GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Angelo State allowed Colorado State-Pueblo to score seven runs in the final two innings and rally for a 9-8 win over the Rams in the opening game of the NCAA Division II South Central Championship on Thursday at Suplizio Field.

The Rams (37-16) will now face an elimination game on Friday against St. Mary's after they had held a 6-1 lead over the ThunderWolves (40-14) through six innings. CSU-Pueblo scored one run in the top of the seventh on a Manny Menocal leadoff home run and then scored five runs on five hits in the top of the eighth. ASU had a 21-0 record this season after leading through seven innings, but would see its first loss in that scenario after it was outscored 7-2 in the final two innings and stranded two runners in scoring position in the ninth after Nehwon Norkeh had hit a two-out RBI double cut the last at-bat deficit to one.

"We are disappointed," ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. "Obviously when you have a 6-2 lead and you're into the eighth and not able to hold it you're going to be disappointed. On the positive side, once we lost the lead we showed fight to come back and had the winning run in scoring position in the ninth. I think that showed the character of this team which is something that we're going to have to keep showing now that we have put ourselves in the position we are in now."

ASU will play at 4:30 p.m. (CDT) on Friday against St. Mary's which earned a 6-5 win over top-seeded Colorado Mesa. Blake Bass (10-2) will start for the Rams who are now 8-8 all-time at the South Central Championship and will need to win on Friday to remain in the tournament. The Rams are 2-0 against the Rattlers this season going into the game. 

Paxton DeLaGarza led the Rams at the plate by going 2-for-4 with three RBI, including hitting a two-out home run to left field in the eighth to tie the game at seven after the ThunderWolves had scored five runs in the top of the inning to take the lead. DeLaGarza also drove in two runs in the fourth inning with a two-out triple to left-center field to score David Goggin and Cody Semler to give the Rams a 4-1 lead through four. Goggin went 2-for-5 in the game with three RBI for the Rams, including driving in a run in the fourth with a single through the middle of the infield after squaring around to bunt and then hitting a two-run double in the fifth inning to give the Rams a 6-1 lead. Norkeh went 2-for-5 in the game, including  hitting a two-out double down the left-field line in the bottom of the ninth to make it a one-run game but a strikeout ended the game with Cody Semler stranded at third base and Norkeh standing on second as the game's potential winning run.   

Angelo State finished the game with 16 hits, while the ThunderWolves had 12 hits. The Rams, who had been 27-0 this season when out-hitting their opponents, did not do so though on Thursday as Pueblo got to the Rams bullpen after starter Steve Naemark left the game with a 6-4 lead in the eighth inning. Naemark finished the game with eight strikeouts, but allowed four earned runs.

"I really felt like I had my stuff today," Naemark said. "Runners are going to get on and that's something you're going to have to deal with, but I've always been comfortable in those situations. I went out and gave it everything I had today."

Graylon Brown (3-3) would take the loss for the Rams after surrendering four runs on four hits in 2/3 innings of work against the ThunderWolves after relieving Naemark. Brown gave up a single, double and then a three-run home run by Dominick Bregar to give up the lead before DeLaGarza would tie it up again with his solo home run in the home-half of the inning.

Brown stayed in the game and started the ninth by allowing a leadoff single and then exited after a sacrifice bunt. Dillon Becker came in to pitch and got a groundout before allowing a runner to reach on a walk and then the Mascorro single which plated Chris Ramsey from second base and Jordan Godman from first after Norkeh could not handle the ball in center field to bring in the second run. Brown would take the loss from the bullpen and the Rams are now 21-1 after leading through seven and 0-2 when tied going into the ninth inning.

"I was really proud of our offense today, but we did something that we haven't done. We were undefeated when we out-hit the opponent and then it was the first time we lost a lead after the eighth. Those guys didn't have it today, but they'll have it tomorrow. We feel like we have the pitching to come back. We have to come out and win tomorrow and then we'll take it from there."

Norkeh, Sam Kohler, DeLaGarza, J.C. Snyder, Derek Tyner and Brett David each had two-hit games for the Rams who are now hitting .301 as a team going into Friday's game. Norkeh has an eight-game hitting streak going into Friday which is his longest streak of the season, while Massengill has a seven-game hitting streak and DeLaGarza has a six-game streak. The three-RBI performance on Thursday was the second of the season by Goggin and the fifth for DeLaGarza who leads ASU with 24 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI games. Naemark (9-1) now has 122 strikeouts on the season and a 1.37 ERA through 105 innings of work this season. He was named the Daktronics South Central Pitcher of the Year on Thursday before the game which adds to his collection of awards which includes NCBWA South Central Pitcher of the Year and Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Year.