eight of the nine everyday players for ASU are hitting above the .300 mark.

Novak has an average of .418 on the year and has started in 17 of 18 games since getting into the lineup for the first time in the Lubbock Christian series. The Minnesota native's .515 on-base percentage is the highest on the team.

Boston has a .407 average for the season and leads the team in home runs. Against Cameron, Boston hit .727 with eight hits and got on base in more than 80 percent of his plate appearances.

Designated hitter Mitch Henshaw also had a strong weekend against the Aggies, racking up nine hits including three home runs and a double. The performance brought Henshaw's season average up to .373, and his 24 runs scored are tied for second most on the team. 

Elias Aguirre has the fourth best batting average of any starter at .393 and added five hits to his team-second total of 33 against Cameron. Aguirre got two hits in a pair of the games against the Aggies and now has 10 multi-hit games on the season to lead the Rams. Aguirre is also tied for the team lead in stolen bases with nine.

Jonathan Soberanes is hitting .356, playing most of the season in the leadoff spot for ASU. The speed second basemen has swiped eight bags for the year and is third on the team in total hits with 31.

Rounding out the group of .300 hitters are infielder Tyler Coolbaugh and outfielder Steven Pinales. Coolbaugh is hitting .324 for the year with a team-second nine doubles, while Pinales is batting .309 and is second in the Lone Star Conference in triples with four.

On the mound, the Rams have been led by Matt Shannon this season. Shannon made his second consecutive start without giving up an earned run against the Aggies, going eight innings while scattering just four hits and striking out six. Shannon leads the team with 42 innings pitched and 38 strikeouts.

Ryan Smith and Shane Browning have been two other consistent starters for ASU this year, both holding ERAs under 4.0. Smith is tied for the team lead in wins with five this year and no losses. Browning has not factored into a decision so far this year but has the second most strikeouts on the team at 37.

Senior pitcher Jake Mathys made his first start ever with the Rams against Cameron in game three and had his best outing of the season. Mathys went the distance in the shortened doubleheader game, pitching seven shutout innings while allowing just five basrunners all night and striking out six batters. The Minnesota native has now pitched the third most innings on the team and has an ERA of just 3.58.

Out of the bullpen, ASU has mainly used Joe Hauser, Blake Barr, Dustin Angiel and Kenton Schroter. Schroter began the year as a starter, but has made his last four appearances out of the bullpen, giving up just two runs in that time. Barr has made four appearances on the season including one start and has an ERA of 2.84,while Angiel has the second most appearances of any Ram pitcher with 11.

Hauser has been the most effective bullpen pitcher this season with the lowest ERA of any pitcher with multiple appearances at 2.05. The Georgetown native has eight saves so far which leads the LSC and is No. 2 in the nation and has held opponents to just a .228 batting average this year.

Tarleton State comes into the series after dropping its first four conference games to Texas A&M-Kingsville last weekend. The Texans are hitting .277 as a team and have an overall earned run average of 3.95 on the year.

The game will be broadcast locally on 1260 KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call.