Photo by Lexie Hudson, TexAgs
Texas A&M Baseball
Series Preview: Texas A&M at Alabama
Who: Alabama Crimson Tide (14-19, 2-10 SEC)
Where: Sewell-Thomas Stadium — Tuscaloosa, Alabama
When: Thursday 6:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)
Friday 6:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)
Saturday 2:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)
Pitching matchups
After taking the series against Auburn last week, the Texas Aggie baseball team will look to sweep the season series against the Alabama schools when they travel to Tuscaloosa to battle the last-place Crimson Tide. Before Aggie fans chalk up this series as an easy task, I'll say that any SEC team is dangerous, especially at home.
For example, Alabama traveled to South Carolina to face a very good Gamecock squad a couple of weeks ago and won a game. The two games they lost were by a combined three runs, including an extra-inning affair.
So the Crimson Tide were competitive in every game and a whisker away from winning a road series against a ranked SEC team. That shows you just how small the difference is in the SEC between the top teams in the conference and those at the bottom.
On the mound, the Tide don't have a dominant ace, but will run out experienced, solid starters on Thursday and Friday. Junior right-hander Jake Walters will take the mound on Thursday with a very capable 4-3 record and a 3.00 ERA. He has given up more hits than innings pitched, and opposing batters are hitting .270 against him. He has also given out 21 walks in 39 innings. Those aren't 'Friday night starter' numbers, but he is good enough to be dangerous if Brigham Hill isn't sharp and on his game.
The same can be said for game two starter Dylan Duarte. The left-hander has a respectable 2-2 record and a 3.27 ERA. Batters are hitting .257 against him. For a dominant left-handed hitting team, this will likely be Texas A&M's toughest match-up of the weekend, especially given the Aggies' inconsistent pitching performances in game two of their weekend series this season.
As with most struggling college teams, Alabama is searching for a suitable solution for a game three starter. Senior Nick Eicholtz (1-0, 6.16 ERA) is slated to take the hill on Saturday, but you have to wonder how long they will go with him given his struggles this year. It should be noted that while Eicholtz is struggling in 2017, he shut down an explosive Texas A&M offense last year, allowing just one run in six innings. Overall, Alabama's team ERA currently sits at 4.01 compared to the Aggies' 3.66 average.
At the plate, Alabama's sticks are similar to its arms in that it has three or four solid batters hitting over .300, but there's no dominant, scary run-producer that pitchers will work around if needed. Cobie Vance leads the starters in hitting at .323, but his slugging percentage is below .400 (.394) and his on-base percentage is very average by collegiate standards (.366). Chandler Avant is hitting a respectable .314, but his slugging and on-base numbers are almost identical to Vance's. At .298, Hunter Alexander leads the team with 23 RBI and four home runs, but he's also struck out 33 times.
The goal for Texas A&M is to continue riding this recent wave of momentum and play good baseball. Even playing the conference's last-place team, you can't take anything for granted. If the Aggies don't come out Thursday night ready to play, this team can easily lose to Alabama on the road. Getting off to a good start means Brigham Hill being sharp and giving Rob Childress a minimum of seven quality innings of work. If that happens and the Aggie defense plays up to recent standards, the team has a very good chance to win the series opener. If Hill scuffles or the defense gives up a couple of early runs, then the Aggies will be in a dogfight.
On Friday, Texas A&M needs the Corbin Martin from LSU and not the Corbin Martin from the Auburn series. The junior fire-baller won't have to be perfect, but he can't lose his control and give up a big crooked number in the early innings. If that happens, I expect Childress to have a quicker trigger with Kaylor Chafin and Mitchell Kilkenny pitching much better out of the bullpen. He'll also have the services of Turner Larkins for a couple of innings if needed. Larkins looked very sharp, and was hitting 96 on the radar gun on Tuesday, so he's somebody the staff can go to out of the bullpen this weekend. The Aggies will have the advantage on the mound on Saturday as long as Stephen Kolek has a solid outing like the one he delivered on Sunday against Auburn.
At the plate, Braden Shewmake seems to have shaken off his mini-slump and will need to be a major run-producer this weekend. The freshman not only leads the team in RBI with 40, but he's lapped the rest of the team. Joel Davis is the second-leading RBI man with only 24. That's simply amazing for a true freshman second baseman.
