Angelo State Softball Continues to Dominate, Baseball Walks Off Again

Softball

The Games: The #11 Angelo State University women’s softball team looked to continue their six game winning streak in a three-game series over the weekend in San Angelo at Mayer Field against Eastern New Mexico University.

The series started off Friday night with a Rambelle shutout against Eastern New Mexico 8-0 in six innings.

The offense was led by junior right fielder Tina Cisneros, who went 2 for 3, hitting a solo home run and a two-run double while collecting a game-high three RBI’s. Junior second baseman Micherie Koria, freshman designated hitter Kenedy Urbany, and junior catcher Megan Granado each had one RBI apiece for the Rambelles.

Senior pitcher Mary Kate McKay was solid again, pitching six innings of shutout softball, allowing just seven hits and striking out one. The win was McKay’s fifth straight win and continues her streak of solid pitching from last weekend for the Rambelles and pushes her overall record to 8-3.

Saturday saw much of the same from the Rambelles as they swept both games from Eastern New Mexico 8-3 and 10-0.

The first game saw a huge performance from the top of the Rambelle’s lineup. Senior center fielder leadoff hitter Morgan Spearman had 3 hits in four plate appearances and two runs scored. Second baseman Koria continued her hot weekend in the second sport of the lineup with two hits in two plate appearances and game high three RBI’s while scoring a run herself. Designated hitter Urbany also had a big game, going 2-3 with a home run and a single while batting in two runs.

Solid pitching continued for the Rambelles with senior Sandra Serna turning in a stellar performance. The senior pitched 7 innings, giving up just 2 earned runs, 3 total runs on 6 hits with 2 strikeouts and 1 walk. The win pushed Serna’s record to 8-4 on the season.

The second game saw another huge game from Urbany. The freshman pitcher hit a double in the bottom of the first inning to score two runs and set the tone for the rest of the game for the Rambelles. She finished the game 1-2 with 3 RBI’s, adding another on a sac-fly in the bottom of the second inning.

Junior catcher Granado also had a big game, smacking a pair of run scoring singles in the game. She finished 3-3 with 2 RBI’s of her own. The game saw all but one of the starting nine for Angelo State come around to score a run in the game as the Rambelles finished the series in a big way.

Once again, the pitching dominated for Angelo State, this time with Urbany pitching for the Rambelles. The freshman went the entire 5 innings, striking out 2, giving up just 3 hits, and nothing else. The win brought her record to a team best 15-2 on the season.

Outcome: The Rambelles moved to a 31-9 overall record on the season. They also pushed their winning streak to nine wins, while retaining first place in the Lone Star Conference by one game over the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs with a conference record of 16-3.

They Said It: After the game Friday night, head coach Travis Scott said on the postgame radio show, “We've got to come out here tomorrow and get two. We've got to keep ourselves in the top of this conference…I just thought we looked really good and really clean. To be honest with you, we had a terrible practice on Wednesday, one of the worst practices of the year, and that was really frustrating for me playing as well as we did last weekend and having the way that we practiced [was frustrating]. But our players really responded today and looked really good.”

Due Up: The Rambelles will take their nine game winning streak into a doubleheader Tuesday, April 8 against St. Mary’s University on the road in San Antonio. The first game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. with the second beginning at 6:30 p.m.  Then, the Rambelles will be back at home for another doubleheader against Texas A&M University-Kingsville on Saturday, April 12 in San Angelo at Mayer Field with a first pitch scheduled for 1p.m.

Baseball

The Games: The Angelo State Rams baseball team was looking for another series win this weekend in San Angelo at Foster Field against Cameron University.

Friday night saw the Rams win game one of the series 8-0. The scoring did not start for the Rams until the fourth inning, but once they began, they didn’t stop as they scored runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth innings.

The offense was led by senior shortstop Christian Summers and senior right fielder Reggie Rodriguez, who combined for 6 of the Rams 14 total hits. Summers was 3-5 with two RBI’s on a double in the fifth inning and a single in the eighth inning, along with two runs scored. Rodriguez finished the game going 3-4 with two runs scored.

The pitching was strong for the Rams. The staff was led by junior starter Jason Zgardowski, who gave up just five hits over seven scoreless innings with four strikeouts and one walk. The bullpen finished the game and held onto the shutout with three pitchers giving up just two hits over two innings of work.

Saturday held another doubleheader for Angelo State. The Rams split the two games, dropping the first 3-0 but coming back to win in walk-off fashion 7-6.

Game one’s offense was shut down by Cameron starter Brian Schwabe. The starting nine managed just 2 hits against the pitcher, with junior third baseman Brett David and freshman designated hitter JP Zapata recording the only offensive action for the Rams all game.

The offense failed to back up a strong pitching performance by junior pitcher Blake Bass, who gave up just two earned runs, three runs total, over seven innings of work. Bass also walked one and struck out two on the day.

The Rams, it seemed, were saving their offensive firepower for game two. The Rams scored early and took a 4-2 lead into the seventh inning. Cameron scored four runs in the top of the frame to erase that lead, however, forcing the Rams to fight for the series win.

Summers got the comeback going in the bottom of the seventh, forcing a walk, stealing second base, and scoring on an error by Cameron to make is 6-5 heading into the eighth. The bottom of the eighth saw another run for the Rams come across the plate in the form of a Nehwon Norkeh leadoff solo homerun to tie the score at 6-6 heading into the final inning.

Fittingly, in the bottom of the ninth, Summers once again set a rally in motion to win the game with a lead-off double to start the bottom of the ninth. Brett David came to the plate next and put down what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt. Instead, the bunt turned into a two-base throwing error by Cameron University's pitcher, scoring Summers all the way from second base for the win.

The walk-off win was the third in the last two weeks for the Rams.

Shortstop Summers stood out offensively for the Rams. In addition to the double, he had one more hit to go 2-3 on the day with two runs scored, an RBI, and two walks to cap off an impressive weekend for the senior. First baseman Blake Bass added another two hits and a run scored for the day.

The pitching for the Rams had to overcome an early exit to their starter as Dillion Becker threw just eight pitches before leaving the game. Sophomore Graylon Brown pitched six innings, giving up just two earned runs, three total, on two hits. Brown allowed four walks, however, against three strikeouts on the day. The win went to senior Jake Feckley who, pitching out of the bullpen for the first time on the year, threw three innings, giving up three total runs, only one earned on five hits. Feckley kept the walking to a minimum, issuing just one free pass while striking out four batters.

Outcome: The Rams moved to 22-14 on the season with a 12-11 record in conference play. That mark is good enough for third place in the conference behind both West Texas A&M and Texas A&M- Kingsville.

They Said It: Head coach Kevin Brooks said after the final game Saturday on the postgame radio show: “Yeah, I mean, they fight. I was really proud of them. That was really big, hopefully for Nehwon. That was a big hit he got. Christian, you know we talked about, with Tyler being out, he’s capable of carrying us and I feel like he is doing it. He’s doing his part. I really thought, ‘Man, he is playing so well right now these last three weeks.’ He looks like a very, very good baseball player. Couldn’t be more proud of him.”

Due Up: The Rams finish up their 13 game homestand Tuesday, April 8 at Foster Field in San Angelo with a doubleheader against McMurray University. The first game is set to start at 3 p.m. with the second game tentatively scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. first pitch. The Rams will then spend the weekend in Stephenville taking on Tarleton State University in a two game series that starts Friday, April 11 at 3 p.m. and concluding Saturday, April 12 with a 1 p.m. first pitch.