SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State baseball team split the series with Eastern New Mexico on Sunday, winning the finale 7-3 at Foster Field at 1st Communiyt Credit Union Stadium.
The Rams (28-14, 9-7 LSC) sent ten batters to the plate in the sixth inning when they scored all but one of their runs to secure the win.
"I thought Shannon Broussard was really good on the mound today," Angelo State head baseball coach Kevin Brooks said. "He kept us in the game and picked us up a couple of times when we made some errors behind him. Then we finally got the big hit from Jacob Boston and then Brad and the Joe Scott. That's not something we've really seen this year, so hopefully we can build on it."
ENMU dominated the Rams for the first five innings of the game. ASU sent pitcher Shannon Broussard to the mound for his first start this season, and the Greyhounds truck quickly with a run in the first.
Broussard settled in after the opening inning and worked scoreless frames in the second, third and fourth, but the Ram offense was unable to even up the score.
Eastern New Mexico broke through again in the fifth with an unearned run to take a 2-0 lead and then scored one final run in the sixth to take a 3-0 lead.
The top half of the sixth was the last time Broussard would be on the mound, but the junior ended his day with a career high in innings pitched while striking out a pair of batters and lowering his ERA to 3.86.
Broussard's strong performance was finally rewarded in the bottom half of the sixth when the Ram offense woke up.
Michael Urquidi led off the rally with a double to right field to get ASU going. Nicholas Novak reached via a hit-by-pitch and Mitch Henshaw bunted for a hit to load the bases with nobody out.
First basemen Bradley Mathiowetz came up with the big hit, singling to left center field to score the first two ASU runs of the day. Trevor Moses then came to the plate and bunted, this time for a sacrifice, moving Henshaw and Mathiowetz into scoring position for third basemen Jacob Boston.
Boston also came up big with a double to right center, scoring both runners and giving the Rams their first lead against the Greyhounds since Friday night. Parker Bramlett then singled but was erased on a fielder's choice that put Elias Aguirre on. Aguirre stole second, putting runners in scoring position with two outs for Joe Scott Pace.
Pace singled to left field for yet another two runs, giving the Rams their 6-3 lead before the Greyhounds finally stopped the rally.
Pitcher Andrew Croucher came in to relief Broussard after the rally and worked scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth innings.
ASU added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth as Aguirre reached base and quickly moved to second with his second steal of the day. Pace came up big again, delivering an RBI double to score Aguirre.
Reliever Kellen Rholl came in to slam the door in the ninth, striking out a pair of batters and locking down the win for Angelo State.
The Rams will be on the road next, facing UT Permian Basin April 27-29 in Odessa.
