SAN ANGELO – The No. 10-ranked Angelo State baseball team returns to action at 3 p.m. on Tuesday with a single game against McMurry University at Walt Driggers Fields in Abilene.

The Rams (6-1) are coming off a 2-1 series win over Southern Arkansas last weekend and will be playing the War Hawks (4-2) for the first time in program history.

“It looks like McMurry has pitched well so far this season but are not scoring a lot of run,” ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. “We'll just go out there and try to win. We saw some areas that we need to work on last weekend and that we are not where we need to be. I want to see all of our guys come out and compete.”

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Bryce Zak (0-0) will be making his second start of the season for the Rams after going 4.2 innings in the third game of the opening series at Ouachita Baptist. Zak did not get a decision in the 16-6 Angelo State win, but did strikeout three batters. Caleb Gonzales (1-0) is the probable starting pitcher for the War Hawks. Gonzales, a right-handed junior from Sonora, earned his win as a reliever in a 2-1 War Hawk victory in the season opener against Oklahoma Panhandle State and will be making his first start of the season on Tuesday against the Rams.

Lee Neumann leads the Rams this season at the plate after hitting .538 through his first 26 at-bats. Neumann, who is coming off an All-American junior season, has 10 singles, two triples and a double and home run this season. He has also drove in 11 runs and scored 11 runs through the first seven games. Reggie Rodriguez has played well in right field and is hitting .467 through his first 30 at-bats as a Rams. The transfer player, from North Central Texas College, led Angelo State with seven hits last weekend against Southern Arkansas.

Quaid McKinnon remains one of the most constant players in the nation hitting .357 early this season with four doubles, a triple and a .571 on-base percentage. Tyler Coughenour is adding strong play in the infield and is hitting .357, while Ryan Greer is hitting .333 with a double and a stolen base. Luke Solomon and Tanner Kalina have added six hits, while Andrew LaCombe leads the team with 12 RBI.   

McMurry earned a three-game sweep of Oklahoma Panhandle State to open the season before dropping its series 1-2 against Texas-Permian Basin. The War Hawks took the first game 2-1 before falling 4-0 and 6-2 in Odessa. McMurry is hitting .223 as a team through its first six games with 30 singles and seven doubles. The pitching staff comes into its game against the Rams with a 1.15 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 47 innings of play.

AJ Dupre and Greg Koll lead the War Hawks with a .333 batting average with Dupre tops in hits with six. Dylan De Leon has two doubles and two RBI, while Casey Berryman leads the team with three RBI early in the season. Spencer Smith (1-0) has recorded 10 strikeouts in 13.1 innings of work with Chase Moreland (0-0) has 10 strikeouts in 6.0 innings.
 
Notes: Ryan Greer, Lee Neumann and Christian Summers have been named to the Tino Martinez Award Watchlist. The list includes 150 top amateur athletes from across the nation.  The award is presented to the most outstanding player in DII college baseball.

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Poll watch: The Rams are ranked No. 10 in the CollegeBaseballLineup.com poll and No. 11 by D2BaseballNews.com and CollegiateBaseball.com.

Up next: Angelo State will resume its week with a three-game series this weekend against Lubbock Christian at Foster Field. The series opens with a 3 p.m. game on Friday followed by 1 p.m. starts on Saturday and Sunday. The Rams and Chaparrals are tied 2-2 in the all-time series.