SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State baseball team swept a Saturday doubleheader against Eastern New Mexico with 5-2 and 3-2 wins in Portales, New Mexico.
The Rams (32-9, 10-4 LSC) have now clinched at least a series split for the weekend and have one the season series against the Greyhounds (28-17, 6-11 LSC) this year.
ASU got on the board early in the first game of the day, scoring two runs in the top of the second inning. The rally started when Michael Urquidi singled to left field with one out and Jonathan Soberanes followed with a single of his own. A double steal was executed to get the runners to second and third, and Zach Fleet singled to bring them both home.
Ryan Smith was the starting pitcher for the Rams in the game and never gave up the early lead, moving to 9-0 on the season with the win. The senior went six innings on the hill for ASU, giving up just four hits while striking out a career-high seven batters.
Another two runs were added in the top of the fifth inning, when first basemen Mitch Henshaw led off with single. Tyler Coolbaugh followed with a double, his tenth of the season, to put the pair in scoring position. Steven Pinales followed with a single into right field to score the pair.
One more insurance run came in the top of the seventh as Henshaw again led off with a single. Nick Novak was inserted as a pinch runner for the first basemen and promptly stole second base, eventually advancing to third when ENMU loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch and an error. Jay Gonzales then hit a deep fly ball for a sacrifice fly that scored Novak.
The bottom of the seventh saw Ram reliever Joe Hauser come on, inducing a fly out and a double play to close out the game and earn his 11th save of the season.
After scoring early in the first game, neither team was able to get on the board until late in game two of the doubleheader as Ram pitcher Jake Mathys and Greyhound pitcher Keenan Dodd dueled for six innings before the tie was broken.
The start was just the third of the year for Mathys, who usually works in relief, but he made the most of it by working five shutout innings and giving up just two hits. Mathys would earn the win in the game, moving to 6-2 on the season overall.
Once again, Henshaw led off the run-scoring inning for the Rams, this time with a double to left center. Coolbaugh followed with a bunt single to move Henshaw to third and Jacob Boston brought the first basemen home with a single up the middle. Jay Gonzales followed with a single of his own to score Coolbaugh and Michael Urquidi, who had walked, before the ENMU starter Dodd was removed from the game.
Joe Hauser came in to close out the game once again for ASU, giving up a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth but ending the inning and sitting the Greyhounds down again in the seventh. The save was the 12th of the season for the Georgetown native, tying former Ram pitcher Graylon Brown for the single-season saves record at ASU.
The Rams and Greyhounds will face off in the series finale at 2 p.m. CST on Sunday in Portales. The game can be heard locally on 1260 KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call.