Sticking with the freshman theme, Hunter Coleman has emerged as the team's second-best hitter at .348 and has found himself in the clean-up spot for the first time in his collegiate career. I wouldn't be surprised to see him cleaning-up again on Friday against the left-hander, Duarte. His production in the middle of the lineup has become a big factor over the past week. Austin Homan is slowly but surely bringing up his batting average. Near the .200 mark most of the year, the senior shortstop has risen up to .242 and seems to be getting better swings at the plate.
Christina DeRuyter, TexAgs
Aggie centerfielder Nick Choruby has entered a slump at the plate but has managed to maintain on-base percentage.
After a hot week two weeks ago, Nick Choruby slumped a little bit in the Auburn series and on Tuesday against Abilene Christian. He still leads the team in on-base percentage (.423), thanks to his team-leading 28 walks. That's the key for the senior lead-off hitter. He's at his most productive when he's selective at the plate and forcing long pitch counts. At the top of the lineup, a walk is just as good as a hit.
Finally, this recent 10-game turnaround (8-2) has coincided with much better defense by the Aggies, especially at the infield corners where George Janca and Joel Davis have improved significantly in the past couple of weeks. Combine that with the season-long sparkling play of Homan and Shewmake at the middle infield spots, and the defense has been outstanding in recent weeks. The general baseball motto that pitching and defense wins baseball games definitely applies this weekend against a solid-but-benign Alabama team.
It's an SEC weekend, so a lot is at stake. But for an Aggie team that dropped into an early 0-5 death spiral and has clawed its way back to 5-7 against some very good competition, these next two weeks are an opportunity to move up the SEC standings in a big way.
Over the next two weekends, A&M plays two teams with a combined 5-19 SEC record. The goal for this weekend is to win the series 2-1, and if things fall into place, possibly sweep the Tide. A 2-1 series win places the Aggies just one game under .500 (7-8) with 3-9 Tennessee coming to town next week. Lose the series 1-2, and it's definitely a step back to 6-9 with the Aggies needing a sweep against Tennessee simply to get back to .500. In addition, a couple of losses to a 14-19 Alabama squad will not look good on the season resume in regard to the NCAA Tournament.
Where: Sewell-Thomas Stadium — Tuscaloosa, Alabama
When: Thursday 6:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)
Friday 6:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)
Saturday 2:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)
Pitching matchups
- Thursday: Brigham Hill (RHP, 5-3, 2.65) vs. Jake Walters (RHP, 4-3, 3.00)
- Friday: Corbin Martin (RHP, 3-2, 4.33) vs. Dylan Duarte (LHP, 2-2, 3.27)
- Saturday: Stephen Kolek (RHP, 2-2, 4.43) vs. Nick Eicholtz (RHP, 1-0, 6.16)
Scouting Alabama
After taking the series against Auburn last week, the Texas Aggie baseball team will look to sweep the season series against the Alabama schools when they travel to Tuscaloosa to battle the last-place Crimson Tide. Before Aggie fans chalk up this series as an easy task, I'll say that any SEC team is dangerous, especially at home.
The Crimson Tide were competitive in every game and a whisker away from winning a road series against a ranked South Carolina team.
The season statistics don't look as bad as their 14-19 record in 2017.For example, Alabama traveled to South Carolina to face a very good Gamecock squad a couple of weeks ago and won a game. The two games they lost were by a combined three runs, including an extra-inning affair.
So the Crimson Tide were competitive in every game and a whisker away from winning a road series against a ranked SEC team. That shows you just how small the difference is in the SEC between the top teams in the conference and those at the bottom.
On the mound, the Tide don't have a dominant ace, but will run out experienced, solid starters on Thursday and Friday. Junior right-hander Jake Walters will take the mound on Thursday with a very capable 4-3 record and a 3.00 ERA. He has given up more hits than innings pitched, and opposing batters are hitting .270 against him. He has also given out 21 walks in 39 innings. Those aren't 'Friday night starter' numbers, but he is good enough to be dangerous if Brigham Hill isn't sharp and on his game.
The same can be said for game two starter Dylan Duarte. The left-hander has a respectable 2-2 record and a 3.27 ERA. Batters are hitting .257 against him. For a dominant left-handed hitting team, this will likely be Texas A&M's toughest match-up of the weekend, especially given the Aggies' inconsistent pitching performances in game two of their weekend series this season.
