SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State baseball team exploded for 15 runs Friday night at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium, run-ruling UTPB in the series opener.
The Rams (33-10, 11-5 LSC) gave up just one run on just two hits to the Falcons (8-34, 1-16 LSC), while racking up 15 runs on 17 hits of their own.
Matt Shannon started the game on the mound for the Rams and had a historic night. The junior hurler earned his seventh win of the season, and with a strikeout in the top of the fifth inning moved into second place all-time in career strikeouts at ASU.
Shannon dominated the Falcons early, allowing just one hit through the first three innings, while his own team failed to score as well.
The Rams broke the game open, however, in the bottom of the fourth. Overall in the inning, 13 ASU batters came to the plate, as the Rams scored eight runs to jump out in front. Tyler Coolbaugh started the scoring effort with a one-out single to right field. The next three batters all collected hits as well, including a double from Jay Gonzales that plated the first ASU run.
Angelo State then loaded the bases back up in the inning before Steven Pinales cleared them with a three-RBI triple. It was the seventh three-bagger of the year for the senior, which leads the Lone Star Conference and is tied for seventh in the nation.
The Rams were held scoreless in the fifth, but exploded again in the sixth for another seven runs. ASU batted around again in the inning, sending 10 batters to the plate this time. First basemen Mitch Henshaw led off with a single and came around to score on a single from Omar Martinez.
Clay Wegner followed with a walk and a single from Michael Urquidi, and both came around to score on a single from Zach Fleet. Jonathan Soberanes followed with a single of his own before pinch hitter Nick Barron came to the plate and cleared the bases once again with a three-run bomb that hit off the scoreboard in right-center.
ASU relievers Kellen Rholl and Logan Voth combined to pitch the seventh inning, giving up the only run of the day for the Falcons, before closing out the win.
The Rams and Falcons will face off in three more games on the weekend, playing a doubleheader at 4 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale at 1 p.m. Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on RamTV channel 6/106HD and AngeloSports.com and can also be heard locally on 1260 KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call.
