RAM NOTES
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Angelo State will be making its third trip to the
NCAA Division II Baseball Championship this week and will be playing on the campus of the University of Central Missouri. ASU will open at 7 p.m. against Southern Arkansas at Crane Stadium-Tompkins Field.
The following is a scouting report on Southern Arkansas which comes from Magnolia, Ark. The Muleriders are 3-0 all-time against Angelo State, including winning two games last season in contests played in Fort Worth and then beating ASU 7-0 in the Mulerider Classic this season. The win over ASU this season put a halt to a perfect 6-0 start to the Rams' season.
Southern Arkansas finished the season with a 36-15 overall record and won the Great American Conference with a record of 17-7. SAU, which is making its fifth straight trip to the NCAA DII postseason tournament and earned an at-large bid because the GAC is not an automatic qualifying conference, was 17-2 at its home field in Magnolia, Ark. and finished with a 5-1 record in neutral field games. SAU is hitting .316 as a team through 51 games played and has 104 doubles, 10 triples and 19 home runs.
The Muleriders, which has outscored opponents 366-231, have stolen 84 bases and have only been thrown out 16 times. They are 26-1 after leading after six innings, 21-0 after seven and 23-0 when leading going into the ninth inning.
Jason Dahl led the Muleriders' offense this season after hitting .385 with 52 singles, 13 doubles, two triples, two home runs and 32 runs batted in. Dahl, who is a switch-hitting outfielder from Batesville, Ark., also stole 13 bases and walked 22 times. Third baseman Brady Capshaw added 60 hits and 45 RBI for SAU this season, while David Allday (a Texarkana native and Kansas State transfer) led the team with 56 RBI and 21 doubles. Rafael Thomas' .367 batting average and Trey Buck's .344 account for the five Muleriders who hit over .300 this season. Thomas is a 5-foot-8 senior out of Lufkin who started his collegiate career at Lubbock Christian and is currently on a team-leading eight-game hitting streak, while Buck is a senior short stop who is a switch-hitter from Crosby who played at Kansas State before becoming a Mulerider.
James Baune (7-1) and Doug Shields (8-2) lead the Southern Arkansas starting pitching, while Justin Thomas (5-2) has 11 saves and a 0.69 earned run average through 39.0 innings pitched in 25 appearances. Thomas is a junior left-handed pitcher out of White Oak who started his collegiate career at Navarro College.
Shields, like ASU closer Michael Weatherly, is a right-hander from Mesquite. He has faced the Rams twice in the last two seasons and has not allowed a run in 11 innings. Baune stands at 6-foot-3 and is a sophomore out of Rockwall, Ark.
Southern Arkansas' Texas Connections
Rafael Thomas (Lufkin/ Lubbock Christian)
Jody Spain (Richland/ Hill College)
Trey Buck (Crosby)
Corey Roper (Corsicana/ Navarro College)
Justin Thomas (White Oak/ Navarro College)
Jon Mark Abbey (Paris/ Paris Junior College)
Doug Shields (Mesquite/ Western Texas College)
Devin Avery (Lewisville/ Paris Junior College)
David Allday (Texarkana/ Texarkana College)
Justin Parsons (Jasper/ Texarkana College)
Kyle Felts (Grand Praire/ North Central Texas College)
Nick Kone (Alvin Community College)
Janson Carr (New Boston)
Carver Rademacher (Flower Mound)
Adam Anderson, Assistant Coach (Hill College)
