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SAN ANGELO – Matt Rechkemmer became the fourth straight Angelo State pitcher to start a game, leave with a 0.00 ERA and earn the win as the Rams took a 16-3 non-conference victory over Ouachita Baptist on Sunday at Foster Field.

Rechkemmer (1-0) went five innings without allowing a run and striking out four to help lead Angelo State (4-0) to a season-opening sweep of the Tigers (0-4). ASU matches the program's best start since the 2006 team opened with four wins. Rick Reyna started the strong pitching performances going six innings on Friday, while Michael Lange and Travis Stavinoha each mirrored Rechkemmer with five-inning gems.

“If your starting pitcher can go out of the game with a shutout your chances of winning are pretty good,” ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. “I'm very proud of them and thought they did a great job of attacking the zone and throwing strikes.”

“We'll see how it goes the next series, but it's a really good sign when your starting pitchers can go shut a team down and put up zeroes across the board,” Rechkemmer said.

Season-opening success was not confined to the pitching staff though.

Angelo State, which outscored the Tigers 36-8 and out hit them 42-20 during the weekend, saw seven different players produce 12 hits on Sunday. Tate Allison, who led the Rams with five home runs last season, hit his first with a shot down the left field line to highlight a seven-run fourth inning to break the game open. Andrew LaCombe led the Rams with three hits with Brett Parsons, Toby Semler and Ryan Greer adding two hits each in the run rule-shortened seven-inning game. Parsons and Quaid McKinnon led the Rams with three RBI each in the game.

“We are getting good pitches and hitting them hard,” Semler said. “We have good approaches at the plate not swinging at too many balls. We need to cut down on the Ks a little, but other than that we are doing pretty good.”

Angelo State has three players hitting over .500 and seven over .300 through the first four games of the season. Quaid McKinnon leads team with a .615 batting average with eight hits in 13 at-bats, while Greer has a .600 average with six hit and Semler maintaining a .500 average after 16 at-bats. Parsons and LaCombe lead the team with seven RBI each and four Rams have hit two doubles (Semler, LaCombe, Allison, Lee Neumann). Allison, Parsons and LaCombe have homered once each, while Jake Feckley has the team's lone triple.

“We expect to be a team that is going to hit the ball well and put runs on the board,” Brooks said. “It was not a hitter's weekend with the conditions, but the guys took good approaches. There will be times when someone will be able to shut us down, but I think it's going to be rare.”

Angelo State returns to action with a 4 p.m. game on Tuesday against St. Mary's University at Wolff Stadium. The Rattlers will come into the series with a 3-0 record after sweeping Newman University this weekend. ASU is 10-5 all-time against the Rattlers, but went 1-3 last year against them in a four-game, home-and-away series. The Rams' 4-0 start in 2006 was ended by St. Mary's in a 10-6 loss in San Angelo.

“St. Mary's is always a great team that can always pitch, hit and play defense,” said Brooks, who will send Feckley to the mound for his first start as a Ram. “We are going to have to play solid baseball to have a chance to win the game. We are going to show up and battle.”