After being swept in a three-game Friday through Sunday series by Mississippi State, the Texas A&M baseball team will travel to Huntsville, Texas to face off with Sam Houston State on Tuesday, completing its home-and-home set with the Bearkats.
A&M (21-16, 6-9) defeated Sam Houston State (20-15, 8-4) 4-1 on April 9 behind the efforts of junior catcher Troy Stein, improving its record in weekday games to 10-0 for the season. Following the Aggies’ rough weekend with conference foe Mississippi State, though, junior outfielder Krey Bratsen said A&M needs to regroup.
“I think that we’re underachieving,” Bratsen said. “I think we have a group of guys who can be great players, but haven’t reached that level. It’s a game of failure and you have to go out and have confidence in your ability and not worry about failing.”
Sam Houston State (20-15, 8-4) enters the match coming off a 1-2 series loss to league opponent Lamar on the road. The offense runs behind Kevin Miller and Carter Burgess, who bat .346 and .326 respectively and combine for 89 hits and 33 RBIs. Luke Plucheck, the team’s leader in home runs, hit a home run against the Aggies in the match earlier this season, scoring the Bearkats sole point of the game.
Meanwhile, A&M will be without its top offensive threat in senior shortstop Mikey Reynolds, who injured his knee in last Saturday’s game against Mississippi State. Reynolds currently leads the Aggies in both batting average (.394) and hits (54) and has started every game this season save for Sunday’s loss to the Bulldogs.
A&M head coach Rob Childress said Reynolds’ absence affected the team on both Saturday and Sunday.
“I felt like we might’ve let [Reynold’s] injury affect us a little more than it should have,” Childress said.”He’s sore obviously, but I think it will be a day-to-day thing. Obviously, Tuesday he is probably out for sure.”
In A&M’s 15-4 Sunday loss to the Bulldogs, the Aggie pitching staff allowed season-highs in hits (19) and runs. The offensive production lacked as well, as A&M only garnered eight hits and left eight runners on base.
“We didn’t have an answer from an offensive standpoint,” Childress said. “We never put any pressure on them the entire game. They’ve got to have a short memory. I’ve said it many times this spring especially on weekends in this conference. We’ve got to get after it from start to finish.”
Freshman Grayson Long (3-1) is expected to start on the mound for the Aggies after failing to pitch during the Mississippi State series. On the year, Long holds a 3.48 ERA with 31 innings pitched. For the Bearkats, Tyler Eppler (3-2) is the anticipated starter with a 3.41 ERA.
Baseball fans at A&M look to the away weekday game for a fresh start for the Aggies, who have struggled so far in conference play. For senior biomedical engineering major Austin Smith, the road trip to Huntsville is a necessity for A&M.
“I sure hope people make their way up to Huntsville,” Smith said. “Considering our lack of success over the weekend, our team really needs our support and this game is close enough to travel to and make an impact from the stands.”