SAN ANGELO, Texas – The ninth-ranked Angelo State baseball team will close out the regular season on the road this weekend as the Rams travel for a non-conference series against St. Mary's beginning Friday.
 
SERIES SCHEDULE: LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LISTEN LIVE
Friday, May 7 | 6 p.m. | San Antonio, Texas
Saturday, May 8 | 1 p.m. | San Antonio, Texas
Saturday, May 8 | 3 p.m. | San Antonio, Texas
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Rams earned their second straight series sweep last weekend, defeating UT Permian Basin in three games at Foster Field. ASU did not give up a run in the first two games, defeating the Falcons 10-0 in game one and 5-0 in game two. The Rams closed out the series with a 17-5 win in game three, hitting four home runs on the day.
 
#9 ANGELO STATE (31-6, 25-5 LSC) vs. ST. MARY'S (22-15, 19-14 LSC)
ALL-TIME SERIES: Angelo State leads 22-10, LAST MEETING: ASU, 11-10
The Rams have won the last seven games in a row against the Rattlers, sweeping StMU in a three-game series at home earlier this season. The Rattlers picked up two wins against the Rams back in the 2016 season, winning both home and away.
 
SCOUTING ST. MARY'S:
The Rattlers are riding a bit of a hot streak, winning 12 of their last 14 games in conference play. StMU suffered a loss in the final game of the series against Eastern New Mexico before sweeping Cameron and UTPB and winning two out of three against UT Tyler.
 
StMU is the third-best team in regards to hitting in the LSC, holding a team batting average of .312 and ranking second in hits with 395 and fifth in runs scored with 303. Mauro Bustamonte leads the Rattlers with a .361 batting average, ranking 12^th overall in the LSC.
 
On the mound, the Rattlers hold the sixth-lowest team-ERA at 5.61. Dylan Bells leads StMU starters with a 4.73 ERA and has tallied six wins on the season while striking out 51 batters. Zach De LA Garza holds the most wins on the team with seven and the most strikeouts with 77, earning an ERA of 5.09 on the year.
 
NCBWA RANKINGS:
The Rams moved back into the top 10 of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's Top 25 poll, holding the ninth spot after winning their last seven straight games.
 
LSC RECORD WATCH:
The Rams are close to taking over two LSC career records as Josh Elvir is only one home run away from breaking the career home run record with 42 so far in his career. Trent Baker is chasing a fellow Ram for the career strikeout record, sitting 13 strikeouts shy of tying Zak Bryce's record set at the end of the 2016 season.