The oldest collegiate rivalry in the Lone Star State will continue on the Olsen Field diamond on Tuesday, March 30 at 6 p.m.
Texas A&M and Texas baseball have met 376 times with Texas leading the series at a 244-127-5 record. While A&M sits at 17-9 and 2-4 in the SEC, Texas is ranked No. 5 in the NCAA at 17-7 and 4-2 in the Big 12.
“They’re having an outstanding year,” A&M coach Rob Childress said. “In every facet they’ve played incredibly well. It ought to be a lot of fun. We’ll have a great crowd, and both teams will be locked in.”
The Aggies are coming off a 2-1 series win over Georgia that saw graduate designated hitter Hunter Coleman post three RBIs and junior second baseman Ty Coleman record four. Junior left fielder Austin Bost put up two RBIs in the series and extended his team-high hit streak to 12 games.
“I feel like we’re all headed in the right direction as an offense,” Ty Coleman said. “It’s good to hit a stride, but you’ve got to do it as a team. You can’t just have one guy create an offense.”
A&M’s season thus far has been unpredictable. A mediocre start to the season transitioned into an 11-game win streak that quickly pivoted to being swept in its SEC-opening series.
In the three losses to No. 15 Florida, A&M only scored nine runs. Later, in the series against Georgia, A&M brought 17 runners across home plate, showing signs of offensive improvement.
“We just need to figure out what our identity is,” graduate catcher Mikey Hoehner said. “I think we have a good sense of what that’s going to be moving forward this season. Everyone’s mind is right, we’re ready for Tuesday.”
Years removed from the days of sold-out football games between the schools, not everyone on the team views the rivalry with as much weight as it has previously held.
“Now that we’ve moved to the SEC, I feel like it’s just another midweek,” Ty Coleman said. “They’re obviously talented and we’ve got to play our A-game, but for us it’s just another midweek game.”
Childress said freshman pitcher Nathan Dettmer will receive the start on Tuesday and, besides the loss of senior pitcher Bryce Miller to COVID-19 protocol, A&M’s bullpen is ready to play. Through 26.1 innings pitched, Dettmer has an ERA of 1.37 with 27 strikeouts for a 2-1 record.
A&M’s defense let through 15 runs in the three-game series against Georgia. Versus Florida, who ranked No. 5 when it faced A&M, the Aggies gave up 24 runs in the series.
“When you play as many non-conference games as we both have, to have [the game] where it is, it kind of gets the juices flowing,” Childress said. “There’s not going to be any loss of intensity on Tuesday, I can assure you of that on both sides.”