LUBBOCK, Texas – The sixth-seeded Angelo State baseball team clinched their fourth consecutive trip to Cary, North Carolina, for the 2024 Division II College World Series, as the Rams took down top-seeded Lubbock Christian in three games at the South Central Super Regional.
GAME ONE – LCU 25, ASU 12:
The Chaps struck first in the game's opening frame and went on to score the following 14 runs through four and a half innings. ASU scratched a run back in the bottom of the fifth when
Weston Valasek led off the inning with a single to center field. He eventually scored after a single, a walk and a double play throughout the following three at-bats.
Braxton Pearson started on the mound for the Rams and could only complete four innings where the Chaps scored seven runs (four earned) off nine hits and a walk while he struck out three. He was tagged as the pitcher of record and fell to a 6-3 record.
After LCU added three more runs, the blue and gold put up an eight spot in the bottom half of the sixth inning through five singles, three walks, a hit-by-pitch and a double. The Chaps responded with an additional seven runs through the next two innings with the Rams getting three more back before the final out was recorded to force the if necessary, game three of the series.
GAME TWO – ASU 17, LCU 4:
The action picked up with
Kamden Kelton drawing a four-pitch walk to lead off the top of the second. After a pitch hit
Justin Harris,
Christian Garnette singled up the middle to load the bases for
Jacob Guerrero to drive a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall for a grand slam.
In the ensuing inning,
Weston Valasek led off with a single to left and was quickly advanced to third thanks to a double to right center from Kelton. After a strikeout, Garnette drove a hanging curve ball over the left-center field wall for his first home run of the season. After the Rams pieced together a couple of hits and a walk to load the bases again,
Tripp Clark was hit by a pitch to conclude a second straight four-run inning.
In the fifth, ASU tacked on three more runs courtesy of two doubles from
Tayten Tredaway and Guerrero, a triple from Clark and a single from
Conagher Sands to extend the Rams' lead to 11 runs.
Alezeah Gutierrez turned in a complete performance on the mound as he allowed just one earned run off four hits and three walks while striking out six. The victory improved his pitching record to 9-4 on the year.
After the Rams added a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth, Lubbock Christian scored their first runs of the game, utilizing a walk, double and a fielding error capped off by a home run to score four runs in the bottom half of the frame.
ASU added on five more runs in the top of the ninth as the Rams loaded the bases for the third time in the contest for Sands to single up the middle to score two and Valasek to launch a home run over the left field wall to bring the game to its final score as
Johnny Stacy closed out the Chaps in the bottom of the ninth.
With the victory, the Rams improved to a 41-19 record and now await their national seed as they make their seventh trip to the Division II College World Series that will take place at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina, from June 1st to 10th.
