SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State baseball team finished off a four-game sweep of Texas Permian Basin with a12-3 win Sunday afternoon at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium.
The Rams (17-5) broke the game open in the sixth inning with six runs, and earned pitcher Cole Brandon his first win in an Angelo State uniform.
"Cole did a good job today and we knew he would because he's been effective for us all year," Angelo State Head Baseball Coach Kevin Brooks said. "That was big, because it was still a tight game when he came out. We were able to get some more runs after that and win the game."
It was just Brandon's second start of the season, but the junior set new career high in both innings pitched and strikeouts on the day. He matched his previous career high in strikeouts in the first inning alone, sending the first three Falcon batters back to the dugout without allowing a hit.
The Rams then got him an early lead to work with in the bottom half of the first. Michael Urquidi beat out an infield single to begin the inning and Nicholas Novak followed with a single of his own. The pair advanced a base on a ground ball from Andrew Morales and then Jacob Boston hit a sacrifice fly to score Urquidi.
ASU added to the lead with another three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Parker Bramlett, Mitch Henshaw and Elias Aguirre all singled to begin the inning. Bramlett was forced out at the plate, but Aguirre and Henshaw came around to score, as did Urquidi.
UTPB fought back into the game with a pair of runs in the third and one more in the fourth. Brandon held the Falcons off, however, as the Ram offense went scoreless for a couple of innings.
The Rams rewarded him with another three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to help solidify Brandon's win. Urquidi doubled and Novak walked to begin the scoring effort. The pair then worked a double steal, and Urquidi scored from third on a ground ball from Morales. Novak also scored an unearned run after Boston hit a ground ball to the shortstop.
Urquidi reached base five of the six times he came to the plate in the final game, scoring four runs. On the weekend, the outfielder scored eight runs.
The lead increased again in the seventh inning as Angelo State batted around with big hits from Boston and Bradley Mathiowetz to double their score.
Josh Barnett came into pitch the eighth inning after Jared Velasco worked a scoreless seventh, and Barnett sat the Falcons down in order on just five pitches. Kellen Rholl came in to pitch the ninth, facing just three batters as well as ASU won 13-3.
Angelo State will be on the road next, taking on West Texas A&M in a four-game series March 16-18 in Canyon, Texas.
