Schlossnagle's unbeaten Ags ready for test from 'uber-talented' Gators

It'll be a top-ten showdown in Gainesville this weekend as No. 4 Texas A&M travels to face No. 8 Florida to begin SEC play. On Thursday morning, head coach Jim Schlossnagle joined TexAgs Radio to preview the series with the Gators, provide a health update on his club and more.

Key notes from Jim Schlossnagle interview

• I have no behind-the-scenes knowledge of Trev Alberts. I have not met him. The job done by the committee and President Mark A. Welsh III was awesome. He went to all the various stakeholders, from coaches, student-athletes, donors, faculty and everything. He came to the committee to put together what the job description should look like. Yes, it’s managing coaches, but today, it’s a lot of business experience. We know the finances of A&M are a lot to deal with. This is a unique time, and we’re headed toward more unique times. The goal was to hire somebody who had that level of experience, whether it was in athletic departments or private business. There were internal and external candidates. We looked at Power 5 athletic directors and non-Power 5 athletic directors. We brought a large number of candidates to the chair of our search committee, and it was ultimately President Welsh’s job to make the hire. That’s what happened.
   
• This Florida team is still uber-talented. They have a Golden Spikes candidate in Jac Caglianone. Colby Shelton is having a great year for them. They have right-handed hitters, left-handed hitters, power and speed. They’re filtering through and trying to figure out where they are on the mound. They lost two front-end pitchers, and that’s not easy to replace. They’ve moved Cade Fisher from the bullpen to the rotation, and he has had some good days and some learning days. Caglianone has thrown as well as anybody, and he pitches on Sunday. They have a lot of really talented freshmen.
   
• On any given day in this conference, we know how that can go. Florida is good. They’re in the top ten for a reason. You could look at the numbers, but Florida has been one of the most consistent programs in the country. They know how to win. It will be like every other weekend: A dog fight. The Aggies are playing well too, and we’re going to show up.
   
• I thought Isaac Morton did a great job on Tuesday. He can’t let it get away from him. He’ll be attacking the strike zone and looking like a future first-rounder, but then he’ll have an at-bat where he throws four straight balls. Sam Houston is going to win a lot of games and probably win their league, so it was good competition for Morton. We wanted him to throw 40-50 pitches and then get him out to potentially use him this weekend.
   
• I thought Brock Peery did great. I thought Chris Cortez was probably the story of the night, besides Jace LaViolette’s swings and Kaeden Kent’s overall play. There are some other arms that are going to have to step up their game if they want to pitch. We’ll need them to pitch.
   
• I felt good about Tuesday. We competed well. Sam Houston used their two best pitchers. It was good for our hitters to see that before this weekend.
   
• Kent comes from great stock. His dad could be a Hall of Famer. Kent does a lot of things to help you win a game. On our team right now, you have to have guys with tools. I’m not saying Kent doesn’t, but he’s learning how to become the best version of himself. I just need Kent to do what Kent does. Sometimes coaches will ask somebody to be something they’re not, or players will try to be somebody they’re not. If you put someone like Travis Chestnut in a batting practice group with LaViolette, Braden Montgomery and Gavin Grahovac, he can’t do the things those guys do. He has to do what he does. What Kent has done is walk more than he has struck out, which hasn’t happened before. He has to get on base. When he gets in good counts and gets a good pitch to hit, he can hit some home runs. He’s growing as a player, and we know how competitive he is. We’re facing two left-handed starters this weekend, so if you’re running him out there vs. lefties, he’s going to have to handle them too. I feel great about him, and I love him.
   
• Chestnut is down for a long while, unfortunately. Hopefully, we’ll get him back at some point. Ryan Targac took swings from both sides of the plate yesterday in a simulated game. He also threw. Assuming he wakes up and feels good today, I would think we would try to get him in there at some point. Troy Wansing and Kaiden Wilson are still a ways away, and we miss them. Those were guys I was planning on using to get Shelton and Caglianone out. We’re going to have to use Evan Aschenbeck and Shane Sdao. Going into the first conference series, we’re in as good of shape as you could hope for.
   
• Ted Burton had a little back thing. I don’t even know if it is a thing. He was sore before the game, and then he took that one swing. It wasn’t worth finishing out that game with him. He was fine yesterday. I saw the video of everybody celebrating, and he was right in the middle of it. I try to be as precautionary this time of year because there will be a time you’ll have to play through some stuff, barring a serious injury. Burton should be fine.
   
• Our fans have been awesome. I’ve personally made a push on social media, and we’re still making a push for people to use or share their tickets. I want to make sure that tickets get out to somebody. When you get to the ballpark, don’t be scared to make some noise. The 12th Man, with Section 203 leading that charge, is getting on their feet with two strikes and creating a great atmosphere. You want the crowd to push the team, and you want the team to motivate the crowd. There are places where the crowd only cheers when the team plays well, and there are places where they’re on their field the whole time, even when the team is down. We’ve had great crowds in back-to-back non-conference games. It has been awesome. When we get back next week, we have four straight games. We’re going to need the crowds out there. Fill those seats up!