SERIES SCHEDULE @ Wilder Park in Canyon: Friday, 6 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m. (doubleheader); Sunday, 1 p.m.

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SAN ANGELO – The two teams atop the Lone Star Conference baseball standings through the first two weeks of conference play will meet this weekend when No. 10 Angelo State travels to face No. 17 West Texas A&M in a four-game series at Wilder Park in Canyon.
 
The Rams (16-5, 6-2 LSC) come into this weekend hitting .310 as a team with 33 doubles, seven triples, seven home runs and 162 singles. ASU leads the LSC with 48 stolen bases, while its opponents have stolen only 10 bases against them. The team has a 2.90 pitching staff ERA with 171 strikeouts and only 56 walks through 176.2 innings of work. WT (16-4, 6-2 LSC) is second in the conference with a .320 batting average and lead the LSC with a 2.01 pitching staff ERA. WT is coming off a 3-1 series win over Eastern New Mexico in Portales, N.M. last weekend.
 
ASU and WT will open their four-game series at 6 p.m. on Friday before playing a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and the series finale at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Rams are 9-4 on the road this season and are 29-8 all-time against the Buffs and 12-4 in games played in Canyon. The Buffs are 8-1 at home this season.

In other LSC action this weekend, Tarleton State (13-7, 4-4 LSC) travels to play at Cameron (6-12, 1-7 LSC) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (11-7, 5-3 LSC) plays Eastern New Mexico (12-8, 2-6 LSC) in a four-game series in Portales, N.M. The Rams will have a 13-game home stand following this weekend, starting with a four-game series next weekend against the Javelinas at Foster Field. 
 

PROBABLE STARTERS Game One ASU: Jake Feckley, RHP (4-0, 1.67 ERA, 32K, 8BB, 27H, 37.2 IP) WT: Dylan James, RHP (4-0, 1.03 ERA, 47K, 5BB, 22H, 35.0 IP)

Game Two ASU: Jason Zgardowski, RHP (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 35K, 4BB, 25H, 30.1 IP) WT: Scott Cone, LHP (3-0, 2.86 ERA, 29K, 6BB, 22H, 28.1 IP)

Game Three ASU: Blake Bass, RHP (2-0, 0.42 ERA, 18K, 2BB, 14H, 21.2 IP) WT: Joshua Weyker, RHP (3-2, 1.41 ERA, 28K, 10BB, 22H, 32.0 IP)

Game Four ASU: Dillon Becker, RHP (3-2, 4.86 ERA, 16K, 8BB, 16H, 16.2 IP) WT: Ashton Sivigliano, RHP (2-0, 0.74 ERA, 37K, 8BB, 16H, 24.1 IP)

At the Plate
Hunter Choate enters this weekend on an 11-game hitting streak and was named the LSC Hitter of the Week on Tuesday after going 8-for-16 with four RBI last weekend against Tarleton State. A sophomore third baseman, Choate leads Angelo State with a .385 batting average with 24 singles, five double and one home run. His solo home run to left field last Friday in the series opener was the first of his career. He currently has 12 RBI and has scored 10 runs. His batting average ranks sixth in the conference while his 30 hits (78 at-bats) rank second in the LSC. He had 35 hits last season as a redshirt freshman (129 at-bats).

Tyler Coughenour leads ASU and the LSC with 15 stolen bases this season and currently ranks fifth in the nation. He has been hit by 10 pitches this season which ranks second in the country. Coughenour is hitting .371 and leads the Rams with three home runs and also has six doubles, two triples and 13 RBI. He was named the LSC Hitter of the Week after the first week of the season after going 4-for-8 at McMurry. Coughenour, a senior who transferred from Wichita State last season, has 40 stolen bases on 46 attempts in his career and has 84 hits entering this weekend's series against WT.

David Goggin leads the Rams with 15 RBI this season and has 21 singles, four double and a triple. He is hitting .342 in his sophomore season after earning LSC Freshman of the Year last season. Goggin, one of four Minnesota natives on the ASU roster, went to Red Wing HS before joining the Rams last season. Goggin has hit safely in 18 of 21 games played this season and has also taken nine walks. He has played the majority of his time in left field, but has also seen time in right field and at catcher. He also played at second base at Lubbock Christian when needed.

Brett David comes into this weekend leading the Rams and the conference with eight doubles. A junior from El Paso, he is hitting .362 with 17 singles to go along with his eight doubles. He has also provided 12 RBI in 15 of 19 games played. He has played at third base, second base, first base and has been penciled into the lineup as a designated hitter this season.

