SAN ANGELO - The No. 3 Angelo State baseball team will host Texas A&M-Kingsville in a four-game Lone Star Conference matchup this weekend at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium.
The Rams (24-6, 6-1 LSC) will open the series with the Javelinas (18-8, 4-0 LSC) at 6:30 p.m. Friday night before playing a doubleheader Saturday starting at 4 p.m. Following the doubleheader will be a concert from the Zach Edwards Band at Foster Field. The series will conclude on Sunday with a game at 1 p.m.
ASU has been a force at the plate this season with the second best on-base percentage (.450) and sixth best batting average (.342) in the nation. Both of those numbers lead the LSC, where the Ram are also at the top in slugging percentage, stolen bases, triples and sacrifice flies.
Senior catcher Matt Waller leads the way for the Rams at the plate, placing at the top of most offensive categories. Waller has the most hits and the highest batting average. He leads the team doubles with 13 and RBI with 34 while collecting a team-high 72 bases and slugging .679. He is also second on the squad in stolen bases with nine.
Elias Aguirre has swiped the most bags this season with 10 and is second on the team with a .404 batting average. The junior outfielder has 40 hits on the season and is tied for third on the team in runs scored with 25.
Jacob Boston is the team leader in runs scored with 30 this year, which ranks No. 8 in the LSC. Boston leads the team with his on-base percentage of exactly .500 and has also hit the most balls out of the park with six home runs. For the season, the Arizona native is batting just under .400 at a .396 clip.
Five other Rams are hitting above the .300 mark for the season. Nick Novak did not get into the lineup for ASU until about ten games into the season but has been on a tear since, hitting .362 and scoring 17 times. Novak has also stolen seven bases, which is the fourth most on the Rams.
Jonathan Soberanes has spent the majority of the season in the leadoff spot for the Rams and is hitting .357 there. Soberanes is second in the LSC and first on the team with 24 walks this season as well for an on-base percentage of .488.
Mitch Henshaw has hit .341 in the designated hitter spot for ASU this season, hitting the second most home runs on the team with five and driving in 21 runs on the year.
Tyler Coolbaugh has been an on-base machine throughout the season, hitting .329 and walking 16 times for and on-base percentage of .459.
Steven Pinales rounds out the Rams' group of eight .300 or better hitters with an average of .316. Â Pinales is tied for the conference lead in triples with five and has also hit three home runs on the year.
Michael Urquidi and Jay Gonzales have also both seen ample playing time this season, hitting .295 and .241 respectively. Urquidi is tied for second on the team in stolen bases with eight, while Gonzales is second on the team in walks with 18 and first in hit-by-pitches with nine for an on-base percentage of .418.
On the mound this season, ASU has been led by Matt Shannon, Ryan Smith, Jake Mathys and Joe Hauser.
Shannon has been the ace of the Ram staff this year, making nine starts and winning five of those. The junior threw a complete-game on the road against Tarleton this past weekend and has an ERA of just 3.12 on the year. He is also the ASU leader in innings pitched with 49 and strikeouts with 46.
Ryan Smith came out of the bullpen early in the season, but has since move into a starter role. The senior leads the team in wins with a 6-0 record this season and has an ERA of 3.51 in 33.1 innings pitched.
Jake Mathys has made the majority of his appearances out of the bullpen this season and has an ERA of 3.38 for the year. Mathys leads the conference in strikeout to walk ratio. He has struck out 22 batters on the year while allowing just two walks.
Joe Hauser has been the most-used Ram relief pitcher this season as well as the closer for the team. Hauser has made a team0leading 15 appearances on the year with an ERA of just 2.10.
Dustin Angiel, Blake Barr and Kenton Schroter have all been important pieces of the pitching staff so far this season as well. Schroter made several starts for the Rams early in the year and is second on the team with five wins this season. Angiel has made the second most appearances this season with 12 and has an ERA of 5.40 in that time.
Blake Barr has come on of late for ASU, pitching just over 10 innings with an ERA of 1.74 this season. Barr had a strong weekend against Tarleton, pitching four shutout innings, including a three-inning stint on Sunday that saw strike out a pair of batters.
Texas A&M-Kingsville comes into San Angelo currently in first place in the Lone Star Conference after a sweep of Texas Permian Basin this past weekend. The Javelinas are led by third basemen Levi Zents, who earned conference hitter of the week honors for his performance against the Falcons.
As a team, TAMUK is hitting .303 through its first 26 games of the season and has a team ERA of 3.49, which ranks second best in the conference.
Saturday and Sunday's games can be heard locally on 1260 KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call, and all games will be streamed on AngeloSports.com.
