With 22 wins in 23 home games, the Olsen Field faithful have cheered the Aggies on to win after win this season. Now, the nation’s No. 1 team faces its stiffest home test to date — the No. 13 Rice Owls.
Since rising to No. 1 in a couple polls, the Texas A&M baseball team has won three straight games and comes off a doubleheader sweep of Kentucky in Lexington. A nine-game home stand begins Tuesday against Rice.
The Owls (22-12, 11-4 C-USA) come in off a series win against Middle Tennessee on the road. Their lineup includes big time hitter John Reeves. He leads the team in RBIs (35) and home runs (four). Reeves is swinging the bat with a .377 average. Another player of note is Kirby Taylor, who is hitting .405 with 23 RBIs. Leon Byrd is second on the team in RBIs with 28.
For A&M (30-2, 9-2 SEC), the story of the season has been the very deep and talented lineup. Eight Aggie hitters have more than 20 RBIs, led by Mitchell Nau (29). A&M has tallied 36 home runs, and Ronnie Gideon and Logan Taylor each have six to their name. Every Aggie in the starting lineup has hit a home run this year. Nick Banks has been presenting a hitting clinic this season, hitting .431, which is the best in the SEC and fourth-best in the nation. The Aggie offense is also fourth in the nation in batting average at .320 on the year.
The Aggie pitching is one of the best in the nation, ranking second in the country in team ERA at 2.08. They have only surrendered 87 runs and have allowed five home runs, both statistics are of which are best in the SEC.
Tuesday night, the Aggies will most likely send freshman Turner Larkins to the mound for his ninth start this season. Larkins is 4-1 with a 3.11 ERA on the year, adding 37 strikeouts to the stat sheet. The Owls have a variety of choices, but will most likely send Glenn Otto to the mound.
The Aggies are the first team to reach 30 wins this season after beating Kentucky on Saturday. Last year, the Aggies did not win game No. 30 until defeating LSU on May 4.
This season, Texas A&M is 9-0 in mid-week contests, outscoring its opponents 73 to 17 in those games. A&M is 22-1 at home this year, while Rice is 7-6 when playing away from home.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
