SAN ANGELO, Texas – The No. 24 Angelo State baseball team returns home to host West Texas A&M for the final series of the 2024 regular season at Foster Field at 1^st Community Credit Union Stadium.

#24 ANGELO STATE RAMS (30-12, 28-12 LSC) vs. #5 WEST TEXAS A&M BUFFS (33-13, 32-12 LSC)
Game 1: Fri., Apr., 26, 6:30 p.m. | Game 2/3: Sat. Apr., 27, 4:00 p.m. | Game 4: Sun. Apr., 28, 1:00 p.m.
Foster Field at 1^st Community Credit Union Stadium – San Angelo, Texas
Live Video: lonestarconferencenetwork.com/asu
Live Stats: angelostats.com
Live Radio: https://www.kksa-am.com/

LAST TIME OUT
ASU settled with a split against St. Edward's in Austin over the weekend. Both victories were results of late game heroics with Kamden Kelton and Ryder McDaniel proving RBI hits in the top of the sixth of game two and game three's hero being Tripp Clark's two-run home run with two outs in the top of the ninth.

SERIES HISTORY:
All-Time Series: ASU leads 57-40
Last Meeting: Apr. 30, 2023 – ASU, 10-7 – Canyon, Texas
The Rams have scored nearly seven runs a game while maintaining the series lead over the Buffs since its inception in 2006. They have split the last 10 matchups dating back to the 2022 regular season.

SCOUTING THE BUFFS
WT enters the weekend atop the Lone Star Conference standings with a 32-12 conference record while being 33-13 overall. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games and are most recently coming off a series split against No. 18 Lubbock Christian.

The Buffs lead the LSC in numerous offensive categories including team batting average (.344), runs scored (415), hits (523) and RBI (371). Dylan Fesperman is a highlight in WT's lineup as he is second in the conference in batting average (.426), OPS (1.268), doubles (20) and RBI (63). Kory Schmidt and Kyle Micklus are also names to watch as they too are batting over .400 on the season with Schmidt leading the team with 10 home runs and Micklus leading in runs scored.

On the mound, WT sits in second behind ASU (4.86) in team ERA with a 5.75. Matt Milner leads the teams' qualified pitchers with a 4.55 ERA with opponents hitting .290 against him. Nick Marshall and Nick Yeager lead the team in strikeouts with 56 and 52 respectively.

QUICK HITS:
- Tripp Clark leads the conference in batting average (.444) and RBIs (68) while in the top five for OPS (1.263, 3^rd) and hits (71, 3^rd)
- Jacob Guerrero sits in the top five in doubles (19, 5^th) and RBI (56, T-4^th)
- Tayten Tredaway's 18 doubles puts him sixth in the LSC
- Weston Valasek has been hit by a pitch 23 times this season which leads the conference and is amongst the nation's leaders
- Justin Harris' 40 walks is second best in the conference
- Dax Dathe's 84 strikeouts continues to lead the conference while…
- Alezeah Gutierrez is third with 61 strikeouts of his own while sitting fourth with a 4.48 ERA.

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS:
LSC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
- Feb. 12 – Tripp Clark (Hitter)
- Mar. 4 – Dax Dathe (Pitcher)
- Mar. 11 – Alezeah Gutierrez (Pitcher)
- Mar. 19 – Jacob Guerrero (Hitter)
- Apr. 9 – Alezeah Gutierrez (Pitcher)
- Apr. 15 – Tripp Clark (Hitter)

NCBWA SOUTH CENTRAL REGION PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
- Feb. 12 – Tripp Clark (Hitter)
- Mar. 4 – Dax Dathe (Pitcher)
- Mar. 11 – Alezeah Gutierrez (Pitcher)
- Mar. 19 – Jacob Guerrero (Hitter)
- Apr. 10 – Alezeah Gutierrez (Pitcher)

NCBWA NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
- Mar. 20 – Jacob Guerrero (Hitter)

CONFERENCE FAVORITES:
The Rams were selected as the favorites to take the 2024 LSC crown, earning the top spot in the preseason poll with 503 points, including 38 of the 39 first-place votes. Coming in second was UT Tyler followed by St. Edwards and Lubbock Christian.

NCBWA PRESEASON ALL - AMERICANS:
The Rams had four players selected to the NCBWA Preseason All-American Team, earning First-Team honors was outfielder Jacob Guerrero who was also selected as the 2024 Lone Star Conference Preseason Player of the Year. Being named to the All-American Second-Team is starting pitcher Braxton Pearson, who was named Lone Star Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year, and catcher Tripp Clark. Rounding out the honors is utility man Austin Beck who was named an Honorable Mention.