SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State baseball team began its 2017 postseason journey with a an 11-6 win against Arkansas Fort Smith Thursday afternoon at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium.
The Rams (42-13) exploded offensively in the game, out-hitting the Lions (33-21) 15-8 in a game that included seven home runs by the two teams combined.
ASU was hot at the plate from start to finish, batting around and plating five runs in the first inning alone. Jonathan Soberanes led off the bottom half of the first with a single to right field and Tyler Coolbaugh hit a double on the first pitch he saw to put both Rams in scoring position. Mitch Henshaw came up next and singled up the middle, plating both runners before the Lions even recorded an out.
With two outs, the Rams got the scoring going again, as Jay Gonzales was hit by a pitch to put two on. Catcher Matt Waller blasted the ball over the left field wall for the first ASU home run of the day, pushing the run total in the inning to five before UAFS finally recorded the third out.
Arkansas Fort Smith got one run back in the top of the second on a solo home run, but the Rams added three insurance runs in the fourth inning. Coolbaugh doubled again, his second of the day, to bring Soberanes around to score. Henshaw then came to the plate again and delivered, hitting a home run of his own to make the Ram lead 8-1 at the end of the fourth.
The Lions continued to fight back in the game, getting a two-run home run in the fifth and another solo shot in the sixth. In the seventh, UAFS scored on a single and then added a run on yet another solo home run in the eighth, cutting the lead to just two.
The Rams responded again, however, pushing the lead out wider in the bottom half of the eighth. Center fielder Elias Aguirre began the inning with a single and quickly stole second to get into scoring position. Soberanes then reached again on a throwing error by the Lion pitcher, putting two runners on for Coolbaugh. The Colleyville native hammered the first pitch he saw to dead center field, over the wall to plate three runs.
ASU reliever Joe Hauser, who had come in to start the eighth inning, sat the Lions down in order in the ninth, earning his 14th save of the season.
Angelo State will now play at 3:30 p.m. on Friday at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium, facing the loser of the Thursday night's game between Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M.
