SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State baseball team will play its first home series of the 2018 season this weekend, facing Southwestern Oklahoma State in three games at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium.
The Rams (4-0) will start the series at 4 p.m. on Friday followed by a 2 p.m. game on Saturday and the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Free beanies will be given out to the first 100 students at Friday's game.
ASU was led to a perfect opening weekend at the Air Hogs D-II Classic by outfielder Michael Urquidi, who was name the Lone Star Conference Hitter of the Week for his performance. Urquidi did everything to help the Rams score during the four games. The junior got on base 13 total times with six hits, four walks and three hit-by-pitches without striking out once to hit .500. He also swiped four bags, scored five times, and is one of just two Rams with a pair of multi-hit games already.
The other Ram with a pair of multi-hit performances is Alex Salcido. The catcher is hitting .333 so far this year with a double and a pair of runs scored.
Four other ASU players averaged a hit a game in the season-opening tournament in Jonathan Soberanes, Elias Aguirre, Jacob Boston and Nicholas Novak. Soberanes had a pair of stolen bases on the weekend and got on base at a team-second .474 clip, while Novak had a pair of doubles.
First basemen Andrew Morales only recorded three hits on the weekend, which was seventh on the team, but did damage with them, tying for the team lead with four RBI. Designated hitter Bradley Mathiowetz also had a pair of hits.
Also contributing to the Rams at the plate in the opening season was Jared Velasco, Parker Bramlett and Parker Tadlock.
On the mound, Angelo State got at least five innings from three of the four starting pitchers in the opening weekend.
Tyler Lesley led the way with a seven-inning start in his first appearance for ASU, striking out seven batters and allowing just two runs. Carson Childers also made his first start as a Ram and gave up only one hit in five and a third innings, and Shane Browning struck out three batters in his five innings of work.
The bullpen was especially strong, with left-handers Cole Brandon and Kellen Rholl leading the way. Brandon pitched 5.2 innings over appearances without allowing a run while striking out five batters.
Rholl appeared in all four games on the mound, allowing just one run while striking out eight batters and earning a win and a pair of saves.
Shannon Broussard also got a win out of the bullpen, and the Rams also saw strong relief performances from Josh Barnett, Justin Penney, Logan Voth and Jared Velasco.
SWOSU is 2-2 just a week into the season after losing a pair of games to Cameron the opening weekend. The Bulldogs have three hitters with averages over .400 for the season in Alex Pimentel, Bryan Miranda and Brooks Benson.
