The No. 18 Aggie baseball team will continue their season as they welcome the Prairie View A&M Panthers to Blue Bell Park on Tuesday night. The Aggies are 32-12 (11-10 SEC) and the Panthers are 12-29 (7-14 SWAC) coming into the matchup. Texas A&M is currently sitting in third place in the SEC West, with first place Arkansas just two games ahead of the Aggies.
Last weekend, A&M took two of three from Mississippi State on the road. The Aggies won game one 6-3 before losing game two on Saturday 11-6 and winning the series on Sunday 7-4. The Panthers won their series as well over the weekend, taking two of three from Southern on the road.
The Aggie offense is led by junior second baseman Michael Helman, sophomore shortstop Braden Shewmake and sophomore outfielder Logan Foster. Helman is hitting .385 on the season with six home runs and 31 RBIs, Shewmake is hitting .346 with four home runs and a team-high 38 RBIs and Foster is hitting .323 with a team-high eight home runs and 34 RBIs.
The Prairie View A&M offense is led by junior Daniel Lingua, senior Jalyn Baker and senior Steven Williams. Lingua is hitting a team-high .358 with 29 walks and 14 RBIs, Baker is hitting .290 with two home runs and 17 RBIs, and Williams is hitting .290 with a team-high three home runs and 20 RBIs.
The Panther pitching staff has had its issues all year, and they have thrown multiple pitchers in midweek games throughout the year. Possible starters are sophomore righty Kaelon Woods and junior righty Caleb Rozypal. Woods owns a 9.28 ERA in 21.1 innings pitched and Rozypal owns a 11.52 ERA in 27.1 innings pitched. Prairie View’s team ERA sits at 295 out of 297 teams in Division 1 baseball, and the Panthers have given up the second most runs in the NCAA this year, averaging 10.27 runs given up per game.
Probable starter for the Aggies is freshman lefty Chandler Jozwiak. Jozwiak comes into the matchup with a 3.79 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 35.2 innings pitched.
The Aggies and Panthers will play on Tuesday at Blue Bell Park in College Station. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.