Fresh off a blowout 9-2 win over No. 24 Texas in the depths of Austin and a 7-3 comeback against Texas Southern, No. 4 Texas A&M baseball heads back to Blue Bell Park from March 8-10 for a weekend series against Rhode Island.
Head coach Jim Schlossnagle is now 3-1 against the Longhorns during his time in College Station. The win also propelled the Aggies into the No. 4 slot in the country after ranking No. 7 heading into Longhorn territory.
The batting and pitching stats speak volumes when examining how and why this team is off to such a hot start. The undefeated 12-0 Maroon and White are 16th in the country in batting average at .331, No. 1 in runs earned and tied for 11th in total runs.
While the offense improved greatly with the addition of notable transfers graduate LF Hayden Schott and junior OF Braden Montgomery, the bullpen from last season has returned, led by pitching coach Max Wiener, finally proved to viewers they can still shut down a ranked team’s offense.
The Aggie pen held No. 24 Texas to just six hits for two runs, with the addition of 12 strikeouts spread across four pitchers. The standout performer on the mound against the Longhorns was sophomore LHP Shane Sdao, who struck out six batters throughout two innings pitched. Sdao gave up only one hit and allowed no runs in his career-high strikeout night.
Looking ahead to the first game of the matchup against Rhode Island on Friday, the Rams enter the game at 2-7, with a single-series game win against Washington State and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
The Rams gave up over 11 runs on average and only managed to score more than four runs in a game twice this season. With that combination of poor pitching and giving up double-digit runs, the Fightin’ Farmers’ batting lineup should be licking its lips for the upcoming home series against this struggling squad.
The Aggies are already outperforming their D1 Baseball preseason prediction by sliding into the Top 5 in the country after D1 slated them to finish at No. 8.
After falling short in the Stanford Regional at the end of the 2023 season, Schlossnagle’s squad is already making waves early, priming themselves to push past prior years’ expectations.
