Baseball | 4/21/2017 11:24:00 PM

SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State baseball team dropped the series opener with Eastern New Mexico 7-2 Friday night in Portales, New Mexico.

The Rams (30-9, 8-4 LSC) walked nine Greyhound (28-15, 6-9) batters on the night, giving up an early lead.

Matt Shannon was the ASU starter on the hill in the game, but the junior did not have his best stuff, walking a career-high number of batters in his three innings in the game. The Greyhounds took advantage of Shannon's off night, building a 5-0 lead through the first three innings.

ASU responded with its first run of the game in the fourth inning. Outfielder Steven Pinales led off the inning with a single, one of his two on the night. He then swiped second for his second steal of the night, putting himself in scoring position. Jacob Boston followed with a single of his own up the middle, bringing Pinales around to score. The Greyhounds got out of the inning, however, without giving up another run.

ENMU tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth as well as in the eighth to get to their total of seven on the night, but that was all the ASU bullpen gave up in their five innings of work.

Senior pitcher Jhonatan Del Rosario pitched another scoreless outing of relief, going two innings without giving up a hit. The Dominican native has now pitched eight and a third innings on the season without giving up a run. Del Rosario did work into a bases loaded jam with one out after some wildness in the seventh, but got out of it with back-to-back strikeouts.

Jay Gonzales pinch hit to lead off the ninth and singled up the middle. Michael Urquidi followed with a single of his own, and an error by the Greyhound centerfield allowed Gonzales to score. It was the only run the Rams were unable to get, however, and ENMU closed out the game, 7-2.

The Rams will look to even up the series on Saturday when the two teams face off in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. The game can be heard live on 1260 KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call.