Angelo State won its last seven games, including a 6-5 victory over Rollins to make history with the program’s first NCAA Division II championship on Saturday June 10. According to the athletics department, the Rams 56-9 record is both an ASU record and Lone Star Conference record for wins in a season. The championship title is a first for any ASU men’s program in the school’s NCAA era.
After a scoreless tie through two innings, the Rams scored first in the bottom of the third inning on a single up the middle from Jacob Guerrero. Rollins tied it with a double in the fourth before ASU tacked on two in the fifth.
Guerrero hit a two-run home run to deep left to give his team a 3-1 lead.
Still leading 3-2 after six, the Rams got some insurance in the seventh and eighth innings with an RBI double from Tripp Clark and an RBI single from Justin Harris to push the lead to 6-2.
Rollins would give ASU a scare in the top of the ninth with three runs to cut it 6-5 and had runners on second and third before Kade Bragg stuck out Cam Meehan swinging on a 1-2 pitch.
Bragg, who got the save, attended Ennis HS and Weatherford College.
Aaron Munson improved to 11-2 from the mound after allowing two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He allowed one walk and struck out four. Austin Teel replaced him in the sixth and allowed no runs and one hit in 1 2/3 innings.
Guerrero, a senior, played at Colleyville Heritage and helped the Panthers to the Class 5A state championship in 2019. He was a three time first team all district selection. Before coming to Angelo State, he played at Sam Houston State and Weatherford College.
Guerrero ends the season with a 0.412 average, 93 hits, 24 doubles, five triples, seven home runs, 57 RBIs and 76 runs scored in 60 games played with 57 starts. He led the team in batting, hits and was third in RBIs.
ASU also beat Southern New Hampshire twice (2-1, 5-3) and North Greenville (6-2) in the D2 College World Series. The Rams went 3-0 to win the Lone Star Conference during the second week of May and went 3-1 in the South Central Regional, winning 8-5 in an elimination game against UT-Tyler to advance. The Rams then swept Colorado Mesa 8-2 and 6-0 to earn a spot at the College World Series.
Along with Guerrero and Bragg, ASU has 11 from DFW on its rosters including Austin Beck (Allen), Tayten Tredaway (Justin Northwest), Thomas Cain (Flower Mound), Luke Spencer (Arlington Martin), Juan Cantua-Linnear (North Forney), Seth Foster (Lindsay), Hunter Holt (Rockwall), Grady Moore (Weatherford) and Tate Sloan (Rockwall).
Beck started 64 of 65 games and had hit 0.338 with 78 hits, 13 doubles, six home runs, 50 RBIs and 80 runs scored. Cain started 63 of 63 games and had 65 hits, 50 RBIs and 60 runs across. Tredaway drove in 23 runs.
Bragg went 15-1 this season with a 1.20 ERA in 18 appearances.
Spencer made three appearances for the Rams.
