SAN ANGELO – Angelo State senior Blake Bass has been selected as the Lone Star Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year and the Rams are predicted to finish fourth in the conference standings according to the preseason baseball poll which was released on Thursday.

The Rams, who are coming off a 27-26 record in 2014, open their season on Sunday, Feb. 1 with a doubleheader against McMurry in Abilene before hosting the War Hawks in their home opener at 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 2 at Foster Field. ASU has not had a losing season in program history and has advanced to the NCAA regional tournament in two of the past three seasons.

"I feel good about our team going into the season," said ASU head coach Kevin Brooks, who has led the Rams to a 369-211 record, four regional tournament appearances and a trip to the 2007 Division II College World Series. "I really like the way they're going about their business during practice. I think they are a group which can play a high level consistently throughout a season. I think we have a chance to do some good things this season."

Bass finished his junior season with an impressive 2.72 ERA, 39 strikeouts and a 4-4 record in his first season with the Rams. A Lubbock native, Bass started his collegiate career at Texas Tech but did not pitch until arriving at ASU. While he played some at first base and also was inserted into the lineup at designated hitter in 2014, Bass emerged as a dominant starting pitcher and found himself as one of the top hurlers in the conference. He was named to the LSC first team and was an all-region selection for his work on the mound and has continued to develop as a pitcher throughout the summer pitching for the Alexandria Blue Anchors of the Northwoods League and in the fall back at ASU.  

"Bass is a really good pitcher," Brooks said. "It's amazing where he is at after one year of focusing on pitching and there's no telling where he'll be after another year."

Prognostications from coaches, sports information personnel and selected media members has Texas A&M-Kingsville as the preseason pick to repeat as LSC champions, while West Texas A&M is second, Tarleton State is fourth and Eastern New Mexico and Cameron round out the standings before the season's first pitch is thrown. The Javelinas, who went 38-20 last season, were picked first on eight ballots while WT and Angelo State each received four first-place votes. The Texans received one first-place vote and finished with 69 total points which was five points ahead of the Rams who last won the conference championship in 2012.

The Rams return six positional players who gained experience last season in Cameron Massengill, Derek Tyner, David Goggin, Brett David, Hunter Choate and Nehwon Norkeh. Massengill led the team with a .323 batting average and also added 21 RBI in an all-conference season at catcher, while Tyner hit .321 and also had 21 RBI. Goggin, who was an Academic All-American, finished his sophomore season with a .308 batting average and led the Rams with 34 RBI and Norkeh led the team with 20 stolen bases and hit four home runs, seven doubles and three triples in his freshman season. David is the team's lone four-year senior this season and is coming off a junior season where he hit nine doubles, two triples and two home runs and also had 28 RBI.

ASU also returns experience pitchers in Graylon Brown, Bass, Dillon Becker, Trae Davis, Jamie MacLean and Miles Gully. Brown led the Rams with a 6-4 overall record and four saves last season as a sophomore and also had 41 strikeouts and a 3.74 ERA in a team-leading 25 appearances. Becker finished his sophomore season with a 3-3 record where he made six starts and 10 relief appearances. Becker had 35 strikeouts, while Davis had 14 strikeouts and a 1-0 record before an injury ended his season.

The Angelo State roster is bolstered by the return of pitcher Bryce Zak and the additions of Paxton DeLaGarza, Jarryd Klemm, Steve Naemark, Jayden O'Dell, Cody Semler, J.C. Snyder, Hunter Spear, Derek Steffek, Sam Kohler, Michael Urquidi, Elias Aguirre, Nick Barron, Garrison Gibson, Joe Hauser, Evan Moore, Shea Nixon, Seth Owen, Garrett Powers and Kellen Rholl along with a year of experience in the program from Hayden Elrod, Matt Shannon, Danny McInnis and Houston Droel.

ENMU's Matthew Burks was tabbed LSC Preseason Player of the Year. A senior outfielder from Vacaville, Calif., Burks led the league in slugging percentage (.627) and home runs (10) last season in addition to hitting .384 with 71 hits, 50 runs, 32 RBI and 11 stolen bases.  The All-LSC first teamer also finished in the top 10 in school history for a season in home runs, total bases and hit by pitches.

The 2015 season starts January 31 with LSC teams playing a 10-week schedule with a four-game series and three-game series against every other team.  Each four-game series shall consist of a 9-inning game Friday, a 7x7 doubleheader Saturday and 9-inning contest Sunday, and each three-game series shall consist of a 9-inning game Friday and a 7x9 doubleheader Saturday.

The overall LSC Champion will be the team(s) with the best winning percentage in regular-season conference games, while the winner of the postseason championship will be recognized as LSC Tournament Champion and receive the league's automatic qualification into NCAA postseason.  The championship will be played May 7-8-9, at the No. 1 seed.