SAN ANGELO – The bracket is set and the Angelo State baseball team is ready for the fifth appearance in the Division II College World Series in program history at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

The Rams earned the fifth seed in the tournament and will take on No. 4 Southern New Hampshire in game three of the tournament on Sunday, June 5, at 12:30 p.m. CST. The Rams and Penmen are the only returning teams from last year’s tournament. North Greenville earned the top seed followed by Point Loma as the two-seed, No. 3 Southern Arkansas, No. 6 Rollins, No. 7 Illinois Springfield, and No. 8 West Chester.

This will be the first meeting between the Penmen and the Rams.

The Penmen advanced to Cary out of the East Region, defeating Molloy for their second straight regional title. SNHU is 46-10 overall on the season and went 21-3 in the Northeast-10 conference before going on to claim the conferment tournament title.

SNHU holds the sixth-best team ERA in the country at 3.46 and has allowed the 12^th fewest hits per nine innings at 7.96. Angus McCloskey is the top starter for the Penmen, holding a 9-1 overall record in 12 starts. He has a 2.52 ERA through 71 1/3 innings while striking out 81 batters. Josh Roberge is next with a 3.19 ERA and 95 strikeouts while going 9-4 on the season.

At the plate, the Penmen are led by Nick Schwartz who has a .406 batting average along with 44 RBIs and nine home runs. Sam Henrie has a team-high 53 RBIs while batting .335 on the year. The Penmen have stolen 98 bases on the season with Danniel Rivera leading the way with 32 stolen bases.

The Rams have had one of their most successful seasons to date, collecting 50 wins while securing the Lone Star Conference regular-season title, the LSC tournament title, and the South Central Regional Championship.

ASU finished 38-10 in conference play to earn the top seed in the conference tournament before sweeping the competition to earn the fifth tournament championship in program history. With two wins over West Texas A&M in the process, the Rams earned the No. 1-seed in the South Central Regional, hosting MSU Denver and Texas A&M – Kingsville in section A of the regional. After a win over the Roadrunners, the Rams took two of three games against the Javelinas to advance to supers. ASU fell in game one against Colorado Mesa before bouncing back to win two games to punch their ticket to Cary.

This is the second time in program history the Rams have advanced to the college world series in back-to-back years. ASU also made consecutive appearances in 2015 and 2016.

The Rams have scored more runs than any other team in the country with 629 runs on the season. Their average of 10.7 runs per game also leads Division II.

ASU is third in DII in batting average (.362), has also recorded the second-most hits (697), and ranks first in doubles with 162.

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SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State University Athletic Department today announced the hiring of Vinay Patel to lead the ASU Rams men’s basketball program as its new head coach.

Patel brings 17 years of coaching experience to ASU, most recently serving as the head coach at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, where he led the Rangers to a 20-9 overall record and one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA Division II last season.

“We are so excited to have Coach Patel join Angelo State as the next head men’s basketball coach, said ASU Director of Athletics James Reid. “Vinay brings a wealth of experience and success to the university and program, including time spent in the Lone Star Conference. Coach Patel’s background and commitment to excellence make him a great fit for our Athletic Department and university. We are excited to welcome him and his family into the Ram Fam!”

Prior to NWOSU, Patel spent four seasons at Oklahoma City University and compiled an overall record of 82-42. He led the Stars to a Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament championship in 2018-19 and a share of the regular-season championship in 2017-18. The Stars advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NAIA Tournament two years in a row while making the tournament all four years.

Patel was named the Sooner Athletic Conference and Oklahoma Sports Net Coach of the Year in 2018 when the Stars finished with a 24-9 mark and ranked No. 8 in the NAIA.

“I am honored and humbled to be given the opportunity to be the next head coach at Angelo State University,” Patel said. “I would like to thank President Ronnie Hawkins and Athletic Director James Reid for allowing me to lead such a storied basketball program. This is a dream come true for me! My family and I are excited to be a part of the community of San Angelo and the Ram Family!” Emphasizing success both on the court and in the classroom, Patel’s squads at NWOSU and OCU both recorded the highest team GPA in program history. He also coached four NAIA All-Americans and the SAC Player of the Year at OCU while eight former players have gone on to sign professional contracts.

No stranger to the Lone Star Conference, Patel started his coaching career at West Texas A&M University as a graduate assistant in 2005 before working his way up to associate head coach in 2013. In eight seasons on staff, Patel helped lead the Buffs to a 164-93 record and five NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.

