In the midst of a four-game losing streak, Texas A&M baseball turns to Georgia for a series at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park opening on Friday.
A&M was swept by Florida last weekend and followed up with a 2-1 loss to Rice on Tuesday, dropping the Aggies to 15-8 on the season. Georgia is 15-5 on the season and lost its series to Tennessee to sit at 1-2 in the SEC.
Outscored 24-10 over its last four games, A&M has struggled in many aspects.
“We’ve got to go out and be the aggressor and play with a chip on our shoulder in everything that we do,” A&M coach Rob Childress said. “We’ve got to be the one that dictates how the game is going to play out.”
The three losses to Florida came on the heels of an 11-game win streak in which A&M appeared to begin an uptick in performance.
“Some people were a little nervous and some just took it as just another series,” senior pitcher Bryce Miller said. “In this league, you can’t take any games for granted and you can’t give any wins away. Moving forward, I think we’ll be better in that aspect.”
Despite the offensive slump that has been prominent since the start of conference play, A&M has settled down on roster changes.
“I do feel like we have kind of arrived at [the] 12 hitters we’re going to lean on,” Childress said. “You start digging into 18 hitters again and you’re going to set yourself up for some ups and downs.”
One member of that lineup is senior first baseman Hunter Coleman. Coleman saw playing time against Samford with two home runs and another against Rice, while hitting .500 in 10 at-bats on the season.
“What Hunter Coleman has done is incredible,” senior Bryce Blaum said. “This game pays you back. He’s an incredible teammate. He’s a great player and he’s rooting for everyone in the dugout. Everybody’s ecstatic for him because of the person he is and the teammate he is.”
Georgia presents an interesting opportunity for A&M as the top five teams in the NCAA are members of the SEC while eight total SEC teams are ranked. Georgia is not one of the ranked opponents in A&M’s schedule, yet Childress said all SEC competition is serious.
“If we’re at home, we’ve got to take care of business,” Childress said. “It doesn’t matter what the name on the front of the jersey is. Every team that you play is going to be super talented. We need to go play better and play at the level that it takes to win in this conference.”
Friday’s game will begin at 6 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday’s games will begin at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
“It’s definitely important,” Miller said. “We’re a lot better baseball team than what we’ve shown. I think this weekend is definitely big just as any game is. We’re looking forward to it, we’re ready to go and hopefully right the ship this weekend.”