From CU Sports Info.
Don Vieth, Sports Information Director
SAN ANGELO, Texas – Cody Knight had three hits and Bryan Belote was one out away from a complete game to give the Aggies a 5-2 win over Angelo State in the opening round of the Lone Star Conference Tournament on Thursday evening.
The Aggies were playing in their first postseason appearance in five years as the bottom seed picked up a pair of go-ahead runs in the sixth over tournament host and LSC regular season champions Angelo State. Despite being the bottom seed in the field, CU has only lost once in the opening game of the LSC Tournament.
Belote (5-3) only struck out one but used 89 pitches in the winning effort; the CU senior nearly went the distance but a walk and a two out double that popped out of the glove of Nate Hale in the outfield made the Aggies go to the bullpen. Jackson Tetreault came in and forced a full count ground out to third to pick up his first save.
Knight pulled through with two runs and had three of CU’s eight hits against the Rams to move the Aggies to 31-19 overall; Angelo State had five hits and their record fell to 32-19.
Cameron got going in the opening frame with Hate doubling to right field and after an out Knight put runners on the corners with a single to right. Cody Bower plated Hale in for CU’s first run with a ground out to second and Knight advancing a bag. Bronson Pulgados followed up with the Aggies’ second double of the inning to score Knight to go up 2-0 on the Rams.
After a scoreless inning, the Rams opened the third with a walk and an infield bunt single to put two on and no outs. Angelo State dropped down a successful sac bunt to move the runners up a base before they singled through the right side for a run. Now with a runner on third and one out, ASU hit a sac fly to tie the game at two each.
The Aggies pulled back ahead in the sixth thanks to back-to-back singles from Knight and Bower. An ASU passed ball put them up to scoring positron but Pulgados with no outs didn’t hit the ball far enough to for the sac fly. Angelo State loaded the bases intentionally with an out on the scoreboard for Jorden Fields who grounded into what would have been a double play but a throwing error to first allowed CU to plate two runs in and retake the lead.
An inning later, CU picked up their fifth run and pulled head by three with a pair of outs on the scoreboard after Knight had his third hit of the game to plate Hale in from second.
Cameron will advance and face West Texas A&M on Friday at noon with the winner advancing to the LSC Championship game; Angelo State will move to the losers’ bracket to face Texas A&M-Kingsville at 3:30 p.m.