Texas A&M baseball is in high spirits after going 3-1 over its last four games with a 2-1 series win against Georgia last weekend and a 2-0 shutout of No. 5 Texas at home in Tuesday’s midweek rivalry bout. The maroon and white now claim an 18-9 record with a 2-4 record in SEC play.
The Aggies will have a short week to prepare for 8-16 Missouri, who is currently riding a four-game skid after being swept by No. 1 Vanderbilt and dropping its midweek matchup 10-9 to Kansas on Tuesday. The Tigers have played 24 contests this season and are 1-5 in conference.
A&M coach Rob Childress said Missouri will try its best to defend home field, and with Bryce Miller still out due to COVID-19 protocols, Dustin Saenz, Jonathan Childress and Chris Weber will be the weekend starters.
“Their backs are against the wall at home, and we’re going to get their best shot,” Rob Childress said. “We’re still minus Bryce Miller for the weekend, so we’re going to have to have some pitchers step up and get us off and running deep into the game.”
Saenz and Jonathan Childress have struggled a bit lately with both allowing eight earned runs in their last two starts. Saenz had a much better outing in his most recent appearance, allowing three runs and striking out 11 over 5.2 innings in the game one win against Georgia.
Regardless, Rob Childress said his team is fired up about winning a big game against a ranked rival in Texas and will ride that momentum into Columbia this weekend.
“It’s what we talked about postgame — It’s all about taking this momentum to Missouri and killing them with our love of the game,” Rob Childress said. “[We’ll] do whatever it takes to find a way to win each and every day.”
Sophomore southpaw Chandler Jozwiak said the team will have to find ways to get in a good mindset for this weekend. He has pitched 7.2 consecutive innings without allowing a run and has racked up 11 strikeouts in that span.
“It’s probably going to be a little cold, and the atmosphere there probably isn’t the best,” Jozwiak said. “But we have to create our own energy anyway and be the aggressors on the road.”
The three-game set against the Tigers begins at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, from Taylor Stadium on SEC Network+ and continues at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The series wraps up at 3 p.m. on Sunday on SEC Network.