Angelo State baseball wins third-straight Lone Star Conference Tournament
Top-seeded Angelo State beat fourth-seeded Lubbock Christian University 14-4 to earn their third-straight Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium.
The Rams (47-8) got a rematch of the tournament's first game against the Chaps, who beat St. Edwards in the first game of the day after weather issues delayed it from Friday night. Coming off the doubleheader, the Chaps put the Rams in their first deficit of the tournament with an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning and taking the lead back 3-2 lead in the third. In the bottom of the third, however, the Rams scored eight runs to take a seven-run lead they did not give up.
Angelo State's Austin Beck was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player for the second straight year, which is the first time in LSC tournament history. Multiple other Rams received All-Tournament honors, including Jordan Williams, Justin Harris, Jacob Guerrero and Kade Bragg.
“If you look up and down (our lineup) we’ve got nine who can go in there,” Angelo State coach Kevin Brooks said. “…So really proud of the group as a whole and it’s a different guy every day (who can step up).”
The Rams will wait for the NCAA Division II selection show to determine the field for the South Central Regional which will be announced Sunday night at 10 p.m.
Saturday’s highlights
The Chaps struck first and took the lead at 1-0 in the top of the first inning and the Rams answered with a Harris home run that brought in two runs in the second. Lubbock Christian answered with a two-run home run of their own to take the lead back at 3-2 in the third. The Chaps did not lead again after an eight-run third inning by the Rams highlighted by a Beck three-run home run and another three-run shot by Jackson Hardy a few batters later. After the inning, the Rams led 10-3. Kamden Kelton added a solo home run in the fifth and Jacob Guerrero secured the win with a double that brought Harris in for the tournament's final run, sealing the victory for the Rams with a final score of 14-4.
Saturday’s stars
Jackson Berry started the game on the mound for the Rams tossing five innings and giving up three runs and four hits. Caleb Heuertz threw two innings in relief with six strikeouts and allowing one run. Teel closed the game for the Rams pitching one inning with two strikeouts and no hits. Guerrero went 4 for 5 with three runs and an RBI, Beck went 2 for 4 with one run and four RBI and Kelton was 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI.
They said it
Jordan Williams reflecting on his six years playing baseball for Angelo State: “This place has done way more for me than I’ve ever even imagined. I’m just so grateful to be a part of this. It’s getting bittersweet because I’m trying not to think about the end by any means (because) we got a lot of baseball left, but it’s not going to be easy to go away from this.”
Coach Kevin Brooks talking about how the Rams bullpen improved from last year: “We felt like that was a need. We went out and coach Foster, you cannot emphasize enough the job he’s done recruiting and coaching them up as well…Obviously, our pitching staff as a whole is a major strength of this team.”
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Angelo State baseball wins Lone Star Conference Tournament
