After improving to 27-3 with a weekend series win over LSU, the newly-ranked No. 1 Aggies prepare for a Tuesday road matchup against the University of Houston before traveling to Gainesville to take on the University of Florida.
The Aggies face the Cougars for the first time since 2014, but have dominated the matchup since the two teams began battling it out in 1949. A&M boasts a 109-57-1 record against the Cougars.
A&M has proven its ability to win both high-scoring and low-scoring games in their weekend series against Auburn and LSU. The Auburn series featured ample offense and the LSU series focused on pitching and defense. A&M head coach Rob Childress praised his team’s ability to adapt to the flow of the game, and how they can gain an advantage on the field without relying too much on any one dimension of play.
“We feel like we can beat you a lot of different ways,” Childress said. “We can beat you with our defense, we can beat you on the mound if we have to and if we get into a slugfest we can out-hit you and that’s the mark of a really good ball club.”
The Aggies will have to stay focused on the road to beat a tough 16-7 Houston team that has won eight of their last nine games. Getting the team mentally ready will fall on the coaching staff and the upperclassmen, including senior catcher Michael Barash.
“They’re a good team,” Barash said. “They always have a lot of good [pitching], really good offense and it’s going to be a good challenge going on the road in a midweek game on a Tuesday, so we’ll have to play hard, play fast, have a lot of fun and just play Aggie baseball.”
Junior outfielder Nick Banks comes into the week’s matchups after finishing the LSU series with a multi-hit day and getting himself out of a mini slump over the weekend. For Banks, the goal is to maintain a simple approach and use Tuesday as a chance to go on a run.
“It’s going to be a good contest for us,” Banks said. “But we’re going to be ready and take it one day at a time.”
First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Darryl and Lori Schroeder Park in Houston.
