The No. 12 Texas A&M baseball team, coming off a 13-4 win against Rice, will play their second SEC team of the season when they face off against the No. 5 Ole Miss Rebels Thursday through Saturday at Blue Bell Park.
The Aggies, with their latest win against Rice, move to 18-4 (1-2 SEC), while Ole Miss’ latest win against New Orleans move them to a 20-2 (2-1 SEC) record.
The Rebels became the first college baseball team in the NCAA to hit 20 wins this year after defeating New Orleans 9-4. Sophomore catcher and outfielder Thomas Dillard led Ole Miss on the plate, going 2-for-4 on the day with four RBIs and a home run. Senior outfielder Will Golsan was close behind, also going 2-for-4 on the day and finishing with a RBI double and triple. The mound was led by sophomore Houston Roth, who finished with seven strikeouts and only allowed three runs in the five innings he pitched.
A&M made big plays on both offense and defense to secure the 13-4 win against Rice on Tuesday. Freshman pitcher Chandler Jozwiak went five full innings with only two hits and no runs. He would finish his reign on the mound with only four runs on six hits, all of which collected in the sixth inning. Jozwiak pitched 5.1 innings, making this game his longest on the mound and most strikeouts with eight.
Junior second baseman Michael Helman was the star at the plate, going 4-for-6 against Rice. He contributed to the fourth and seventh innings, when the Aggies scored six runs in the sixth and four runs in the seventh. Helman ended the night leading A&M with three RBIs, two runs and one home run. Freshman right fielder Will Frizzell and sophomore designated hitter Hunter Coleman weren’t far behind Helman, adding two hits each to the matchup.
Helman said his hitting against Rice was a continuation of the team’s approach. He said the team is looking to keep their strong at-bats into the weekend against Ole Miss.
“I just try to stay with our team approach — look to the other side of the field,” Helman said. “I had a slap hit the other way late in the game and we got two runs out of it. I’m trying to stay flat even though the wind was blowing out. Overall, we had great at-bats today. We’re looking to carry that into this weekend.”
Despite winning against Rice, the Aggies are looking to bounce back from their SEC opener against No. 9 Auburn last weekend, where they fell to the Tigers twice during their three-game series, in which A&M struggled defensively.
The Tigers won the first two games 4-1 and 11-5, with a breakout eight-run inning in the second game. The Aggies secured a win in the last game of the series at 5-1, in which theyseemed to get back on track defensively and were led by junior pitchers Mitchell Kilkenny and Nolan Hoffman on the mound.
A&M head coach Rob Childress said the series against Auburn was tough on his team, but he was glad they were able to show their fortitude in the last game of the series.
“I’m really proud of the team,” Childress said. “It’s been a long, tough week for us and things haven’t gone our way, but the team showed a lot of toughness and it started on the mound with Mitchell [Kilkenny]. He had a great start and we played great defense behind him.”
A&M will return to Aggieland as they kick off a three-game series against Ole Miss on Thursday at Blue Bell Park. First pitch is set for 6:02 p.m.