SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State baseball team defeated Regis 5-3 on Saturday afternoon at Foster Field at First Community Credit Union Stadium thanks to a walkoff home run from Mitch Henshaw.
The Rams (1-1) took an early 2-0 lead over the Rangers (1-1), but fell behind in the fifth inning and were still down in the bottom of the ninth.
Henshaw, a junior college transfer who spent the last two seasons playing at Angelina College, came to the plate in the ninth inning with runners on second and third and just one out. The Conroe native was coming up to bat for the first time all day, as he had just entered the game during the eighth inning as a defensive substitute. Henshaw took one pitch, a ball to start the at-bat, swung on the next pitch he saw, belting the ball deep into left center field, over the wall to win the game. The walk off home run, Henshaw said, was the first he had ever it at any level of baseball.
"When I hit the ball, I knew it was going to be over the center fielder's head," Henshaw said. "About the time I got to second is when I saw it go over. It was the best baseball moment of my life for sure."
ASU had a better day at the plate than in their first game against the Rangers, getting nine hits on the game. Steven Pinales and Jacob Boston led the way for the hitters, as each got two hits and scored a run.
Junior transfer Shane Browning started on the mound for the rams, shutting down the first three Regis batters he saw with two strikeouts in the first inning. ASU would then come to bat in the bottom of the first and play a remarkably similar sequence to the first inning of game one. Boston led the game off with a hit again, this time a double to right center. The Arizona native would then move to third on a fielder's choice before finally scoring on a single from Jay Gonzales for ASU's first run of the game.
Shane Browning was able to respond with a shutdown inning in the top of the second, working his way out of a bases loaded jam by getting a flyout to short right field and recording another pair of strikeouts to end the inning. Overall, the Lubbock native would pitch five innings, giving up all three runs on four hits, but recording six strikeouts in the process.
Clay Wegner scored the Rams' second run of the day in the bottom of the second, finding his way on base after a fielder's choice and scoring when the next batter, Elias Aguirre, doubled off the right field wall. The Rams would not score again until the bottom of the ninth.
Regis got on the board in the next inning with a home run from leadoff hitter Max Fabricant. The Rangers scored again in the top of the fifth when Fabricant singled, Josh Newell walked and Connor Rochon doubled the two of them home. Browning would finish the fifth by inducing a groundout, and his day would be done.
Senior pitcher Joe Hauser replaced Browning on the mound in his first appearance on the young season. Hauser would go onto pitch four scoreless innings, allowing just one baserunner in the process and earning the win for the Rams.
Both teams would remain scoreless until the bottom of the ninth when ASU sent Pinales up to bat. With a 1-0 count, the senior outfielder hit a ball to the deepest part of the ballpark, over the head of the center fielder for a triple. One batter later, Aguirre would come to the plate and work a five-pitch walk, setting the table for Henshaw, who ended the game with his home run.
"A comeback win early in the season is always something the team can feed off a little bit," ASU head baseball coach Kevin Brooks said. "We had a lot of guys step up today, especially at the end. It was a big win for us for sure, but we still have a lot of work to do to get better."
The Rams and Rangers will return to the diamond for the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Foster Field at First Community Credit Union Stadium.