“I would also like to thank everyone at Northwestern Oklahoma State for the past three years,” Patel added. “I was fortunate to work with a special group of people daily, and they are the reason for this incredible opportunity. I am excited to be back in the Lone Star Conference and am ready to get to work!”

A native of Shamrock, Texas, Patel received his Master of Science degree in sports and exercise science from WTAMU in 2007, and he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise and sports science from Texas Tech University.

An introductory press conference will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 2, in the VIP Room of the ASU Junell Center to welcome Coach Patel and his family

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SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State women’s basketball team, returning to action after a two-week layoff due to game postponements, dominated Midwestern State, 98-72, to pick up their first conference win of the season.

The win marks the Rambelles’ first home conference win since February 20, 2020, against Texas A&M-Kingsville; it is also the first conference win for head coach Alesha Ellis.

The 98 points for the Rambelles is the most points scored in a game since December 21, 2019, when the Rambelles put 99 points past Cameron on that day. The 98 points is also tied for the fourth-most points scored by an LSC team this season.

The Rambelles dominated in all facets of the game: they shot a season-high 54.2 percent from the field, including shooting 57.9 percent in the second quarter and 75 percent in the fourth quarter. They made 39 field goals on the night, the most any LSC school has made in a single game this season and assisted 28 times in this game, also a conference-best this season.

The Rambelles also out-rebounded the Mustangs 41-28, the fewest the Rambelles have allowed in a game this season; the Rambelles forced the Mustangs into 25 turnovers, recording a season-high 19 steals in the process.

The largest lead for the Mustangs was seven points with under a minute left in the first quarter; the Rambelles would then go on a 20-4 run until the 4:13 mark in the second quarter to secure a nine-point lead, a lead that they kept building on for the rest of the game.

Seven Rambelles scored in double-digits on the evening, led by Blakely Gerber’s 17 points. The Wayland Baptist transfer was perfect from two-point range in seven attempts, also adding in five assists and three steals.

Sawyer Lloyd and Madeline Stephens both scored 16 points, with Stephens recording her second double-double on the season, grabbing 11 rebounds. Lloyd assisted a game-high eight times, also recording six steals and four rebounds.

Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant shot 7-8 from the field, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals.

Payton Brown, Ashlynn Sharp, and Samantha Rocha scored ten points apiece; Brown assisted seven times while Sharp recorded four steals and Rocha grabbed seven rebounds.

All 11 players dressed for the Rambelles ended up seeing action as well, with Brighton Adams and Neely Woodscoring three and two points, respectively, while Kyla Cobb and Taylor Moravcik also played for the Rambelles on the evening.

The Rambelles improve to 4-9 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. They return to action on Saturday against Texas Woman’s, with that game scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

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RICHARDSON, Texas – Following a first win of the season for the Angelo State women’s basketball team, the Rambelles’ Madeline Stephens has been named the LSC Offensive Player of the Week, the conference announced this afternoon.

The Lubbock native earns the award after posting her fifth-career double-double and her first double-double of the season in the Rambelles’ victory over St. Edward’s on Saturday in Brownwood. Stephens shot 7-9 from the field and was perfect from the free-throw line in five attempts to score 19 points and grab ten rebounds.

On the season, the second-year guard has started all ten games for the Rambelles, averaging 6.7 points per game and 8.9 rebounds per contest. She is shooting 53 percent from the floor and is tied for the team lead for blocks with five.

Stephens becomes the first player under head coach Alesha Ellis to win a weekly award and is the first Rambelle to win a weekly conference honor since Sawyer Lloyd and De’Anira Moore swept the defensive and offensive player of the week honors back on December 9^th, 2019.

Stephens and the Rambelles are back in action inside the Junell Center tomorrow against Huston-Tillotson, with that game scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m.

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SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State football team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II National Championship on Saturday, defeating No. 21 Nebraska – Kearney 20-7 at LeGrand Stadium at 1^st Community Credit Union Field.
 
With the victory, the Rams have now won seven games in a row, setting a new consecutive win streak in the Division II era as they improve to 11-2 overall on the season.
 
After a scoreless quarter and a half of play, the Rams got on the board first as Alfred Grear took off for a 63-yard touchdown run with 7:48 to play in the first half. Grear finished as the leading rusher in the game, totaling 152 yards rushing while averaging 9.5 yards per carry.
 
Asa Fuller finished the second quarter with two field goals, hitting one from 24 yards and another from 45 yards with time expiring as the Rams took a 13-0 lead into the halftime break.
 
