SAN ANGELO, Texas –The No. 30 Angelo State baseball team travels to No. 27 Texas A&M – Kingsville where it will part take in a three game series with Javelinas that will begin on Friday, April 15 at 3 p.m.
Due to impending inclement weather in Kingsville on Saturday afternoon, Friday, April 15 has been rescheduled as a doubleheader and Saturday, April 16 to single game which will begin at 1 p.m. The Rams, who will enter the weekend with sole possession of first place in the Lone Star Conference, currently sit at 23-14, 16-7 LSC. The team will seek to continue its three game winning streak as it comes off a three game sweep of Eastern New Mexico.
The No. 27 Javelinas are currently sitting in second place in the LSC and are boasting a 24-12, 15-8 LSC record. TAMUK will be looking to rebound from a 2-1 series loss to Cameron on the road in which they dropped the final game 8 -2. In the last meeting between TAMUK and the Rams resulted in a series split in San Angelo.
As a team, ASU is batting .297 at the dish, which is second in the Lone Star Conference. The Rams defense leads the LSC and is 15th in the nation with a .972 fielding percentage. Also leading the LSC is the ASU pitching staff, which is currently boasting a 3.48 team ERA. The staff has also moved into the top 25 nationally with its ERA and top 10 nationally with six total shutouts.
Earning his first LSC player of the week, Catcher, Matt Waller had an outstanding weekend for the Rams. Arlington, Texas native finished the weekend with a .700 batting average going 7-for-10 at the dish. He cranked a two run homer and followed with a double that plated another base runner in the first game of the series. The junior also boasted a 1.100 slugging percentage and a .750 on base percentage. On the base paths Waller was successfully stole four bases in four attempts and scored a total of five runs for Angelo State. Behind the dish he completed the series with a 1.000 fielding percentage tallying 32 put outs and two assists.
Also receiving LSC player of the week honors, Bryce Zak (7-1) tossed a complete game shutout against the Greyhounds only giving up a pair of hits for his conference leading seventh win of the season. The senior amassed 14 strikeouts to take sole possession of second place for single game strikeouts in ASU history. Averaging 13.92 strikeouts per nine inning game, the senior leads the conference in this category and is third in the nation. He only walked one Greyhound hitter for the game and had a 4.71 strikeout-to-walk ratio. With 2.25 ERA on the year, Zak completed his performance on the hill marking a career high 99 total strikeouts on the season. This ranks the right-hander top in the LSC and second in the nation.
Matt Shannon (4-4) has also been a major key to the staff's success. He has thrown four complete games in 2016, and a conference leading 67.1 innings. The sophomore sits just behind the team leader with a 2.27 ERA after a stellar seven inning shutout performance in last Friday's game against ENMU. The righty has amassed 73 strikeouts this season, which places him third in the conference. Shannon has held the opposition to a .242 batting average this season and has only given up an average of 8.02 hits per nine innings.
Continuing to lead the Rams and is second in the conference with four saves this season, Graylon Brown sits with a team third 26 strikeouts. He currently leads the LSC with the fewest walk allowed (8) with a minimum of one inning pitched per total team games, and the fewest home runs given up (1). Brown currently has 21 career saves, and is four saves away from breaking the conference record (24). He is carrying a 3.10 ERA and a 3-4 record into this weekend's series.
Leading the Rams offensive attack continues to be seniors Paxton DeLaGarza and Sam Kohler. Shortstop and pitcher, DeLaGarza, has a team second .328 continues to be tied for the team lead with five homers and nine doubles on the year. He has stroked a team second and LSC fourth 42 hits on the season. He currently also holds a team high .547 slugging percentage and has accrued 26 RBIs. Kohler also leads the team in multiple categories, which include hits (43), runs scored (30), successful sacrifice bunts (8) and walks drawn (21). He leads the conference and is 19th in the nation in sacrifice bunts laying down .22 per game. On the field Kohler is second in the LSC with 117 assists and having fielded 19 double plays.
Jarryd Klemm has come on strong in the latter half of the season taking the team lead with a .333 average at the plate. This has allowed the senior outfielder to break into the conference top batting averages. Originating from Adelaide, Australia, he has recorded 26 hits on the season which includes a team third five doubles.
Finally Jay Gonzales, Elias Aguirre and Steven Pinales round out Angelo States offensive leaders. Gonzales has improved his overall batting average to .321 with a .500 performance against ENMU this past weekend. The junior first baseman and DH has tallied 13 RBIs off of 25 hits this season and has scored a total of 13 runs. Aguirre, a .318 hitter, has chalked up 27 hits to his name. The speedster has a team second eight stolen bases on the year and has crossed the plate 17 times for ASU. Finally, after blasting a monster home run against the greyhounds last Friday, Pinales has once again moved into a tie at the top for the team lead with five homers. The New Yorker has recorded 29 total hits in 2016 and continues to lead the team with nine stolen bags. He has also been plated a team second 25 times and has a team leading .436 on base percentage.
All three games during this weekend's TAMUK series will be broadcasted live on 1260AM KKSA, with Jeremy Bryant on the call.
