SAN ANGELO – The No. 16 Angelo State baseball team will host Tarleton State in a four-game series Thursday through Saturday day this weekend at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium.
The Rams (22-8, 3-1 LSC) will begin the series with the Texans (18-10, 3-1 LSC) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday night, and fans are invited to stick around after the game for a fireworks show. The fireworks will last about eight minutes and will start immediately following the game. The series will continue with a doubleheader starting a 4 p.m. on Friday and conclude on Saturday with a game at 1 p.m.
ASU currently boasts the top pitching staff in the Lone Star Conference, with an ERA of 3.58, 11 saves and an opponents' batting average of just .226.
The pitching staff is led by starters Trent Baker, Tyler Lesley and Shane Browning.
Baker continued to build on an already strong season, throwing a one-hitter complete game this past Saturday as the Rams took down the Aggies 3-0. It was his fourth straight win and the first complete game of his ASU career. He limited the Aggies to just a .045 batting average on the night while striking out seven batters. On the season, Baker has the second most strikeouts on the team with 39 and an ERA of just 0.93.
Lesley is the team leader in strikeouts on the year with 42, and has an LSC-leading seven wins already this year. His 2.56 ERA is the second best among pitchers with at least five innings pitched.
Browning is the only other Ram besides Lesley to only appear in a starting role this season. The Lubbock native has posted a 4.29 ERA in that time with 34 strikeouts and an opponents' batting average of .284.
Cole Brandon and Josh Barnett have also both been used in the starting role this season, with Brandon making three starts and Barnett making one. Brandon also has five appearances out of the bullpen, pitching 28.2 innings overall with a 2.83 ERA and 27 strikeouts. Barnett has made the second most appearances on the team with 10 in relief. He has a 5.40 ERA and an opponents' batting average of just .231.
Other relievers who have made an impact for the Rams this season include Kellen Rholl, Shannon Broussard and Logan Teske. Rholl is the ASU leader with 14 appearances, all in relief. Rholl has a 3.31 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched, and has struck out 26 batters. Broussard has appeared nine times on the year with a 4.38 ERA and 14 strikeouts. Teske has only pitched three times this season after making his first appearance in the series against West Texas A&M, but has yet to allow a run in that time.
Offensively, Angelo state is hitting .306 as a team and getting on base at a .420 clip while averaging more than seven runs per contest.
Sophomore Nicholas Novak leads the way for the Rams, hitting .375 on the year with 25 runs scored and 28 driven in. He is also reaching base at a .479 clip.
Freshman Parker Bramlett also has a .375 average this year, although in 40 less at-bats than Novak. Bramlett has driven in 10 runs and scored 14 times so far this year.
Junior outfielder Michael Urquidi has been an important part of the ASU offense with a team-second .515 on-base percentage. He is the team leader with 34 runs scored, which is also the third most in the LSC, and he has reached base in 22 straight games.
Two other Rams, Andrew Morales and Jacob Boston, are batting better than .300 this season. Morales has also driven in 24 runs with a .330 average. Boston is the team leader in slugging percentage at .519 and has hit four home runs this year.
Bradley Mathiowetz is just under the .300 mark with a .299 batting average and is second on the team with seven doubles this year. Mitch Henshaw is also close to getting his batting average above .300 after a strong weekend at Cameron. He is now hitting .278 on the year with 16 RBI.
Other contributors to the ASU offense this season include Jonathan Soberanes, Alex Salcido, Elias Aguirre and Trevor Moses. Soberanes is second on the team with 17 stolen bases and leads the team with 24 walks. Salcido is hitting .258 for the season with 16 runs scored. Aguirre has gotten on bas at a .291 clip this year and has swiped eight bags.
Moses did not play much to begin the season, but has started each of the last seven games. In that time he leads the team in total bases with 17, RBI with 8 while batting .435 and getting on base at a .519 clip. He is hitting .464 overall this season with a .531 on-base percentage.
The Texans come into the series with an 18-10 record overall and a 3-1 showing in conference play after beating Texas A&M-Kingsville three times last weekend.
Tarleton State is led by outfielder Francisco Rodriguez who has a .456 batting average with 11 doubles and seven home runs. The Texans also have one of the top pitchers in the conference in Nathan Hickey, who has a 2.89 ERA and is second in the LSC with 55 strikeouts.
All four games will be streamed on AngeloSports.com and can be head locally on 1260 KKSA.Â