ASU defense held the fifth-best rushing offense in the country to 117 yards and the 10^th best offense to only 203 yards of total offense. UNK’s quarterback TJ Davis ended with 86 yards passing and 12 yards rushing on the day.
 
Hunter Kyle was the leading tackler for the Rams with nine tackles on the day while Daron Allman finished with six tackles and 2.5 sacks while Weston Bauer collected seven tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss, and a sack.
 
Angelo State extended their lead in the third quarter as the Rams drove 75 yards on nine plays before Zach Bronkhorst completed a five-yard touchdown pass to Dagen Dunham to go up 20-0.
 
Bronkhorst finished with 172 yards on 15-of-30 attempts while adding 21 yards on the ground. CJ Odom carried the ball for 48 yards on the ground while Kel Williams was the top receiver for ASU with three catches for 71 yards.
 
After an interception gave UNK the ball deep in ASU territory, the Lopers scored their lone touchdown of the game off a five-yard run with 6:21 to go in the third quarter.
 
UNK nearly scored again in the fourth before ASU’s defense stepped up once again, forcing a turnover on days to seal the win.
 
G’Karri McCoy, Leddy French II, and Darrick Dickerson Jr., each finished with five tackles while Josh Quinton added four tackles with 1.5 tackles for a loss.
 
The Rams will travel for the quarterfinal round as they take on top-seeded Colorado School of Mines on Saturday, Dec. 4, with a kickoff time to be announced.

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SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State football team jumped up in the NCAA Division II Regional Rankings on Monday, landing at No. 2 in Super Region Four.
 
The Rams held the fifth spot heading into their game against Texas A&M – Commerce, winning 30-3 to jump three spots in the rankings. The top seven teams at the end of the season will advance to the playoffs with the two through four spots hosting in the first round.
 
Colorado School of Mines holds the No. 1 spot while Augustana (SD) sits at No. 3 followed by Bemidji State at No. 4. Western Colorado, Central Washington, and Minnesota Duluth round out the top seven.

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ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Angelo State football team overcame adversity on the road, climbing back late against Central Washington to defeat the Wildcats 14-9 with a last-minute touchdown on Saturday night in Tomlinson Stadium.

With the win, the Rams improve to 3-1 overall on the season while Central Washington drops to 2-2.

Down 9-7, Nathaniel Omayebu III collected the ball one yard out of the end zone before pushing his way through for a score to take the lead with 48 seconds remaining in the ball game.

Angelo State’s defense controlled the game throughout the night, holding the Wildcats out of the end zone while allowing only 202 total yards off offense including 88 yards on the ground. The Rams have yet to give up a 100-yards rushing in their first four games of the season.

After a scoreless first quarter of play, the Wildcats got on the board first, hitting a 21-yard field goal to go up 3-0 after the Rams held CWU on a goal-line stand.

Late in the second quarter, the Rams drove 55 yards on nine plays to score their first touchdown of the night as Austin Landry took a direct snap before running five yards to give the Rams their first lead of the night.

Omayebu led the Rams rushing on the night, collecting 100 yards off 24 attempts with a score. Kason Phillips shared the load in his second game for ASU, rushing for 36 yards while Landry finished with 13 yards and a touchdown.

The Rams stepped up again on defense in the third quarter, forcing three straight incompletions to inside the 12-yard line as the Wildcats kicked another field goal to make it a one-point game.

In his first ASU start, Hagen Garvin finished with nine completions for 130 yards with no interceptions while Landry finished with a team-high 38 receiving yards off two catches. Kellen Pachot added three catches for 35 yards and Phillips added 23 yards receiving.

The Wildcats took the lead with their third field goal of the game, hitting a 40-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter of play.

In ASU’s final drive of the night, Garvin completed a 14-yard pass to Rasheen Green before connecting on a 31-yard pass to Pachot at Central Washington’s two-yard line to set up the game-winning score.

Central Washington threw a final hail marry attempt that was picked off by ASU’s Andrew Pitts to close out the game.

Josh Quinton led the Rams in total tackles with nine followed by Leddy French II with eight. Darrick Dickerson Jr.and Hunter Kyle each tallied seven tackles. Simon Maxey and Quinton each collected a sack while Devin Washington added an interception.

The Rams will return home next weekend as they welcome in Western New Mexico for a Lone Star Conference matchup on Saturday, Oct. 2 at LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field.

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WICHITA FALLS – The Belles, playing their first conference road match of the season, were able to come out on top against a stingy Mustangs squad, despite the home team taking the second set from the Belles. 

