TOWN of CARY, N.C. – Angelo State junior Steve Naemark was a silencer once again and his offense manufactured runs as the Rams earned a 5-0 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship elimination-game win over Wilmington on Monday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

Naemark threw eight scoreless innings with five strikeouts to help the Rams (42-17) advance to play at 2 p.m. (CDT) on Wednesday against Henderson State in an elimination game. Naemark (11-1) has now thrown 16 scoreless innings and has 138 strikeouts on the season. The left-hander stranded nine Wilmington runners on base, including inducing a groundout to Brett David at first base to leave the bases loaded without damage in the top of the sixth.  

"I didn't really feel like I had my best stuff of the year, but it just made it a little bit more interesting," Naemark said. "I worked well with my off-speed that set up my fastball. Those situations I'm just confident that they're not going to score. I feel like I'm a good enough pitcher to not allow hits to be strung together in a big succession there. It's really about not letting the moment get too big and staying calm by attacking the batter and just getting the guy at the plate. That's what I did today to get away with some jams."

While Naemark was in control throughout, the Rams found offensive production again after being shutout for only the third time this season in a 4-0 loss to Henderson State in their first game of the national tournament on Saturday. ASU broke an 11-inning scoreless drought here in Cary in the bottom of the third inning with David Goggin leading the inning off with an opposite-field double and then Paxton DeLaGarza being hit by a pitch with one out. Goggin moved to third and DeLaGarza into scoring position on a wild pitch and then scored when Derek Tyner hit a grounder to second base which was misplayed to allow to unearned runs to score.

ASU opened up the game in the sixth with three runs on three hits and two errors by the Wildcats. Tyner and Massengill led the inning off with a pair of singles and David loaded the bases by reaching on an error/sacrifice bunt. With the bases loaded and no outs, WU went to their bullpen which recorded a three-pitch strikeout of Cody Semler for the first out. With one out and the bases still loaded, freshman Elias Aguirre stepped up to the plate with a drawn in infield and shallow outfield. Starting only his ninth game all season and first in center field, Aguirre took one strike before driving the baseball over the center fielder's head to score two and record the first extra-base hit of his career.

"I thought I had just hit a routine pop-up," Aguirre said. "I saw they were playing in though, I guess because I'm a freshman. I saw him running back and then the ball on the ground. It was really exciting."

The double scored Tyner and Massengill to take the score to 4-0 which quickly turned into a 5-0 lead when a failed pickoff attempt of Aguirre went into center field and brought David in to score.

With a 5-0 lead, Naemark recorded 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth innings before Graylon Brown came into the game in the ninth and ended the Wildcats' season with three straight groundouts. The Rams finished the game with a 9-7 hit advantage with Goggin leading the way with a 3-for-4 game and Massengill going 2-for-4. Goggin hit leadoff for the first time this season and also reached base with a walk to go along with his two singles and double. Sam Kohler, Tyner, Semler and Aguirre also had hits to account for the nine ASU hits.

"I thought we did a great job of playing solid and we made them make some mistakes that we took advantage of," ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. "Steve put us on his back pretty much like he's done every time he's gone out. I thought we were solid, but we still have to play better. I was pleased with today though."

Wilmington (37-15), which was the East Region Champion, saw its first national tournament appearance end after two games after also falling on Saturday in its opener against Catawba. The Rams are now 2-3 all-time in the NCAA DII Baseball Championship with their other win coming against the Franklin Pierce (East Region) in 2007. Frank Samluk (6-1) took his first loss of the season on Monday after allowing five earned runs in five innings of work for the Wildcats. WU finished the game with seven hits, including a 3-for-4 performance from second baseman Josh Swirchak.