Baseball | 5/10/2017 11:23:00 AM
SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State baseball team will host the Lone Star Conference postseason tournament for the second straight year this weekend, playing Cameron in the first round at 7 p.m. Thursday at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium.
The Rams earned the right to host the postseason tournament by winning the LSC regular season title with a 39-11 overall record and a 17-6 showing in conference play. It is the third regular season title in program history as ASU also won the title in 2012 and 2016. The Rams have also won the postseason tournament three times in 2007, 2012 and 2015.
ASU ended the regular season with one of the top offenses in the nation, ranking second overall in on-base percentage as well as No. 5 in team batting average. The Rams also rank in the top 25 nationally in runs, slugging percentage, stolen bases and triples, as well as double plays and WHIP.
The Rams ended the regular season with a series win at West Texas A&M with Mitch Henshaw leading the way at the plate. Henshaw had one of his best weeks as a Ram, driving in a team-high eight runs and collecting 19 total bases.The junior had 10 hits overall with three doubles and a pair of home runs, leading the Rams in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Henshaw was also the hero in Sunday's series-clinching win, blasting a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to put the Rams on top. His performance earned him LSC Hitter of the Week Honors.
Henshaw moved into second place on the team in batting average on the weekend, behind only Jacob Boston who has a .382 average. Boston also ranks second in the LSC with 10 home runs and has collected a team-high 100 total bases on the year.
Tyler Coolbaugh ranks just behind Henshaw at third on the team with a .365 batting average and a team-second 12 doubles. Another four regular Ram players are hitting above .300 as well.
Matt Waller has an average of .350 in 40 games behind the plate and is tied for the team lead with 13 doubles. Elias Aguirre follows right behind with a .345 average and a team-leading 61 hits including 10 doubles and a pair of triples.
Jonathan Soberanes and Steven Pinales also have averages above .300, hitting .331 and .321 respectively. Soberanes also leads the team in walks with 30 and stolen bases with 17, while Pinales is tied for the conference lead in triples with seven.
Michael Urquidi and Jay Gonzales have also contributed at the plate this season, hitting .293 and .284 , respectively. Urquidi has eight doubles and three home runs this year. Gonzales got his second home run of the season against WT last weekend and also has been hit by a pitch a team-leading 11 times.
On the mound, the Rams have been led by starters Matt Shannon, Ryan Smith and Blake Barr. Shannon is first on the team the LSC with 81.2 innings pitched and is first on the team with 73 strikeouts. Overall, Shannon has posted a 2.76 ERA.
Barr has a lower ERA than Shannon at 2.08, but has pitched just 30.1 innings this season, moving into the starting role over the last month. He has struck out 28 batters in that time. Smith has the best record on the team at 10-0 and has posted a 3.57 ERA over 63 innings pitched.
Out of the bullpen, Joe Hauser, Jake Mathys and Dustin Angiel have made a strong impact this season. Hauser has served in many roles, making a team-high 24 appearances, and leads the conference with 12 saves. Angiel has the second most appearances with 20 and has given up just 22 runs in more than 46 innings. Mathys has served as a longer reliever, making 16 appearance of his own with an overall ERA of 4.24.
Other pitchers to contribute for the Rams include Shane Browning, Kenton Schroter and Jhonatan Del Rosario. Browning has been primarily a starter and is second on the team with 53 strikeouts. Del Rosario has an ERA of just 2.70 in nine appearances out of the bullpen and Schroter has won six games with just one loss.
Cameron enters the postseason as the No. 4 seed in the tournament. The Aggies forced their way into the postseason with a sweep of Texas A&M-Kingsville in Lawton last weekend. The Rams and Aggies faced off in San Angelo earlier this year with ASU taking all four games and averaging more than 10 runs a game in the series.
The Aggies are led by Micah Kaaukai who is second in the LSC with a .435 batting average and leads the conference with a .557 on-base percentage. Cameron has also been helped at the plate by Cody Bower, who has eight home runs and leads the team with 46 RBI.
The game between the Aggies and Rams will be the second played at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium, as the No. 2 seed Texas A&M-Kingsvile takes on the No. 3 seed West Texas A&M at 3:30 p.m.
The double-elimination tournament will continue with four games on Friday starting at 12 p.m. before the championship on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.
All games will be streamed for free on lonestarconference.org and Angelo State games can be hear locally on 1260 KKSA.
