Series Schedule
6:30 p.m. on Friday at Foster Field
4 p.m. on Saturday at Foster Field (doubleheader)
1 p.m. on Sunday at Foster Field
 
Angelo State Rams
Overall record: 18-6. LSC record: 2-2.
Streak: Won 2
Rankings: No. 9 Collegiate Baseball; No. 16 NCBWA; No. 21 D2BaseballNews
Ram Notes
 
Incarnate Word Cardinals
Overall record: 7-8; LSC record: 2-2
Streak: Lost 1
Rankings: None
 
Angelo State probable starting pitching
Game 1
ASU: Rick Reyna, Sr. (3-3, 3.00 ERA, 33.0 IP, 31 H, 14 R, 11 ER, 3 BB, 35 K)
Game 2
ASU: Jake Feckley, So. (3-1, 2.81 ERA, 32.0 IP, 28 H, 13 R, 10 ER, 7 BB, 27 K)
Game 3
ASU: James Conlee, Jr. (2-0, 3.20 ERA, 25.1 IP, 23 H, 12 R, 9 ER, 13 BB 23 K)
Game 4
ASU: Michael Lange, Jr. (2-0, 2.33 ERA, 19.1 IP, 16 H, 10 R, 5 ER, 6 BB, 17 K)
*UIW did not provide probable starters
 
Program vs. Program
Overall series: ASU leads 11-8
At Foster Field: ASU leads 6-3
Last season: UIW won series 3-1 at Sullivan Field
 
Media Coverage
Radio (Saturday-Sunday)
Video Streaming
Live Stats
www.twitter.com/AngeloSports
www.facebook.com/AngeloStateSports

ANGELO STATE BASEBALL

 
SAN ANGELO, Texas – No. 9 Angelo State and the University of the Incarnate Word meet for the 20^th time overall and for their second series as Lone Star Conference opponents this weekend. The Rams (18-6, 2-2 LSC) and Cardinals (7-8, 2-2 LSC) open the series at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Foster Field with a doubleheader starting a 4 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
 
Incarnate Word won the series last year over the Rams 3-1 at Sullivan Field to put a dent in Angelo State's 11-8 all-time lead in the series.  Both teams are at 2-2 in LSC play after ASU split with Texas A&M-Kingsville and UIW with Abilene Christian last weekend.
 
“They have outstanding pitching with probably three or four of the best pitchers in the conference,” ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. “They've been rained out a lot this year and their record is not indicative of what type of ball club they are. I think they are one of the best teams in the conference. They were picked to win the conference and I think that is with good reason.”
 
Team Breakdowns
 
Angelo State Rams (18-6, 2-2 LSC)
 
The ninth-ranked Rams are led by Kevin Brooks who is in his eighth season and has guided the program to 283 wins coming into the weekend. ASU is 10-1 at Foster Field this season and have outscored its opponents 87-30 in those games. Brooks and his wife, Sally, met while he was an assistant at Incarnate Word and she was the Cardinals basketball coach. The couple were married on the UIW campus in 1998. 
 
Angelo State is hitting under .300 for the first time this season after its four-game series split last weekend with a .292 average, while the Rams' pitching staff has a 2.61 earned run average. Opponents are hitting .228 against ASU and have pitching staff ERA's of 5.70 in games against the Rams. The team has outscored its opponents 146-77 this season and have been ranked in the top-10 for three consecutive weeks for the first time in program history.
 
The Rams continue to get strong pitching performances from their starters and relievers. Austin Church (2-0) leads the team with 11 appearances with Michael Weatherly (3-0) coming in with 10 appearances this year. The two relievers picked up wins last week at TAMUK.
 
Rick Reyna (3-3) is the probable starter for Friday's game. The senior from Mission will be making his seventh start of the season and first since suffering a loss last Saturday at Kingsville. Reyna, who is a two-time LSC Pitcher of the Week this season, has a team-leading 35 strikeouts this season. Jake Feckley (3-1) will make his sixth start of the season this weekend and carries a 2.81 ERA and 27 strikeouts in with him. The sophomore from Wylie is holding opponents to a .231 batting average and has limited his walks to seven through 32.0 innings.
 
