The No. 12 Aggie baseball team (17-4, 1-2 SEC) looks to bounce back on Tuesday after a rough last week. A&M will take the short bus ride to Rice (9-13, 0-3 C-USA) on Tuesday night to battle the Owls in a big midweek game.
Last week, the Aggies went 1-3, losing to UT-Arlington in 18 innings on Tuesday and losing two of three games at No. 9 Auburn in the opening series of SEC play.
A&M lost game one of the series on Friday 4-1 as the bats never woke up, and lost again in game two 11-5. The Aggies then took game three on Sunday 5-1 thanks to junior starting pitcher Mitchell Kilkenny’s dominating performance.
On Friday, the offense and defense were the problems for the Aggies as they only scored one run, and committed four errors in the field that led to three unearned runs for the Tigers. Saturday’s loss was on the Aggie pitching staff that all started with sophomore starter John Doxakis’ rough outing on the mound.
The staff ended up giving up 10 earned runs in the loss. Despite the pitching woes on Saturday, the combination of Kilkenny and junior Nolan Hoffman out of the bullpen shut down Auburn to take the 5-1 win.
Rice is also looking to bounce back from getting swept by Lousiana Tech on the road. The Owls have struggled so far this season, despite knocking off No. 20 TCU last week. Rice is led on offense by junior infielder Ford Proctor, sophomore infielder Braden Comeaux, and senior outfielder Ryan Chandler.
Proctor leads the team with a .405 batting average, while adding three home runs and 20 RBIs on the year. Comeaux is hitting .345 with 13 RBIs, and Chandler is hitting at a .333 clip with 10 RBIs.
A&M is led on offense by junior second baseman Michael Helman, sophomore outfielder Logan Foster, and sophomore shortstop Braden Shewmake. Helman leads the team with a .375 average, while adding 17 RBIs, Foster leads the team in home runs and RBIs, with six and 26, respectively, while Shewmake is hitting .352 with 21 RBIs.
Freshman Chandler Jozwiak will likely get the start for A&M on Tuesday. Jozwiak comes into the matchup having thrown 19.2 innings on the year and owns a 1.83 ERA with 23 strikeouts.
The game will take place at Rice’s Reckling Park in Houston on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.