SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State baseball team honored its seniors on Sunday afternoon before the final regular season home game of the year and the capped it off with an 8-5 win over Texas Permian Basin at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium.
The Rams (36-10, 14-5 LSC) swept the weekend series against the Falcons (8-37, 1-19 LSC) and took all eight games against UTPB on the season.
ASU got on the board early for the fourth straight game with two runs in the top of the first inning. Elias Aguirre led off the game with a walk to give the Rams an early baserunner, but the next two batters flied out before Steven Pinales came to the plate. The senior outfielder took the third pitch he saw over the right field wall for two runs. It was his fifth of the season, tying him for second on the Rams.
The homer gave Ram starter Shane Browning an early lead, and the junior worked a shutdown inning in the second. The first two innings ended up being the only two the junior would work, however, as the rest of the game went to the Rams' senior bullpen pitchers. Browning had two strikeouts in the outing.
Jake Mathys came out to start the third inning, and worked 2.1 scoreless innings himself. Mathys struck out four of the batters he saw.
The Rams added in a pair of insurance runs in the third after Mathys' first inning of work. With one out, Tyler Coolbaugh walked and first basemen Mitch Henshaw followed with a single. Coolbaugh advanced to third on a fly ball from Pinales and then scored on a wild pitch that also moved Henshaw to second base. Jacob Boston followed with a hit-by-pitch and then both he and Henshaw scored on a bloop double from Jay Gonzales.
Mathys worked another scoreless inning in the fourth before leaving the mound for senior reliever Jhonatan Del Rosario, who struck out three in his inning of work. Kenton Schroter then came out of the bullpen to work an inning on senior day. The Falcons got three runs off the two relievers, but the Rams responded in the bottom of the seventh.
Nick Novak led off the bottom half of the inning with a single down the left field line. The freshman then scored when the Falcon pitcher attempted to pick off Novak and threw the ball into right field, bringing Novak around to score from first.
Senior catcher Zach Fleet followed with a walk and Elias Aguirre bunted his way on. Coolbaugh then singled to score Clay Wegner, who pinch ran for Fleet. Omar Martinez then came to the plate and singled as well, scoring Aguirre.
Dustin Angiel came in and pitched in the eight inning, not allowing a run and striking out one batter. Reliever Joe Hauser then came in for the ninth and closed out the senior day victory for the Rams, 8-5.
ASU will be on the road for the final weekend of the regular season, traveling to Canyon to face West Texas A&M May 5-7.
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