After playing in the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic in Houston over the weekend, No. 15 Texas A&M returns home for two mid-week games against UT-Rio Grande Valley at Olsen Field Tuesday and Wednesday night.
The Aggies (9-3) return to College Station after going 1-2 over the weekend, opening tournament play with a win over Texas Tech on Friday, followed by walk-off losses to TCU and Baylor.
The maroon and white dominated the Red Raiders on Friday behind their ace, junior Brigham Hill (9-0), but lost late leads the following two days. On Saturday night, the Aggies fell 11-10 to TCU in 16 innings after blowing a five run ninth-inning lead. Sunday, the Aggies went down 6-3 to Baylor on a walk-off grand slam.
The freshman for A&M have continued to contribute offensively — Braden Shewmake leads the team in RBI at 18 and Jorge Gutierrez’s has the most home runs with three. Cole Bedford is hitting for the highest average at .421, followed by Gutierrez at .412 and Shewmake at .411.
On the mound, Hill has led his team to wins in all three of his starts and has yet to give up a run in 20.2 innings pitched. Freshman reliever Landon Miner has been another bright spot for A&M with a 1-0 record and a .90 ERA in 10 innings pitched.
UT-Rio Grande Valley (10-2) heads to College Station following a series win against Lamar over the weekend at home. The Vaqueros took the first game 3-1 and lost the second match-up 5-1, before taking their final game of the weekend 6-5.
UTRGV is led offensively by outfielder Jose Garcia, who’s hit two home runs and knocked in 12 RBI, followed by his teammate Ivan Estrella who’s plated 14 runs. Another offensive threat for the Vaqueros is Casey Danley. In just 10 at bats and three starts, Danley has hit two home runs along with four RBI.   
On the hill, Carter Johnson has a 3-0 record with a 2.25 ERA in three starts, while Andrew Garcia has posted two wins with a 2.86 ERA in three starts. 12 games into the 2017 season, the Vaquero’s pitching staff has combined to throw three shutouts.
First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night and the second game will start at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. Both games will be broadcast on the SEC Network Plus.