STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The Angelo State baseball team swept Tarleton State (1-0,6-1) in Saturday's doubleheader at Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex.
The Rams jumped to 20-13, 13-6 LSC with the pair of wins on Saturday. Pitchers Bryce Zak (6-1) and Paxton DeLaGarza (3-2) both added a win to each of their records with today's performances. Also, relievers Graylon Brown (4) and Kenton Schroter (1) were each awarded a save. This was Brown 21st career save, which tied the senior for the most career saves in Lone Star Conference history. The Rams outhit the Texans 9-7 in the first game and 8-7 in the second game of the day.
With the loss, Tarleton State dropped to 13-18 overall on the season and 7-12 in the conference. Starting Texan pitchers Trevor Renfro (4-3) and Callaway Kirkpatrick (2-5) were both credited with a loss.
"We did a lot of good things today," commented head coach Kevin Brooks. "Bryce [Zak] pitched unbelievable today. There is a reason that pitchers get the win or the loss next to their name, because he won the game on his own. Elias [Aguirre] was also a big factor for us today. He got the game winning RBI for us in the first game and did a great job of getting on base and scoring for us in the second game." Â
The first game of the doubleheader pushed well passed the scheduled seven innings as the two teams entered the top of the ninth inning scoreless. Sophomore Elias Aguirre plated pinch runner Clay Wegner across with a RBI single to take the 1-0 lead. This would be the only run of the game as the Texans would be unable to find an answer pitching in the bottom of the ninth, as Brown closed out the game only giving up a pair of hits and secured his fourth save and the win.
Graylon [Brown] has been here a long time and I'm really glad he did it," commented Brooks. "He's been our guy at the end of games for quite a while and he always finds a way to get it done. Hopefully he can break the record here soon."
In eight innings of work, Zak gave up zero runs off of five hits and struck out 11. This takes the senior ace to a conference leading 85 strike out on the year. Steven Pinales led the Rams going 3-for-4 at the dish, while Jay Gonzales and Jarryd Klemm each turned in a 2-for-3 performance. Aguirre recorded the squads only RBI of the game and along with Paxton DeLaGarza drew the only walks for ASU.
In game two of the doubleheader Angelo State got out to quick start with Aguirre scoring the first run of the game off of a Texan error. This was followed by Christian Abilla stroking a RBI single that pushed senior Sam Kohler across. Capping the inning off, Gonzales gave the Rams a 3-0 lead plating Pinales with a ground out to second.
ASU did not let up in the second inning as Aguirre once again came up big in the inning with a double to left field scoring Matt Waller. He then later scored on a wild pitch from Kirkpatrick to take the score to 5-0.
The Texans would score its only run of the day in the bottom of the third. The Rams continued to hold off TSU for the remainder of the game and added another insurance run in the final inning off a Klemm single to take the lead to 6-1. Â
Starter DeLaGarza tossed two innings giving up a pair of hits and striking out one. Schroter entered in the third for the Rams and completed the game only allowing one runoff of five hits. The junior also struck out two to earn his first save of the season. Leading the Rams at the plate in game two, Aguirre went 3-for-4 at the plate cranking two doubles and adding an RBI. He also scored a team leading three runs. Klemm, Abilla and Gonzales also added an RBI each to their final numbers. Finally, Matt Waller pocketed his first stolen bag of the season.
The Rams return to action Sunday for the series finale in Stephenville. The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and this game will be broadcasted live on 1260AM Â KKSA, with Jeremy Bryant on the call. Â Â
