TYLER, Texas – Opening the season against another ranked opponent, the No. 1 Angelo State baseball team earned a decisive victory over 10
th-ranked UT Tyler, defeating the Patriots 10-1 to open the 2021 campaign on Friday night at Irwin Field.
This was the first meeting between these two teams in program history as the Rams begin the year 1-0, 1-0 LSC, while the Patriots fall in their first action of the season.
UTT jumped out early in the first inning, hitting a leadoff triple before scoring on a fielder's choice to take the early advantage. Both pitchers would settle in after that, tossing three scoreless innings.
In the top of the fifth, the Rams would come alive at the plate as
Jackson Hardy hit a leadoff single before coming around to score off a wild pitch. ASU took the lead moments later as
Nick Seginowich hit an RBI single through the left side, bringing in
Jordan Williams to go up 2-1.
After giving up the early run,
Trent Baker dominated on the mound, tossing five scoreless innings through 6.2 innings of work. He tallied 12 strikeouts while allowing five hits, earning an ERA of 1.35 to pick up his first win of the season.
The Rams added two more runs in the seventh inning as
Josh Elvir hit a leadoff home run to center field followed by a double from Seginowich who later scored on a fielder's choice by
Ryan Neitsch.
Seginowich led ASU at the plate, collecting three hits in the game along with three RBIs and two runs. Also collecting multiple hits was Hardy who finished 2-of-3 and scored twice.
Angelo State tacked on a few more runs in the eighth inning, capitalizing on four errors from the Patriots. Seginowich brought in two of the five runs with a two-run homer to left field while Elvir brought in
Thomas Cain on a sac-fly. The Rams also scored on a balk and a throwing error by UTT.
The Rams added another insurance run in the top of the ninth inning as
Jordan Williams grounded out to the shortstop, bringing in
Parker Bramlett for the final run.
Austin Buley tossed two innings of relief for Angelo State, allowing three hits while collecting two strikeouts to close out the game.
Both teams will continue the series tomorrow as the Rams and Patriots play game two of three at Irwin Field with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
