Texas A&M baseball has been down on its luck since reaching the College World Series in 1999. Since the visit, the Aggies have suffered three seasons without a post-season appearance. But early season success against a pair of conference rivals could be a sign that 2003 is the year the Aggies will return to Big 12, and national, prominence.
So far, the No. 22 Aggies (23-9 overall, 5-4 Big 12) have already won two three-game series against perennial national power No. 16 Nebraska and No. 6 Baylor. Every weekend the Aggies are in a battle against a Big 12 opponent with the same thing on their minds: a Big 12 championship.
“I think the history of the league indicates that it will be very close,” said Baylor Head Coach Steve Smith. “Last year was almost comical with eight teams that could win it in the last weekend of the year.”
With the weekend Big 12 matchups weighing so much, it is hard for the Aggies to stay focused on their non-conference, mid-week Tuesday matchups with teams that should be easier to beat than their nationally-ranked Big 12 competitors.
This week the Aggies will face Sam Houston State (12-17) Tuesday night at Olsen Field with first pitch set for 7 p.m.
“We’ve only experienced two weeks of Tuesday ball games since the start of conference,” said A&M Head Coach Mark Johnson. “Tuesday games are a lot harder, and I’ve had championship ball clubs not play well on Tuesday nights.”
After the Aggies took two of three games from Nebraska in a thrilling weekend to open Big 12 play, A&M went on the road and lost 6-5 in San Antonio to the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Now the Aggies will try to keep the momentum rolling into Tuesday night’s game with the Bearkats after an emotional 4-3 win to capture the weekend series with Baylor.
Sam Houston is coming into College Station with a weekend series win of its own as it took two of three games from Southland Conference rival Lamar.
The Bearkats are not afraid of Big 12 opponents either, as they have already handed Nebraska a 10-3 defeat earlier this season.
“I reminded (the team) that this is going to be critical,” Johnson said. “We have to take care of our homefield, and Sam Houston’s coming in and wanting to play well.”
The Aggies beat Sam Houston 8-0 in Huntsville in the teams’ first meeting this season. Since then, the Aggies have proved to be a tough team by beating nationally-ranked ball clubs and holding a 16-3 record at Olsen Field.
“We’re starting to realize how good we really are,” said A&M junior Scott Beerer. “We’re getting that swagger.”