SAN ANGELO, Texas (January 31, 2025) – The highly anticipated 2025 opening day for The University of Texas Permian Basin baseball team, which marked the beginning of the team's first season under its new head coach, Justin Phillips, has come and gone. The Falcons were held to just two hits while the 2024 NCAA Division II National Runner-Up and No. 2 nationally-ranked Angelo State University put together a five-run second inning and finished with an efficient 10 runs on 11 hits in a 10-0 win.

Senior Kaleb Scull, a 2025 Lone Star Conference Player to Watch nominee, led off the season with a single up the middle in the first inning and advanced to second base thanks to a sacrifice bunt by fellow-senior Jack Haggerty, but the Falcons were unable to drive him in.

A bunt single and back-to-back stolen bases by ASU's leadoff hitter, Austin Beck, put a runner on third base with nobody out and led to the first run of the game on an RBI-groundout to second base by Jacob Guerrero, the Lone Star Conference Preseason Player of the Year, on the next at bat.

Another bunt single started off the bottom of the second inning for the Rams, who scored five runs on four hits and two UTPB errors in the inning. The big blow was a three-run double down the left field line by Tayten Tredaway before a wild pitch with two outs allowed Tredaway to score. Tredaway was the highlight of the Rams' offense as he went 4-for-4 from the plate with a double and five runs batted in.

Scull reached base twice after being hit by a pitch in the third inning while senior Carson Johnson, a preseason National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA) All-South Central Region team honoree, accounted for UTPB's only other hit in the game with a leadoff single up the middle in the fifth inning. However, the inning would end with the second 4-6-3 inning-ending double play hit by the Falcons.

Johnson would draw a walk in the seventh inning to match Scull with two appearances on the base paths while Haggerty finished with a walk and a sacrifice fly.

After giving up a single in the first inning, ASU's Nick Wilson (1-0) proceeded to retire the following 16 batters in order using two double plays to erase the two runners he allowed over the next five innings.

ASU added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning after a hit by pitch and a walk set up back-to-back RBI-singles by Guerrero and Tredaway. In the bottom of the seventh, a two-out double down the left field line by Justin Harris was followed by the game-ending RBI-triple to right field by Beck. Beck finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three stolen bases from the top spot of the Rams' lineup.

Coach Phillips said after the game, "We never felt like we were out of the game. A couple of balls/plays go our way and we are right in the middle of it. We have to execute better on being quick to the plate and fielding routine plays."

The Rams are ranked No. 2 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA), the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), and D2 Baseball in their respective preseason polls. The Rams completed the 2024 season with a 44-21 overall record, a 32-16 record in Lone Star Conference play, and finished as the National Runner-Up in the team's fourth straight trip to the College World Series where they fell to the University of Tampa.

UTPB, meanwhile, enters 2025 coming off the program's most successful season since 2015 as the Falcons ended the 2024 season with a 35-25 overall record and a 28-20 LSC record to finish fourth in league play. The Falcons reached the LSC Championship game against Lubbock Christian University before falling in 12 innings. UTPB then reached the South Central Regional where it was eliminated by LCU.

Games two and three of the series at Angelo State will be at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively, on Saturday, February 1, from San Angelo, Texas.