SAN ANGELO, Texas – The fifth-ranked Angelo State baseball team swept Saturday's doubleheader of the South Central Super Regional, advancing to the final site of the 2022 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship in Cary, N.C., for the second season in a row.
After falling in last night's game one, the Rams avoided elimination with a 12-3 victory before clinching a spot in the world series with a 16-6 win in game two. This marks the fifth time in program history the Rams have advanced to the world series.
GAME ONE: ASU 12, CMU 3
Playing as the designated away team, the Rams scored two runs in the top of the first, scoring on an error and a single by Jordan Williams. ASU added two more in the second, as Thomas Cain ran home on a passed ball before Koby Kelton singled to right field to score Tripp Clark.
The Mavericks scored their first run in the bottom of the second, hitting a single to make it 4-1.
ASU continued to score in the fourth, hitting three total home runs to go up 8-1. Clark led off with a solo shot to left field before Kelton hit a two-run shot to center field followed immediately by a homer from Aaron Walters.
Aaron Munson pitched a gem for the Rams, tossing eight innings with 12 hits and only three runs. He struck out three batters and allowed only one walk through 34 batters faced. Jack Brinley closed out the game with no runs off two hits in the ninth.
The Rams went on to score one run in the fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth to force game three of the series.
GAME TWO: ASU 16, CMU 6
After a scoreless first inning, the Rams scored three runs in the second after Kelton forced a bases-loaded walk before Walters doubled to left field for two RBIs.
In the top of the third, the Mavericks hits back-to-back-to-back homers to take a 4-3 advantage. They added two more runs in the fourth on a double down the left field line to extend their lead.
Carson Childers started game two for the Rams, throwing three innings with six runs off eight hits and three strikeouts.
In the bottom of the frame, the Rams scored a run on a throwing error before Walters grounded out, scoring Clark in the process. With the bases loaded, Tayten Tredaway put the Rams back on top with one swing, hitting a grand slam over the right field wall to go up 9-6.
The Rams brought in three more runs in the fifth as Clark hit a solo home run before a bases-loaded walk by Tredaway and a wild pitch. Clark has hit a home run in all three of the super regional games.
In the seventh, ASU extended the lead to double digits with four runs, starting with a sac-fly by Tredaway. Justin Harris singled to center field to bring home Williams before Kelton hit a two-RBI single to left field to make it 16-6.
ASU will await the release of the bracket to determine their opponent at the championships site. The tournament runs from June 4 through the 11th.
