BOX SCORE

ANGELO STATE BASEBALL

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SAN ANGELO, Texas – Snow piles on Foster Field during the first day of Angelo State baseball practice in January turned into a dog pile on the last day of the Lone Star Conference Baseball Championship after a 6-0 win over Tarleton State on Wednesday in the tournament's title game.
 
Angelo State (40-15), which earns an automatic NCAA Division II bid with the victory, now has two trophies so far this season after winning the LSC championship with the best regular season record and the tournament hardware after knocking off the Texans (30-21) in the 11th game of the tournament. The Rams went 4-1 in the tournament and outscored their opponents 61-37 en route to their first LSC tournament title since winning it in 2007. That tournament title, which came in a 3-1 win over Abilene Christian, also was earned in a weather-extended tournament.
 
“This is a very special group of baseball players that we have here,” ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. “They came out here from the first day of practice with goals of winning championships and they've put in the work and are doing it. I'm extremely proud to be their coach.”
 
The Rams, who were shutout in a 2-0 loss on Tuesday night against Tarleton State, put that memory quickly in the past by scoring five runs in the second inning against the Texans. Tate Allison capped the inning by blasting a two-run home run to left field after Andrew LaCombe delivered a two-run single and Doug Snover a run-scoring double. Snover would follow with a run-scoring single in the third inning to cap ASU scoring on a day when nothing else would be needed.
 
Michael Lange (9-0) remained perfect on the season with another pitching gem. The junior right hander struck out three, walked one and allowed only three hits against the Texans. Lange also earned the Rams' win in their tournament opener against Abilene Christian and was named to the all-tournament team.
 
Quaid McKinnon was named the tournament's Most Valuable player after finishing the LSC Baseball Championship with nine hits, nine RBI, four doubles, seven runs and six walks. Toby Semler, Zach Cohen, Lee Neumann, Ryan Greer also joined Lange and McKinnon on the all-tournament team.  
 
The win takes the Rams to the 40-win mark for the fourth time in program history and this will be the third time in program history that they have advanced to the NCAA tournament.  ASU improved to 15-10 all-time in LSC tournament play and to 28-5 this season in games played at Foster Field. The NCAA will have a selection show on Sunday night to announce where the regions will be hosted and where each team will be playing.
 
 
Angelo State Quotes
 
Quaid McKinnon // ASU senior first baseman
On finishing the tournament with a celebration on the field:
It was an awesome feeling. I've never been able to be part of a dog pile on the field before. It really sums what we've been working towards all year. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done in baseball. That was very special.
 
On coming back from Tuesday night's loss to Tarleton State:
We knew that we were going to come back and have a great game. We were confident the whole time.
 
 
Michael Lange // ASU junior pitcher
On his performance against Tarleton State on Wednesday:
I was really just trying to throw strikes and keep them off the board. I knew that our bats were going to come alive and get the job done for us. I just had to do my part and get the ball over the plate.
 
On the Rams scoring five runs in the second inning:
That was a great feeling for me when Tate hit that home run. That's when I knew we had it.
 
 
Toby Semler // ASU senior third baseman
On finishing the tournament with a celebration on the field:
It was a lot of fun. We approached the game with a lot of confidence and knew that we were going to win. I was at the bottom of that pile, so it kind of hurt.
 
On the Rams scoring five runs in the second inning:
That really calmed us down and slowed down everything. We were really relaxed from that inning on and knew that we were in control of the game.
 
 
Doug Snover // ASU senior second baseman
On finishing the tournament with a celebration on the field:
I was hoping that we could have won it yesterday, but our confidence was still very high coming into today. We knew that we were going to play well and then we got that big lead. Celebrating on your home field is the best feeling you can have as a baseball player.
 
On Michael Lange's performance in Wednesday's win over Tarleton State:
Lange has been tremendously consistent all year. I'm so proud of him. We played in junior college together and I knew that he was going to come in here this season and do a great job for our team. He keeps an incredible pace out there that keeps the game going and the defense ready to go. He attacks the zone and never backs down from anything.

 
Lee Neumann // ASU junior center fielder
On finishing the tournament with a celebration on the field:
I've never won anything like this in my life. This team is very special. We all play great together and made winning this tournament one of our goals from the very beginning of the season. It's an incredible feeling right now.
 
On the Rams scoring five runs in the second inning:
We felt back in our comfort zone in that inning. I'm disappointed that we didn't score more after that, but it got the job done. I always want to beat teams by 30.
 
 
Zach Cohen // ASU senior short stop
On finishing the tournament with a celebration on the field:
As soon as we scored one run I knew that we would all settle in and start hitting the way we have been all season. It was great bouncing back from last night.
 
On Michael Lange's performance in Wednesday's win over Tarleton State:
Lange is a stud. He goes out there every game and just throws strikes. He mixes it up all over the zone and did another tremendous job for our team.

 
Kevin Brooks // ASU head coach
On the goals remaining after winning the LSC Baseball Championship tournament title:
Our next goal is to go out and win the first game of the regional tournament and then keep this thing going.