Fresh off its series win over No. 11 Auburn, Texas A&M will attempt to move its winning streak to three as the Aggies host Abilene Christian Tuesday night at Olsen Field.
The Aggies (22-11, 5-7 SEC) dropped game one to the Tigers last Friday, but rallied to take games two and three over Auburn to claim to the series.
ACU (9-19, 1-14 Southland) comes to College Station trying to snap a 12-game losing streak, as the Wildcats were swept by McNeese State this past weekend.
Nonetheless, ACU has power in its lineup, with six hitters batting over .310 this season, led by senior third baseman Russell Crippen, who leads the team with a .382 average and leads the team in hits (42) and home runs (5).
Complementing Crippen is junior first baseman Luis Trevino, who leads the team in RBI (28) with a .369 batting average.The Wildcats’ woes, however, have come from their pitching staff which boasts a 6.93 average ERA. Junior Case Rolen holds a team-best 3.38 ERA, but ACU has only three other pitchers with an ERA under 6.00 and have three with an ERA over 11.00. The Wildcats have also surrendered double-digit run totals nine times this season.
The A&M offense flourished around its freshmen against Auburn. The Aggies’ rookies went 11-for-32 (.344) against a firm Tiger pitching staff, recording seven RBI, bringing in five of the six runs scored on Saturday, three off Auburn’s ace Keegan Thompson.
Heading the attack was catcher Hunter Coleman, who went 5-for-11 on the weekend, including a 3-for-4 mark on Saturday when he blasted his first career home run. Coleman’s success earned him SEC Freshman of the Week honors, the third Aggie to be tabbed that title alongside Braden Shewmake and Logan Foster.
Junior pitcher Turner Larkins (0-0, 4.15 ERA) is expected to make his first start of the season Tuesday night. The Arlington native missed the first three weeks of the season due to injury and has seen sparing action since making his 2017 debut against Brown on March 12.
Larkins’ longest outing this season came in the third game against Kentucky, throwing 2.1 innings in relief. Larkins allowed two runs on four hits in the 11-7 loss to the Wildcats. Larkins’ only other appearance this year was last Tuesday against Dallas Baptist as he threw one scoreless in relief as he struck out two batters while walking one.
A&M has been quite successful in its mid-week games this season with an 8-1 record in the weekday games, including a 6-0 mark at home.
The Aggies are yearning to build on their back-to-back series wins against the Wildcats before heading back on the road this weekend to face Alabama.
The Crimson Tide currently sit at the bottom of the conference standings at 13-19 (2-10 SEC) riding a five-game losing streak and face UAB Tuesday night.
First pitch between A&M and ACU is set for 6:32 p.m. and can be heard on radio 1150 AM or 102.7 FM.