SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State baseball team play its first road series of the season this weekend, taking on fellow South Central Region member Lubbock Christian in three games Saturday through Monday.
The Rams (6-1) will take on the Chaparrals (1-3) starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday, with 3 p.m. games scheduled for Sunday and Monday as well at Hays Field.
ASU currently ranks third in the Lone Star Conference both offensively and on the mound. At the plate, the team currently has an average of .294 and has the second most runs scored in the conference with 54. They are second to only Eastern New Mexico, who has played four more games.
Lone Star Conference Hitter of the Week Nicholas Novak leads the Rams on offense this season, with a team-high in batting average (.379), total bases (16), slugging percentage (.552) and runs scored (9).
Following closely behind Novak in every category is third basemen Jacob Boston, who has a .357 average with six RBI and 13 total bases.
Three other Rams currently have on-base percentages at .400 or better, including Andrew Morales, Jonathan Soberanes and Michael Urquidi. Soberanes leads the team, getting on base at a .516 clip and has scored a team-second eight runs. He also leads the team in stolen bases with seven.
Urquidi has also been successful on the basepaths as well, swiping five bags and also has an on-base percentage of .485. Morales rounds out the group with a .400 OBP, but has a higher average than the other two at .320. He has come up big in the clutch so far this season with a team-leading seven RBI.
Other Ram starters contributing to the offense include Bradley Mathiowetz, who has scored six runs, Alex Salcido with three RBI and Elias Aguirre, who has six hits this season.
Outfielder Mitch Henshaw also racked up five singles and three RBI in his first three games against Southwestern Oklahoma State.
On the mound, ASU will be going with the same starting three this weekend that they used last weekend.
Tyler Lesley will start the series opener on Saturday, coming into the game with a 4.26 ERA I 12.2 innings so far this year. Overall, the junior hurler has limited opposing batters to just a .208 average this year.
The Rams will then turn the ball over to redshirt freshman Carson Childers on Sunday. Childers has started twice already this season and had a strong outing last weekend against SWOSU, pitching 6.2 innings while striking out six batters and earning his first collegiate win.
In the series finale, senior Shane Browning will make the start after winning each of his first two starts. The Lubbock native has allowed an opponents' batting average of just .195 so far this year and has an ERA of .82.
This leaves the Rams with a number of strong options out of the bullpen, including Kellen Rholl, Josh Barnett, Cole Brandon, Trent Baker, and Shannon Broussard.
Rholl is the ASU leader in appearances on the mound, pitching five times already this season while allowing just one run and earning a pair of saves. Barnett is second with four appearances, but has pitched the most innings out of the bullpen with 6.0. He has allowed just three runs and struck out seven batters in that time.
Cole Brandon did not pitch last weekend against SWOSU but had a strong opening weekend at the Air Hogs D-II Classic. The left-hander pitched 5.2 innings without allowing a run. Broussard is another lefty available to the Rams out of the pen, and has allowed just two runs in his five innings on the mound this year.
Freshman Trent Baker made the first two appearances of his collegiate career against SWOSU, going 2.2 innings without giving up a run.
Lubbock Christian will be pitching Ryan Johnson on Saturday, Ricky Contreras on Sunday and Callan Johnson in the series finale on Monday. Callan is coming off a Heartland Conference Pitcher of the Week selection las week after pitching seven innings while allowing just two hits and striking out seven.
The Chaps will be looking to rebound after going 1-3 against Regis in their opening weekend.
