SAN ANGELO – A combination of the most potent offensive attack and a stifling pitching staff has the No. 5-ranked Angelo State baseball team leading the Lone Star Conference standings and surging in the national rankings heading into a four-game series against West Texas A&M this weekend at Foster Field.
 
The Rams (16-2, 6-1 LSC) will host the Buffs in a series which starts at 6:30 p.m. on Friday before a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday. ASU is 13-0 at home this season and is coming off a 2-1 series win at Tarleton State last weekend where it outscored the Texans by a combined score of 29-5 in the three-game set. The Rams, who are 29-8 at home over the past two seasons under head coach Kevin Brooks and assistant coach John Anderson, lead the LSC with a .344 team batting average and a 2.53 pitching staff ERA through the first 18 games of their schedule.
 
ASU has outscored its opponents 132-51 this season with its pitchers striking out 175 batters through 146.0 innings of work. Along with the dominant strikeout total, Ram pitchers have walked only 53 and have limited the opposition to a .225 average throughout the season. The Rams, who have committed only 13 errors this season, had a program-record 15-game winning streak snapped on Sunday with a 3-1 loss to the Texans, but are still off to the best 18-game start to a season in program history.

West Texas A&M comes into the series following losing three of four last weekend at Texas A&M-Kingsville and is hitting .257 as a team and owners of a 3.91 pitching staff ERA. WT is 7-7 away from Canyon this season and has committed 33 errors in 156 1/3 innings in the field. The Buffs went 6-2 against the Rams last season, including ending ASU's season with a 5-3 win at the LSC tournament in Kingsville. ASU was swept by the Buffs in Canyon during the four-game series and then took two of three in San Angelo before the teams met again in the postseason. WT earned an at-large bid to last season's NCAA Division II South Central Championship.  
 
West Texas A&M at No. 5 Angelo State
6:30 p.m., Friday at Foster Field
4 p.m., DH, Saturday at Foster Field
1 p.m., Sunday at Foster Field
 
Angelo State Probable Starting Rotation
Game 1: Steve Naemark, Junior, LHP (4-0, 0.77 ERA, 52K, 6BB, 23H, 35.0 IP)
Game 2: Blake Bass, Senior, RHP (5-0, 1.54 ERA, 38K, 7BB, 30H, 35.0 IP)
Game 3: Bryce Zak, Junior, RHP (3-2, 1.44 ERA, 36K, 12BB, 16H, 25.0 IP)
Game 4: TBD
 
West Texas A&M Probable Starting Rotation
Game 1: Tyler Gibson, Senior, RHP (2-1, 3.69 ERA, 32K, 15BB, 26H, 31.2 IP)
Game 2: Justin McAllister, Junior, LHP (1-2, 4.71 ERA, 21K, 6BB, 22H, 21.0 IP)
Game 3: Justin Disbro, Senior, RHP (2-1, 4.05 ERA, 21K, 3BB, 34H, 26.2 IP)
Game 4: Brooks Trujillo, Junior, RHP (1-2, 2.20 ERA, 28K, 11BB, 23H, 32.2 IP)
 
Angelo State National Ranking Summary
No. 5 – NCBWA
No. 7 – Collegiate Baseball
No. 13 – d2baseballnews.com
No. 13 – Perfect Game
 
STARTER REPORT: Naemark is coming off his fourth straight win after striking out eight and not allowing a run at Tarleton last week. A junior left-hander, Naemark held TSU to only three hits in five innings of work and enters this weekend with a 0.77 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 35.0 innings of work. Naemark is a two-time LSC Pitcher of the Week and also earned national recognition by Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA. He established a career-best and Angelo State record with 15 strikeouts in seven innings against Regis and also has a 12-strikeout performance against Lubbock Christian on his resume. ASU is 5-1 this season in games started by Naemark. Bass has been just as dominant for the Rams and is coming off a career-best 10-strikeout win over Tarleton last Saturday in Stephenville. A 6-foot-7 right-hander, Bass has been identified as the No. 3-ranked Division II professional prospect by Baseball America and has more than lived up to that billing this season. Bass enters this weekend with 38 strikeouts and only six earned runs through 35.0 innings where he has allowed only seven walks and 30 hits. A Lubbock native, he has a 9-4 career record at Angelo State after transferring from Texas Tech and has 77 career strikeouts in 18 starts and 111.0 innings of work. ASU is 6-0 this season in games that have been started by Bass. Zak is right there with Bass and Naemark this season and is coming off a five-strikeout loss against TSU where he allowed only one run but suffered the loss due to a lack of run support. Zak, who missed last season with injury, has recorded 36 strikeouts in 25.0 innings this season and will be making his fifth start and seventh appearance of the season in the third game of the series against WT. He currently has a 1.44 ERA this season and has allowed only 16 hits in those 25 innings. A San Angelo native, Zak recorded a career-high with 11 strikeouts in a win over Regis earlier this season and now has an 8-3 career record with 74 strikeouts through 70 2/3 innings in his time at ASU after pitching his first season at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. ASU is 3-1 this season in games started by Bass. The Rams have not named a starter for the fourth game of the series on Sunday. Naemark, Zak and Bass lead the conference in strikeouts and ERA through the first six weeks of the season.
 
