Aggie utility-man Blake Stouffer looks to continue his ever-improving season this weekend when the Aggies face off against their Big 12 opponent, No. 16 Oklahoma University. On Tuesday, Stouffer went 3-5 with a double and an RBI in an Aggie loss to Rice. Last weekend on the three game road trip at Oklahoma State he swiped six bases and collected three hits.
“Earlier in the season, I said we didn’t need just one or two guys to step up, we need eight, nine or 10 to. [Stouffer] has responded and played well,” said Texas A&M head coach Rob Childress.
The Aggies are currently on a four game losing streak and turn to left handed pitcher Jason Meyer to right the ship as he faces off against Oklahoma starter Daniel McCutchen Friday night. Probable starters for Saturday’s contest feature both team’s aces in Aggie Austin Creps and Sooner Steven Guerra. Creps brings his team leading 1.74 ERA to the mound while Guerra has only lost one game the entire season.
“It’s time to get this thing turned around, it’s time to stop taking the punches, and start giving them,” Childress said. “We had great pitching early in the season when our bats weren’t working and now that we’re hitting well, we haven’t been able to get the job done – our bullpen didn’t stop anyone [Tuesday].”
The recently improved Aggie offense is due in part because Stouffer has been getting on base and allowing the players behind him to drive him across the plate. He has scored six runs in the last five games and owns the second leading team on-base-percentage at .375. During their four game losing streak, the Aggie offense has put up double-digit hits on the scoreboard every time, but the pitching staff has uncharacteristically given up more runs than the offense can handle.
“It’s much more frustrating when you feel as if you’re giving [the pitchers] runs and that’s not saying [the opposing teams] aren’t swinging the bat well, but we can’t continue to give them free base runners and not force them to earn everything they get,” Childress said.