James Conlee (2-0) will make his fifth start of the season this weekend. Conlee, a junior right-hander from Georgetown, has made two straight strong starts for ASU and has a 3.20 ERA. He has fanned 23 hitters and is limiting opponents to a .242 batting average. Michael Lange (2-0) will make his fifth start of the season this weekend after putting the Rams in position to win last Sunday in his last start. Lange is limiting opponents to a .239 average and has a starter's low 2.33 ERA.
 
“Our pitching has been what we have hung our hat on,” Brooks said. “They have gone out and been very consistent for us. They have given us a chance to win with us playing good defense behind them. We just have to find a way to score runs.”
 
Brett David, a freshman from El Paso, leads six Rams who are above the .300 line this season. David is hitting .370 through 27 at-bats and has been the designated hitter with Brett Parsons experiencing hamstring issues. Ryan Greer is hitting .346 with 28 hits, four doubles and 14 runs batted in from the left-side of the plate, while Toby Semler continues his strong senior season with a .333 average and a team-leading 29 hits. The Mansfield native has five doubles, a triple, home run and 22 singles. Lee Neumann hit a two-run home run last weekend against the Javelinas and has a .333 average with a team leading seven doubles, three triples and is tied with Tate Allison with three home runs.
 
Andrew LaCombe and Quaid McKinnon have both played in every game this season and are hitting .314 in their first seasons at ASU. LaCombe has 22 hits and 15 RBI, while McKinnon leads the Rams with 19 RBI and has five multiple hit games and four multi-RBI games. McKinnon and Neumann are tied with 27 hits this season.

ANGELO STATE BASEBALL

 
Incarnate Word Cardinals (7-8, 2-2 LSC)
 
The Cardinals are led by former Major League Baseball player Danny Heep who is in his 14^th season as head coach at Incarnate Word after playing for the New York Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros following a collegiate career at St. Mary's. Heep led UIW to a 37-18 record last season and to two wins in the LSC tournament.
 
The Cardinals enter this season with a 7-8 overall record after splitting last weekend's conference-opening series with Abilene Christian. UIW, which is 2-3 on the road, won the middle two games of the series by holding the Wildcats to one run, while dropping the first game 11-8 and the series finale 13-10. The team possesses a .274 batting average this season and a pitching staff ERA of 3.90. UIW has only scored only three runs in the first inning through their first 15 games and are 1-1 in night games.
 
Jordan Littlefield (Jr., Marion) and Hector Flores (Sr., San Antonio) both are hitting over .400 through their first 30 at-bats, while Jason Stone, a junior outfielder from Georgetown, leads UIW with a .438 average through his first 16 at-bats. Littlefield has a seven RBI and 13 hits, while Flores is hitting .404 with three doubles and a team-leading 19 hits in his senior season out of San Antonio's Jay High School.
 
Slade Brown (.375), Lucas Miller (.353), and Thomas Rinn (.353) represent the final pieces to a team with six players over the .300 batting average line at this point. The Cardinals have hit six home runs, seven triples and 27 doubles this season. Travis Fuquay (Jr., Cedar Park) and Zac Russell (Jr., Spring Branch) lead UIW with two homer each, while Derrick Walls (So., San Antonio) and John Zule (Jr., San Antonio) have two triples.
 
Kirk Jewasko (Sr., San Antonio) entered this season as the LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year after going 12-1 last season. The former Hornet from East Central HS, is 1-2 this season with a 4.24 ERA through his first five starts. The lefty has struck out 17 and in 17.0 innings of work. Jorge Guarneros (Sr., Laredo) is 2-3 this season with a 3.13 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 23.0 innings. Ethan Lutz (Sr., Bandera) leads the team with a 3-1 record in five starts and has 18 strikeouts in 16.0 innings. Dylan Boss (Fr., Boerne) started the season as a closer, but has since started two games – including the first game of last week's series. The lefty has a 3.71 ERA and 16 strikeouts through 17.0 innings. Marc Gomez (Sr., Corpus Christi) is 1-0 this year with four starts and 20.2 innings under his belt. The left hander who went to Moody HS has 20 strikeouts and 10 walks this year.
 
UIW did not release a firm probable starting rotation this week. The team's rotation last weekend against ACU was Boss, Guarneros, Gomez and Jewesko.