BULLPEN REPORT: Dillon Becker (1-0) leads the Rams with four saves this season and has recorded 13 strikeouts in only eight inning of work. Becker, a right-hander from Bastrop who has appeared in nine games this season, is in his junior year and has recorded 48 strikeouts in 46.0 innings during his career. Graylon Brown (2-0) has recorded three saves this season and owns a 10-4 career record and has eight career saves for the Rams. A junior right-hander from Brownwood, Brown leads ASU with 10 appearances this season and has 10 strikeouts in 13 innings of work where he has allowed only one run and has a 0.69 ERA. Opponents have been limited to a .216 batting average against Brown this season and he has walked only four in those 13 innings. Trae Davis (0-0) has recorded one save this season and has nine strikeouts out of the bullpen. Davis, who is a senior right-hander, has allowed only five hits in eight innings of work. Matt Shannon (1-0) earned the win in the series finale over Cameron after not allowing a run in 4 1/3 innings of relief. A redshirt freshman from Pleasanton, Shannon has made four relief appearances this season and has four strikeouts in eight innings of relief. Kellen Rholl has made four appearances with one start and has three strikeouts through five innings.
 
LINEUP REPORT: J.C. Snyder earned LSC Hitter of the Week on Tuesday after a seven-hit performance in last week's three-game set at Tarleton. A senior transfer from BYU, Snyder leads the Rams with a .453 batting average which ranks second in the LSC and leads the conference with 12 doubles and 29 total hits. He is tied for the conference lead with four home runs with Nehwon Norkeh Playing the majority of the time in right field, Snyder has scored 17 runs which ranks third in the LSC. Snyder has two four-hit games this season and 10 multi-hit games. Brett David leads the LSC with 21 RBI this season and is third with a .403 batting average and second with three home runs. He also leads the conference with seven hit-by-pitches. A senior from El Paso, David has 96 career hits for the Rams with seven career home runs and 60 RBI. David has six multi-RBI games this season and seven multi-hit performances to start his senior season. Norkeh, who has been identified as the No. 5-ranked Division II professional prospect by Baseball America despite only being a sophomore, leads the conference 21 runs scored and four home runs. He also has seven doubles which ranks fourth in the LSC and his fourth with 25 hits. Paxton DeLaGarza is second in the conference with 27 total hits and is third on the team with a .386 batting average to start his first season with the Rams. A shortstop who started his career at Weatherford College, DeLaGarza has been strong defensively with only one error in the field. He is tied for the team lead with Snyder and Derek Tyner with 10 multi-hit performances this season and has scored 13 runs.
 
Cameron Massengill is a returning all-conference and all-region selection and has started all 18 games at catcher for the Rams to start his senior season. Massengill is hitting .313 with 20 total hits and has 10 RBI. He has six multi-hit performances this season and has three multi-RBI games.  Tyner is fifth in the conference with 23 total hits and eighth with a .371 average this season. ASU's designated hitter, Tyner is a career .335 hitter for the Rams with 74 total hits in his two seasons, including four three-hit performances. Hunter Spear is ninth in the conference with a .366 batting average and has 14 total hits. A junior transfer, Spear has started 11 games at third base and once at designated hitter. Cody Semler is proving to be one of the most versatile fielders in the conference with strong play at second base and third base for the Rams and has 11 hits at the plate. A senior from Allen, Semler has scored 11 runs and has six RBI. Sam Kohler is also playing strong defense and has added eight hits and four RBI, while Chandler Patterson has seven hits and three RBI.   
 
UP NEXT: Angelo State will return to action next weekend with a trip to Texas A&M-Kingsville where it will play a four-game series at Nolan Ryan Field. ASU went 2-6 against the Javelinas last season, including earning a 7-6 win over the Javelinas in the LSC tournament.