CANYON, Texas – The #24 Angelo State Rams held off a late comeback effort by the #5 Buffaloes on Friday night as the defending National Champions picked up a 11-8 Lone Star Conference victory over West Texas A&M at Foster Field in San Angelo, Texas.
 
The Rams got on the board in the home half of the first inning on a two-run homerun to center field by Conagher Sands with two outs followed by a Tayten Treadaway solo shot off the scoreboard in right center for the 3-0 lead.
 
WT pushed across their first run of the game in the top of the third as Ryan Camacho grounded out to third base with one out to score Elijah Batista to make it 3-1. ASU used the long ball again in the home half of the frame on a leadoff solo shot by Tripp Clark followed later in the frame by a squeeze bunt from Kamden Kelton that scored Sands and a Brandon Wilhoite two-run single for the 8-1 lead.
 
The Buffs cut into the lead in the top of the fourth inning on a Rodric Black RBI single to center field that score Dylan Fesperman to make it 8-2. WT continued to battle back in the fifth as Kory Schmidt singled to left to drive in a pair followed by a Fesperman two-run homerun to left center with one out to cut the lead to 8-6.
 
Angelo State manufactured an insurance run in the home half of the fifth as a leadoff single by Kelton was followed by a pair of sacrifice bunts before a successful squeeze play by Justin Harris made it 9-6. The Buffs kept chipping away in the sixth on a Schmidt RBI double to the warning track in center field followed later by a Jovan Camacho pinch-hit RBI single to make it 9-8.
 
The Rams responded in the bottom of the sixth with two outs as Kelton doubled to the wall in center field to drive in a pair for the 11-8 lead. 
 
Reese Miller picked up the loss (4-3) for the Buffs, allowing eight earned runs on eight hits with one walk and four strikeouts in his 2.1 innings of work.
 
The Buffs and Rams continue their series tomorrow afternoon with first pitch of a doubleheader scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in San Angelo.