SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State baseball team will hit the road as the third-seeded Rams travel to Lubbock to face off against the seventh-seeded UAFS Lions to begin the final round of the Lone Star Conference Baseball Tournament.
LAST TIME OUT:
The Rams swept the best-of-three series against Texas A&M International by a combined score of 18-3. The long ball was the story of game one as
Tripp Clark and
Kamden Kelton combined for five RBIs on their respective home runs late in the contest. On the mound,
Braxton Pearson and
Johnny Stacy combined to allow an earned run off three hits while striking out 13.
Conagher Sands highlighted game two as he went 4 of 5 at the plate with a couple of doubles and tallied five RBIs.
DOUBLE ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT:
THURSDAY, MAY 9
Game 1: UAFS vs. Angelo State, 2 p.m.
Game 2: Lubbock Christian vs. UT Permian Basin, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY, MAY 10
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 3 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, MAY 11
Championship Game: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 1 p.m.
If necessary Championship Game: 30 minutes following
[3] ANGELO STATE RAMS (36-16, 32-16 LSC) vs. [7] UAFS LIONS (25-26, 23-25 LSC)
Game 1: Thur., May, 9, 2 p.m. | Hays Field – Lubbock, Texas
Live Video: lonestarconferencenetwork.com/asu
Live Stats: angelostats.com
Live Radio: https://www.kksa-am.com/
SERIES HISTORY:
All-Time Series: ASU leads 14-2
Last Meeting: Mar. 3, 2024 – ASU, 10-4 – Fort Smith, Arkansas
The Rams rebounded from a game one loss to capture the regular season series on the road against the Lions. The series clinching victory in game four saw RBIs from Blake Wilhote,
Tripp Clark,
Tayten Tredaway and
Hunter Holt. Game three was highlighted by
Dax Dathe's six shutouts innings where he allowed two hits while striking out eight which netted him Lone Star Conference and NCBWA South Central Regional Pitcher of the Week honors.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
UAFS advanced to the second round after eliminating second-seeded West Texas A&M two games to one in the opening round.
At the plate, the Lions are hitting .294 as a team with Michael Brinton, Brandon Ulmer, Noah Davis and Nico Patrick as the only qualified hitters batting above .300 on the season. Brinton leads the team in batting average (.344) and doubles (23) while the latter have hit 22 home runs and knocked in 141 runners combined.
On the mound, UAFS sits in the bottom half of the conference with a 7.27 staff ERA. Brayden Ross (59) leads the team in strikeouts while Grant Shankle 5.17 ERA is best amongst qualified pitchers.
QUICK HITS:
-
Tripp Clark leads the conference in batting average (.439), OPS (1.312) and RBIs (79)
-
Jacob Guerrero leads the LSC in stolen bases (26)
-
Weston Valasek has been hit by a pitch 27 times this season which leads the conference and is amongst the nation's leaders
-
Justin Harris' 43 walks is third best in the conference
-
Dax Dathe's 95 strikeouts continues to lead the conference while his 4.24 is second.
-
Alezeah Gutierrez is fourth with a 4.59 ERA
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS:
LSC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
- Feb. 12 –
Tripp Clark (Hitter)
- Mar. 4 –
Dax Dathe (Pitcher)
- Mar. 11 –
Alezeah Gutierrez (Pitcher)
- Mar. 19 –
Jacob Guerrero (Hitter)
- Apr. 9 –
Alezeah Gutierrez (Pitcher)
- Apr. 15 –
Tripp Clark (Hitter)
NCBWA SOUTH CENTRAL REGION PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
- Feb. 12 –
Tripp Clark (Hitter)
- Mar. 4 –
Dax Dathe (Pitcher)
- Mar. 11 –
Alezeah Gutierrez (Pitcher)
- Mar. 19 –
Jacob Guerrero (Hitter)
- Apr. 10 –
Alezeah Gutierrez (Pitcher)
NCBWA NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
- Mar. 20 –
Jacob Guerrero (Hitter)
CONFERENCE FAVORITES:
The Rams were selected as the favorites to take the 2024 LSC crown, earning the top spot in the preseason poll with 503 points, including 38 of the 39 first-place votes. Coming in second was UT Tyler followed by St. Edwards and Lubbock Christian.
NCBWA PRESEASON ALL - AMERICANS:
The Rams had four players selected to the NCBWA Preseason All-American Team, earning First-Team honors was outfielder
Jacob Guerrero who was also selected as the 2024 Lone Star Conference Preseason Player of the Year. Being named to the All-American Second-Team is starting pitcher
Braxton Pearson, who was named Lone Star Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year, and catcher
Tripp Clark. Rounding out the honors is utility man
Austin Beck who was named an Honorable Mention.
