The No. 23 Texas A&M baseball team will face one of its toughest challenges this weekend when it travels to Waco to face No. 6 Baylor on Friday night to kick off a three-game series.
Friday’s game is scheduled for 7 p.m at Reckling Park in Waco.
The Aggies are coming off a 6-3 win over Lamar University at Olsen Field on Wednesday night. A&M Head Coach Mark Johnson said the win was a “comfortable” win for the Aggies who jumped out to a 3-0 lead against the Cardinals in the first inning and never looked back.
Johnson said he knows A&M will have a much tougher time feeling comfortable this weekend against Baylor in a series that has become one of the best rivalries in Big 12 baseball.
“It was good to get a win and get ready for Baylor,” Johnson said. “We’ll go on the road and hopefully have a good outing up there and come back down here for two.
“Baylor is a challenge for anyone in the country,” he said. “It’s a well balanced ballclub.”
Offensively, junior left fielder Scott Beerer has become the Aggies’ biggest threat at the plate. In his last four games, Beerer has hammered the ball, including a 4-for-4 performance Wednesday night against Lamar.
“I’m excited about Friday night,” Beerer said. “Baylor’s facilities are pretty awesome and coming back home is going to be great to have the fan support. They are playing really good baseball but so are we, it’s going to be an exciting series.”
Beerer is among the top five on the team in 15 different categories including hits, RBI and a team-best .347 batting average. Juniors Justin Ruggiano and Corey Patton have also provided offensive firepower this season.
Sophomore right-hander Logan Kensing will get the start for the Aggies in Friday night’s game. Kensing has been the victim of facing other teams’ No. 1 starter in his past few games, keeping the Aggies from giving him run support.
“We’ve lost two one-run ballgames on Friday nights but our guys have (bounced) back,” Johnson said. “I would like to change the tune on Friday night because that makes Saturday and Sunday so much easier.”
Kensing is heading into the weekend with a 4-3 record. He is second on the team with 33 strikeouts behind only senior Zach Dixon and has an ERA of 4.40.
“He’s a sinkerball pitcher so he’s going to get a lot of ground balls and all the ground balls fell through against Texas Tech (last Friday),” Johnson said. “A lot of times those balls are going to be double plays.”
The Bears are coming off a tough 4-3 loss to No. 1 Rice on Tuesday night. Rice scored two runs on walks and another two unearned runs to edge the Bears.
Baylor (21-7) scored three runs late and had the tying run on third with one out in the ninth inning, but Chris Durbin grounded into a double play to end the game as the Owls extended their winning streak to 22 games.
Game two of the series is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday night at Olsen Field with game three on Sunday at Olsen Field at 2 p.m.