SAN ANGELO – A 13-game home stand and the second half of the season begins this weekend for the Angelo State baseball team when it hosts Texas A&M-Kingsville in a four-game Lone Star Conference series at Foster Field.
The No. 30-ranked Rams (16-9, 6-6 LSC) enter the home stand with a 7-1 record at Foster Field this season and are currently fourth in the LSC standings after dropping their series last weekend at West Texas A&M. The Javelinas (13-10, 7-5 LSC) are coming off splitting a four-game series at Eastern New Mexico last weekend before falling 7-1 to St. Edward's at home in a non-conference, midweek game. ASU and TAMUK are the only two teams in the LSC to have advanced to the NCAA Division II South Central Championships the past two seasons.
"It's an important series for us and every game is going to be from here on since we put ourselves in a hole," ASU head coach
Kevin Brooks said. "We need to have a sense of urgency this weekend and fell like we have to win every game. We played well against West Texas A&M, but we just didn't finish the games. We're going to have to come out and continue pitching like we have been, but we also need to step up defensively and at the plate."
The Rams are 23-16 all-time against the Javelinas, including going 3-4 against them last season. The two teams met three times in the postseason with ASU taking the final game with a 9-1 regional win in Kingsville after the teams split a pair of games in the LSC tournament. The Javelinas won the regular-season series 3-1 at Foster Field last season.
ASU has outscored its opponents 134-86 throughout the season and comes into the series hitting .293 with 180 singles, 37 doubles, eight triples and seven home runs. The Rams, who are ranked No. 30 by CollegeBaseballLineup.com but fell out of the other three polls, lead the LSC with 55 stolen bases. Pitching has been a strength of the Rams all season and continued last weekend when the staff compiled a 1.62 ERA against West Texas A&M. ASU had 14 strikeouts and walked six, while also limiting the league-leading Buffs to a .235 batting average.
Jake Feckley (4-1) will start the series opener on Friday and is coming off a7.1 inning performance where he scattered six hits and did not walks a batter. Feckley enters the weekend with a 1.60 ERA this season and has 33 strikeouts and only eight walks through 45.0 innings of work. He is currently second all-time in ASU history in strikeouts and needs only one strikeout to match Kenny Elkind (2008-09) with 146 career strikeouts. The all-time winningest pitcher in program history, Feckley's career ERA of 2.83 leads the program and his .262 opponent's batting average ranks second. Joseph Key (2006-09) leads the program with 212 strikeouts. Feckley was named the LSC Pitcher of the Week the first two weeks of the season.
Jason Zgardowski (2-1) is scheduled to start Saturday's first game and enters the weekend following a masterful outing last weekend against West Texas A&M where he received his first loss of the season despite not allowing an earned run in a complete-game effort. Zgardowski, a junior right-hander from San Antonio, has a 1.70 ERA with 39 strikeouts and only six walks through 37.0 innings of work. He is second in the LSC behind WT's Dylan James's 56 strikeouts and is seventh in the conference in ERA. He will be making his sixth start and eighth appearance on Saturday.
Blake Bass (2-1) is also coming off his first loss of the season despite limiting the Buffs to two earned runs in 5.2 innings of work. Against WT, Bass scattered eight hits and did not walk a batter. A junior right-hander from Lubbock, Bass leads the LSC with a 0.99 ERA through 27.1 innings of work. During that time, he has accumulated 18 strikeouts and has walked only two batters. He was named the LSC Pitcher of the Week last week after throwing a complete-game shutout against Tarleton State.
Dillon Becker (3-2) is coming off a no-decision against WT after he went 6.0 innings and left the game with a 6-1 lead. After a leadoff single, Becker left the game and had a finishing line of two earned runs, four strikeouts, no walks and five hits allowed. Becker will be making his fourth start and 11th appearance of the season this weekend against the Javelinas. He has recorded 20 strikeouts in 22.2 innings and has a 3.97 ERA. Opponents have been limited to a .253 batting average against him this season and have walked only eight times.
Graylon Brown (2-2) took the loss last Sunday after going 6.2 innings of relief. He enters this weekend with a 1.71 ERA this season with 23 strikeouts, 11 walks and has limited the opposition to a .207 batting average. A sophomore right-hander from Brownwood, Brown leads the Rams with 13 appearances this season and four saves. He has thrown 31.2 innings this season.
AT THE PLATE
David Goggin enters this weekend leading the Rams with a .370 batting average, 19 RBI and 34 hits. He is on a six-game hitting streak entering the series against the Javelinas and finished last weekend hitting .500 after going 8-for-16 at the plate against West Texas A&M. Goggin, a sophomore from Red Wing, Minn., was named the LSC Freshman of the Year last season after hitting .279 with 20 RBI in his first season at ASU. Goggin has played 18 games in left field, four in right field and three at catcher this season. Along with reaching base with nine walks, he has also been hit by two pitches and is third on the team with 14 runs scored. He leads ASU with six multi-RBI games and has already racked up four three-hit games and four two-hit games. Goggin is currently 10th in the LSC in hitting.
