SAN ANGELO, Texas – The second-ranked and top-seeded Angelo State baseball team earned its third-straight Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday, defeating fourth-seeded Lubbock Christian 14-4 at Foster Field at 1^st Community Credit Union Stadium.
 
With the win, the Rams improve to 47-8 overall on the year and secure the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament.
 
The Chaps started the scoring in the first inning, singling to right center for an early 1-0 lead.
 
In the bottom of the second, the Rams took their first lead of the game as Justin Harris homered to score two runs.
 
LCU answered back in the third with a two-run homer to regain the lead, 3-2.
 
The Rams poured on the runs in the bottom of the third as Austin Beck hit a three-run home run over the left field wall. Jackson Hardy followed that up a few batters later with another three-run of his own. Harris scored on a groundout before Jacob Guerrero came around to score on an error, giving ASU a 10-3 advantage.
 
Jackson Berry started on the mound for the Rams throwing five innings of work with three runs on four hits to go along with four punchouts.
 
The Rams added a run to their lead in the fifth as Kamden Kelton hit a solo home run to left field.
 
In the seventh inning, ASU put two more runs one the board as Beck was hit by a pitch with bases loaded before Williams earned a walk to score Guerrero. In the eighth, Guerrero sealed the game with an RBI double as Harris crossed the plate for the final run.
 
Caleb Heuertz tossed two innings of relief, striking out six batters while allowing only one run on hit, while Austin Teel threw one hit-less inning with two strikeouts.
 
Beck was named tournament's Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row, the only player to do so in tournament history while Williams, Harris, Guerrero and Kade Bragg were named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
The Rams will wait for the NCAA Division II selection show to determine the field for the South Central Regional which will be announced on Sunday night at 10 p.m. on NCAA.com.