Jim Schlossnagle's Aggies return to Blue Bell to host Houston & Georgia

It was another successful weekend for Texas A&M baseball, taking the series on the road at Alabama. Head skipper Jim Schlossnagle joined Monday's edition of TexAgs Radio to discuss the Aggies' business trip to Tuscaloosa and the week ahead at home. 

Key notes from Jim Schlossnagle interview

• I thought our guys did great. Lots of weird weather situations. Baseball players are used to that. A million things went on. Alabama handled it great. We got caught in brutal weather trying to get home. We didn't get home until noon yesterday.

• We will take the two games. Still going over things in my mind in the third game. I'm sure the players have flushed it. The head coach needs to flush it, too, and move forward. 

• Basically, they thought we would be fine to play the first game. Right before, they wanted to wait. Then it started blowing up, and they did not want to start a game and get a pitcher burned. It was either wait until 10 p.m. on Thursday or wait until the next day.

• The best chance of rain on Friday was between 2-6 p.m. I suggested to start at 11 a.m. and get one game in. We played the first game and won. In the second game, we had a clear three to four-hour window. We were winning, and I saw the game operations girl talk to the crew chief. I asked what it was about, and he said we had about 20 to 30 minutes before the rain was going to hit. We had been told that Saturday would be the worst day. The way our series was set up, we could not extend it to Sunday. You get three days, and that's it. 

• I am sitting there with the lead and a chance to win the series. If that rain had come, who knows what we were facing? Evan Aschenbeck is usually really efficient, so I went with him. He threw that first inning. We had a chance to get that 10-run rule and didn't. He threw 30 pitches. Weston Moss finished the game. I was counting on Justin Lamkin giving us a little more length. I fired that bullet right there. 

• In the third game, we were in another dogfight. We wanted to get Kaiden Wilson going. Troy Wansing is not in the greatest shape. I thought Wilson was great. He just had some bad luck.

• Am I upset about not winning the third game? Yeah, I am. I do believe the highlight of that loss was getting Wilson some good experience.

• Here is the issue of a veteran team like Alabama: They have the lowest swing-and-miss rates on off-speed pitches of anybody in the county. Less than 10 percent. They don’t swing and miss on fastballs, either. They have a ton of left-handing pitching. It doesn't phase them. 

• Aschenbeck wasn't as clean. You have to give Alabama credit. I asked our coaches on the way back: Who would you rather face? Florida’s lineup or Alabama's? Most said Florida, and there are big leaguers all over that team. Alabama is a really good team. If they can keep their pitching right, it would not shock me to see them in Omaha.

• I pinch-hit Blake Binderup because had a really good week of work. He just missed a fastball in that AB. It was a gut feeling. I did not want to play to tie the game. I don't like playing for the tie ever. If I second guess anything, it’s not stealing second earlier. It was a good matchup for Blake.

• Caden Sorrell is coming into his own. He is using the whole field to hit. Jace LaViolette’s strikeouts this year are walks this year. Michael Earley always says: Your season will be defined by the pitches you don't swing at. As Caden gets older, he will only be better. He is a really good outfielder. Glad he’s here.

• The secret sauce to the lineup is the guys after the three superstars. If the top three do what they do on the same day, you get that first Vanderbilt game. We are working like crazy with Ted Burton. Hayden Schott is staying on baseballs against right and left-handed pitching. Ali Camarillo has bought in to make himself better. Travis Chestnut’s job is to find a way on base and play a clean second base.

• Last year, if we had gotten three sub-to-average starts, where we would have been? Shane Sdao, Chris Cortez and Brock Peery pitched back-to-back days. Tanner Jones probably had the best start. Our guys don't panic. We can get back in there pretty quickly. That is not the recipe you want to play with as we get deeper into this thing.

• Georgia can do the same thing. Charlie Condon will probably be the first pick of the entire MLB Draft. They hit a ton of homers. Looks like we will have a South wind, too, this weekend. 

• It’s a really good group. They have a great character. They play neutral. Schott DHing is a huge help because he is in the dugout a lot. He keeps everybody positive. Let’s see if we can keep this thing going for a little bit.

• Houston tomorrow, I think we are going to run Brett Antolick out there. We need to give him a chance to pitch. He is a big part of this future here. I know Houston has a lot of right-handed hitters and started the season awesome. They went on a slide due to a lot of injuries.