Derek Tyner is second on the team with a .341 batting average and has 29 hits entering the weekend. A junior from Boerne, Tyner is in his first season at ASU after transferring from Odessa College. He is currently on a three-game hitting streak after seeing an eight-game streak snapped last Friday. Tyner has eight multi-hit games this season and three multi-RBI games. He has played 17 games at first base, one in left field, four in right field and has been penciled into the lineup four times at designated hitter. He has 26 singles, three doubles and 12 RBI coming into the weekend.
Hunter Choate struggled at the plate for the first time this season last weekend, going 1-for-14 against WT pitching. He still maintains a .337 batting average and is second on the team with 31 hits in his sophomore season out of Athens. Choate, who started 37 games as a freshman, leads the Rams with nine multi-hit games this season and has three multi-RBI games. He has started 21 games at third base, once at second base and was the designated hitter in three games. Choate has 26 singles and five doubles and is tied with
Tyler Coughenour for third on the team with 13 RBI. Coughenour enters this weekend with a .317 batting average and leads the team with three home runs.
Coughenour has 15 singles, six doubles, two triples and the three home runs. Two of his home runs have been over the fence, while his third came on an inside-the-park homer against Tarleton State. Coughenour is currently tied with
Nehwon Norkeh for the team and conference lead with 16 stolen bases and leads the team by being hit by 10 pitches. Coughenour has started 22 games at second base and one at shortstop.
Christian Summers has made 24 starts at shortstop this season and enters the weekend with a .198 batting average this season and is a career .294 hitter in his two seasons at ASU. A San Angelo native, Summers was selected in the 19th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the San Diego Padres last summer. He is currently second on the team with 14 RBI and has three stolen bases. He has 11 singles, four doubles, a triple and a home run. He has three career home runs and leads the ASU program over the past two seasons with 46 RBI and eight triples.
Norkeh, a freshman from Minnesota, is hitting .263 with 18 singles, two doubles, three triples and two home runs. He is second in the conference in triples to go along with being tied with Coughenour for first in the LSC with his 16 stolen bases. Norkeh has started all 25 games at center field for the Rams. He leads the Rams and the conference with 26 runs scored.
Brett David has been the team's designated hitter in 15 games, its first baseman twice, second baseman three times and has played at third base three times. David, who is second in the LSC with eight doubles, is hitting .321 with 18 singles to go along with his eight doubles this season.
Reggie Rodriguez, a senior outfielder, is hitting .190 with nine singles and two doubles this season. A career .292 hitter for the Rams, Rodriguez went 3-for-10 last weekend with a pair of singles and a double against WT.
Cameron Massengill has started 22 games at catcher in his first season with the Rams and enters the weekend with a .279 batting average. He delivered three-game winning RBI in the Tarleton State series and comes into the weekend with nine RBI. Massengill, a junior from Kennedale, has also reached base with five walks. Behind the plate, he has thrown out 12 runners trying to steal a base. The Rams have also received production from freshman
JP Zapata who is hitting .412 with seven hits in 17 at-bats. Zapata, who spent time in the Army following his high school days at Lake View, started his collegiate career 5-for-5 and has made five starts this season.
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Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelina Report
Derrick Walls, a transfer from Incarnate Word, leads the Javelinas this season with a .373 batting average and has eight stolen bases. At UIW last season, Walls led the LSC in stolen bases. He currently has 28 singles, two doubles and a triple and has a .480 on-base percentage. Taylor Taska, the LSC's Preseason Player of the Year, leads Kingsville with three home runs and is hitting .308 this season. He also has three doubles and is 2-1 with a 1.00 ERA on the mound. Taska has 16 strikeouts, six walks and has allowed only five runs in 27.0 innings on the mound.
Dallas Ponder, the LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year, is currently 3-1 and has a 3.60 ERA. He leads the Javelinas with a 36 strikeouts in 35.0 innings of work, while Denver Diefenbach (4-1) has 22 strikeouts and a 2.53 ERA through 32.0 innings. Cody Williams has a 1.96 ERA and a 1-3 record, while the Javelinas have yet to record a save.
Back at the plate, Blake Johnson is hitting .356 with 10 RBI and Ryan Guedry is at .353 with 19 singles, five doubles and 14 RBI. Justin Lee is hitting .333 with 14 singles, eight doubles and a triple. He is currently tied with
Brett David for second in the conference in doubles behind ENMU's Blake Cooper's nine.
The Javelinas will return to action with a non-conference, midweek game on Tuesday at Texas A&M International before hosting Tarleton State next weekend in a four-game series at Nolan Ryan Field.
