GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The sixth-seeded Angelo State baseball team opened the South Central Regional Tournament with a dramatic victory, defeating third-seeded West Texas A&M 7-4 at The Diamond on Thursday afternoon.
With the win, the Rams improve their overall record to 37-18 on the year and avoid tonight's potential elimination game.
The Rams opened the scoring in the first inning as
Conagher Sands hit a double down the right field line to bring in two runs.
After a scoreless second inning, the Buffs tied the game in the bottom of the third, scoring on a fielding error and a sac fly.
The Buffs took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, on a bases-loaded walk.
Dax Dathe started on the mound for the Rams, throwing 3 2/3 innings with three runs on four hits with five strikeouts, bringing him over the century mark for strikeouts on the season.
In the fifth inning, the Rams tied the game as
Justin Harris scored on a throwing error to second base, but WT responded in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single.
Throwing in relief was
Austin Teel who tossed two innings with one run on four hits and four strikeouts.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, the Rams got two runners on as Tayten Tredway was hit by a pitch and
Jacob Guerrero singled through the left side, setting up a three-run home run by
Tripp Clark to give ASU a 6-4 lead.
The Rams added another run in the eighth as
Ryder McDaniel hit a fielder's choice, allowing
Weston Valasek to slide home, beating out the tag to extend the lead to three runs.
Johnny Stacy allowed only two hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief, adding a strikeout and a walk to earn the victory and improve to 5-1.
In bottom of the ninth inning, WT loaded the bases with no outs before hitting a line drive to the glove of McDaniel who tossed to first before Tredway threw to second for a walk-off triple play to end the game. It is the first triple play in Rams Baseball history.
Closing out the game was
Caleb Heuertz who picked up the save after throwing one 2/3 innings with one hit and two strikeouts.
The Rams will continue the South Central Regional tomorrow against second-seeded Colorado Mesa at 7 p.m. CST.
Tripp Clark Three-Run Home Run:
Walk-Off Triple Play:
