The No. 23 Texas A&M baseball team looks to get back in the win column when it hosts Rice Tuesday night at Olsen Field.
After being swept over the weekend by Kentucky in the SEC opener, A&M has (14-7, 0-3 SEC) dropped its past four games — dating back to a 4-3 loss on March 14 against the University of Texas.
Over the four game skid, the Aggie’s seniors have gone 5-51 (.091) from the plate as a group, struggling to make contact with the ball. This includes Austin Homan, Blake Kopetsky, Walker Pennington and Nick Choruby. The slide from the veterans has resulted in Childress continuing to shuffle the lineup card.
Despite seeing a bit of an offensive slump from the upperclassmen, the younger hitters on the team have been productive — freshman Braden Shewmake is hitting for the highest average on the team at .404 and has knocked in the most runs at 26. Despite losing Saturday to Kentucky, Shewmake hit his third home run of the season. Cole Bedford trails Shewmake in average at .400 and Logan Foster is leading the team in homers at four.
The starters and the bullpen have also seen their fair share of struggles recently.
In the series opener against Kentucky, ace starter Brigham Hill was handed his first loss of the season, surrendering five runs over five innings in a 6-0, defeat. The bullpen cost Stephen Kolek a win in Saturday’s matchup after giving up three runs leading to a 7-6 defeat. To close out the weekend, Mitchell Kilkenny and three relievers combined to give up 11 runs en route to an 11-7 loss.
The Aggies will look to get back on schedule with a win against Rice before continuing SEC play on the road against Vanderbilt this weekend.
The Owls, (6-16, 0-3 Conference USA) head to College Station after being swept over the weekend by Old Dominion on the road, including a 2-0 shutout loss in the series finale on Sunday.
Catcher Dominic DiCaprio and shortstop Ford Proctor lead the Owls on offense, batting .382 with 16 RBI and .333 with 12 RBI, respectively. Nine hitters on the roster have hit home runs, with outfielder Darryn Sheppard hitting the most long balls at two. Sheppard is second on the team in RBI at 13 and trails only his teammate, DiCaprio.
On the mound, starter Matt Canterino has a 1-1 record with a 2.93 ERA in five starts and has maintained the lowest ERA among his fellow starters. Addison Ross has been solid in relief for the Owls. In four appearances he owns a 2.45 ERA over 7.1 innings pitched.
First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