The Belles outkilled the hosts 51-42 and hit .254 on the night, slightly above their season average while holding the Mustangs to .123 hitting percentage, slightly below the season average for Belles’ opponents.  

The lead changed hands multiple times in the first set, before the Mustangs led set two start to finish. The Belles responded by leading set three wire-to-wire as well as having just as firm of a grip on the fourth and final set.  

Elsa Lamphere led all players with a season-high 15 kills for the sophomore. She hit .294 for the match, one of four Belles to hit over .250 on the night.  

Delaney Fuller was not too far off from her teammate, recording 13 kills and hitting .296.  

Kailyn Gilbreath led all players with 26 assists, as well as not committing an attacking error as she buried seven kills. Teammate Jaedyn Woolley added 14 assists of her own off the bench.  

Baleigh Allen recorded seven total blocks, including two solo blocks, and libero Chloe Patton accounted for 40 percent of all Belles’ digs, with the senior being responsible for 16 of the Belles’ 40 digs.  

The Belles improve to 10-2 on the season overall and 3-0 in conference play; they are back in action tomorrow afternoon in Lawton, Oklahoma versus Cameron.  

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SAN ANGELO – As the Panamanian Women’s National Team prepares for the start of World Cup Qualifying in November, the Belles’ Gabby Villagrand receives another call-up to play in a set of friendlies against Costa Rica at Costa Rica’s La Sabana National Stadium, to be played on September 18 and 21, the Panamanian Football Federation announced on Sunday.

Villagrand has previously made four appearances for Las Canaleras, scoring her first international goal against the Dominican Republic on July 10, 2021 in a 5-0 victory for Panama.

“I think of everyone that I’m representing on my dad’s side of the family,” said Villagrand, who is eligible to represent Panama because her dad, Ricardo, was born and raised in Panama before coming to the U.S. for college. “Anytime I’m there [representing Panama], I’m just thinking what an honor it is to be able to not only represent the country, but I know I’m making my family proud by doing so.”

Due to Villagrand’s commitment with the national team, the forward will miss the Belles’ games against New Mexico Highlands on Saturday as well as the Belles’ conference opener next Wednesday in San Antonio versus St. Mary’s.

“I don’t want to leave my team hanging but I talked with Coach about it, and we agreed that it was the best decision, with it being two games at the beginning of the season, so now is probably the best time to go,” said the senior, who scored her first goal of the season last Thursday versus East Central and started her first match of the season on Saturday against SWOSU. “It’s definitely hard, I’m going to be sad, but I’m excited to watch and support from Costa Rica.”

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ADA, Okla. – The Belles’ soccer team won their first road match of the season in Oklahoma, defeating East Central 3-1 and improving to 3-0 on the season.  

The Belles applied the pressure early and often, with the visitors taking the first four shots of the game over the opening 20 minutes of the match.  

“The first half was poor for us, we gave the ball away a lot and we were getting frustrated early on,” said head coach Travis McCorkle. “The second half was a lot better for us all-around.”  

The breakthrough for the Belles came in the 36th minutes, when, only two minutes after being substituted onto the pitch, Shaelyn Ward scored her first collegiate goal off an Avery McNeme assist, the senior midfielder’s third of the season.  

McNeme assisted the next Belles goal just two minutes later through Gabby Villagrand, her first of the season.  

The Tigers pulled a goal back right at the half, making it 2-1.  

The Belles only took two minutes into the second half to increase their lead back to two goals, with McNeme scoring her first goal of the season off a Valerie Solis assist. Solis has assisted four times this season, almost doubling her career total entering this season (five).  

“It’s nice to have a player like her [McNeme] who is capable doing that, and I believe she can have that kind of impact every game, which is why I hold her to such a high standard,” said McCorkle. 

Overall, in the match, the Belles outshot the Tigers 21-10, with nine shots on goal for the Belles; additionally, goalkeeper Kira Miller made four saves in goal for the Belles.  

The Belles kept their streak alive of different goal scorers, with ten different players getting on the scoresheet for the Belles’ ten goals.  

“The fact that we’ve had 10 different players scoring goals means it’s great to have variety, and some of that’s happened because of substitutions,” said McCorkle.  

Despite the variety in goal scorers, McCorkle added that “I’d like for someone to take charge up front and say, ‘put me in and I’m gonna make the difference’ and we’re still working on doing that, but I hope that [the variety of goalscorers] turns out to be a good thing for us.” 

The Belles are back in action on Saturday against Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford, Okla. 

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