San Angelo, TX – The Angelo State Rams (19-5) officially opened up Lone Star Conference play with their home series opener against the UT – Permian Basin Falcons (9-12). The Rams' offense started off hot by plating a single run in the first inning from a Michael Urquidi opposite field solo shot and then piling on six more in the second to take control of the game's momentum.
First Inning [1-0 Rams]
It was the Rams' turn to do some damage after starting ASU pitcher Andrew Croucher held the Falcons silent in the top of the inning. It would only take the home team one at bat to gain the lead in their first conference game of the year. It would be senior leadoff hitter Michael Urquidi who collected his first homerun of the season to give his team the early edge.
The Big Second Inning [7-0 Rams]
After a leadoff popup Tony Oslovar would collect the Falcons' first hit of the game by the way of a double to right center field. Croucher struck out the next two UTPB hitters to close out the second and once again send the visitors back to the field empty handed.
Angelo State's second scoring line of the night would read six runs on four hits and two errors one runner left on base. It all started with a Nicholas Novak single through the right side, a frozen rope through the right side, which foreshadowed a very long inning for the Falcons. Add a dash of Riley Peterson getting hit by a pitch and Josh Elvir crushing his ninth homerun of the year and you had a recipe for disaster and a 4-0 lead. Michael Urquidi then walked and stole second to put himself in scoring position to quickly be rewarded by a Jordan Williams single through the right side that would also bait an unsuccessful throw to home that put Williams on second and one more run on the board. The last bit of action in the inning resulted from a Nick Seginowich single to right center that would be bobbled to ultimately bring two more runs home. After taking inventory on the damage, the Falcons entered a fresh third inning down 7-0.
Fourth Inning [10-2 Rams]
UTPB finally caught a foothold thanks to Skyler Palermo finding a pitch he liked and driving it over the left field wall. The Falcons would fail to threaten with their remaining two outs of the inning, but had notched the Ram lead down to six runs.
ASU would not allow their opposition to catch their breath for long. Lachlan Mayo and Nick Seginowich drew back to back walks and Nick Novak once again singled to load the bases. Riley Peterson was set up for success and executed as well as anyone could by lacing a three-RBI double down the left field line to clear the bases. Peterson previously had driven in 18 runs on the season.
Fifth Inning [12-2 Rams]
Andrew Croucher would collect his last out in the fifth and be replaced by Austin Thomason after giving up a run and loading the bases. Croucher was good for 4.1 innings of work while giving up only two runs on four hits. The Galveston native struck out five and walked four in his second longest outing of the season, matching his 4.1 inning outings against Tarleton State and Texas A&M Kingsville.
Thomason took to the mound with a 13.50 ERA in six innings of work. The Arizona native quickly received crowd support after striking out the first batter he faced and was looking like he was going to get himself out of a jam before lightning struck eight miles from the field and the game was sent to a 30 minute delay.
Josh Barnett would take to the bump following the delay and quickly induced a Skyler Palermo flyout to centerfield to end the bases load threat. The lethal hometown pitcher had entered the game holding hitters to a measly .174 average.
Michael Urquidi once again led off for the Rams with a double down the left field line. The El Paso native advanced to third on a passed ball and then scored on a first and third play when the Falcons threw out Jordan Williams heading to second on a steal attempt. Williams had drawn a walk to reach base. Lachlan Mayo and Nick Seginowich would then hit back to back doubles in that order to score the second and final run of the inning.
Sixth Inning [16-2 Rams]
The Rams added four more runs to their total with an efficient two hits and four walks. Zac Sanders and Nicholas Novak collected the two singles of the inning. Trevor Moses, Joe Scott Pace, Jacob Finke, and Parker Bramlett all collected walks in their at bats. It was Moses' first at bat, walk, and RBI of the year.
Seventh Inning [16-5 Rams]
The Falcons would catch a little bit of wind under their wings in their final effort of the game, but it would not be enough to lift them to a win. Down 14 runs, UTPB would scratch across three more runs on four hits and an error. The game would end up 16-5 in favor of the Rams who would advance to 1-0 on the year in conference play. The teams return to action tomorrow in a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.