Derek Tyner, in his first season at ASU after transferring from Midland College, is second on the team with a .377 batting average. Tyner has been used as a utility player, being in the lineup as a designated hitter, outfielder and first baseman. Tyner has 24 singles and two doubles and had a nine-game hitting streak going before it was broken up last Saturday. He went 2-for-3 on Sunday in the series finale and walked once to reach base.

Nehwon Norkeh leads the LSC with three triples and 23 runs scored entering the weekend and is second, behind Coughenour, with 13 stolen bases. His seven triples rank seventh in the nation and his runs scored 19th entering the weekend. A freshman from Minneapolis, Norkeh hit his second home run of the season last Sunday against Tarleton State and enters this weekend hitting .272 with 16 singles, one double, three triples and two home runs.

Cameron Massengill put together an impressive situational hitting weekend against Tarleton State, driving in the winning run last Friday with a single to right field, followed with a bunt single that scored the game-winning run in Saturday's second game and then had a sacrifice fly to give ASU a 4-3 lead in a 6-3 win. Massengill is hitting .263 with 15 singles. Christian Summers is second on the team and sixth in the conference with 14 RBI and enters this weekend hitting .227 with four doubles, one triple and a home run. Reggie Rodriguez had five hits (.385 average) against TSU and enters this weekend with nine hits and six RBI. Summers, who was selected in the 19th round of the Major League Baseball draft last summer by the San Diego Padres, is a career .307 hitter with 46 RBI in 74 games played at ASU after transferring from the University of Texas. Rodriguez is a .296 career hitter for the Rams and was selected to the LSC second-team last season.   
 
On the Mound
Jake Feckley (4-0) is the all-time winningest pitcher in Angelo State baseball history with a 19-8 career record and is now three strikeouts away from passing Kenny Elkind (2008-09) for second all-time in strikeouts. Feckley has 144 strikeouts in his career entering this weekend and has 32 this season in 37.2 innings of work. A senior from Wylie, Feckley has a 1.67 ERA this season and has been named the LSC Pitcher of the Week twice this season. He will be making his seventh start of the season on Friday. He is currently fourth in strikeouts in the conference and is tied with Dylan James (WT's Friday starter) for the conference lead with wins.

Jason Zgardowski (2-0) has recorded 23 strikeouts in his past three starts and enters this weekend with a 2.08 ERA through 30.1 innings of work. He is currently third in the conference with 35 strikeouts this season and will be making his fifth start and seventh appearance of the season. He threw a complete-game win over Colorado School of Mines earlier this season by going 7.0 innings with nine strikeouts. He is coming off a no-decision against Tarleton State where he went 7.0 innings with five strikeouts and allowed only one run. ASU lost the game in extra-innings.

Blake Bass (2-0) was named the LSC Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday after throwing a complete-game shutout win against Tarleton State in 9.0 innings of work in a game that was scheduled for seven innings. It was Bass's second straight complete-game win after he went with six strikeouts in a victory over Cameron to start conference play. A junior right-hander, Bass is the tallest player on the ASU roster at 6-foot-7. He enters this weekend leading the conference with a 0.42 ERA through 21.2 innings of work where he has allowed only three runs. He has 18 strikeouts and has walked only two.

Dillon Becker (3-2) will be making his third start and 10th appearance in Sunday's finale against West Texas A&M. A sophomore right-hander, Becker is coming off a win last Sunday against Tarleton State where he struck out seven in 5.1 innings. Becker has 16 strikeouts in 16.1 innings of work.

Graylon Brown (2-1) is second in the conference with four saves and is coming off a weekend where he earned a win and a save. Brown leads the team with 10 appearances this season and has made 29 appearances in his career. A sophomore from Brownwood, Brown has recorded 19 strikeouts in 24.2 innings of work this season and 45 strikeouts in 58.0 innings in his career. He is currently 18th in the nation with his four saves this season.
 
WEST TEXAS A&M BUFF REPORT (16-4, 6-2 LSC)
The Buffs have opened LSC play with 3-1 series wins over Texas A&M-Kingsville and Eastern New Mexico and are hitting .364 in those series. WT's pitching staff has limited opponents to a .212 average through eight LSC games and have outscored LSC opponents 57-22. Tyler McKnight leads the Buffs with a .429 batting average and six doubles, while Dylan Dyson is hitting .411 with three doubles and 11 RBI. Nick Chapman is at .408 with five doubles, David Hebert (.370) with three doubles and two triples and Aaron Blair is hitting .344  with a team-leading 16 RBI.