As with most struggling college teams, Alabama is searching for a suitable solution for a game three starter. Senior Nick Eicholtz (1-0, 6.16 ERA) is slated to take the hill on Saturday, but you have to wonder how long they will go with him given his struggles this year. It should be noted that while Eicholtz is struggling in 2017, he shut down an explosive Texas A&M offense last year, allowing just one run in six innings. Overall, Alabama's team ERA currently sits at 4.01 compared to the Aggies' 3.66 average.
At the plate, Alabama's sticks are similar to its arms in that it has three or four solid batters hitting over .300, but there's no dominant, scary run-producer that pitchers will work around if needed. Cobie Vance leads the starters in hitting at .323, but his slugging percentage is below .400 (.394) and his on-base percentage is very average by collegiate standards (.366). Chandler Avant is hitting a respectable .314, but his slugging and on-base numbers are almost identical to Vance's. At .298, Hunter Alexander leads the team with 23 RBI and four home runs, but he's also struck out 33 times.
The Aggies definitely have an advantage at the plate, and A&M pitchers should do well if they hit their spots, stay ahead in the count and minimize free passes.
Overall, the Crimson Tide is hitting .273 as a team and has plated 165 runs. Texas A&M boasts a .287 team average and 232 runs scored. The Aggies definitely have an advantage at the plate, and A&M pitchers should do well if they hit their spots, stay ahead in the count and minimize free passes.Texas A&M storylines to watch
The goal for Texas A&M is to continue riding this recent wave of momentum and play good baseball. Even playing the conference's last-place team, you can't take anything for granted. If the Aggies don't come out Thursday night ready to play, this team can easily lose to Alabama on the road. Getting off to a good start means Brigham Hill being sharp and giving Rob Childress a minimum of seven quality innings of work. If that happens and the Aggie defense plays up to recent standards, the team has a very good chance to win the series opener. If Hill scuffles or the defense gives up a couple of early runs, then the Aggies will be in a dogfight.
On Friday, Texas A&M needs the Corbin Martin from LSU and not the Corbin Martin from the Auburn series. The junior fire-baller won't have to be perfect, but he can't lose his control and give up a big crooked number in the early innings. If that happens, I expect Childress to have a quicker trigger with Kaylor Chafin and Mitchell Kilkenny pitching much better out of the bullpen. He'll also have the services of Turner Larkins for a couple of innings if needed. Larkins looked very sharp, and was hitting 96 on the radar gun on Tuesday, so he's somebody the staff can go to out of the bullpen this weekend. The Aggies will have the advantage on the mound on Saturday as long as Stephen Kolek has a solid outing like the one he delivered on Sunday against Auburn.
At the plate, Braden Shewmake seems to have shaken off his mini-slump and will need to be a major run-producer this weekend. The freshman not only leads the team in RBI with 40, but he's lapped the rest of the team. Joel Davis is the second-leading RBI man with only 24. That's simply amazing for a true freshman second baseman.
Sticking with the freshman theme, Hunter Coleman has emerged as the team's second-best hitter at .348 and has found himself in the clean-up spot for the first time in his collegiate career. I wouldn't be surprised to see him cleaning-up again on Friday against the left-hander, Duarte. His production in the middle of the lineup has become a big factor over the past week. Austin Homan is slowly but surely bringing up his batting average. Near the .200 mark most of the year, the senior shortstop has risen up to .242 and seems to be getting better swings at the plate.
Christina DeRuyter, TexAgs
Aggie centerfielder Nick Choruby has entered a slump at the plate but has managed to maintain on-base percentage.
Finally, this recent 10-game turnaround (8-2) has coincided with much better defense by the Aggies, especially at the infield corners where George Janca and Joel Davis have improved significantly in the past couple of weeks. Combine that with the season-long sparkling play of Homan and Shewmake at the middle infield spots, and the defense has been outstanding in recent weeks. The general baseball motto that pitching and defense wins baseball games definitely applies this weekend against a solid-but-benign Alabama team.
What's at stake this weekend
It's an SEC weekend, so a lot is at stake. But for an Aggie team that dropped into an early 0-5 death spiral and has clawed its way back to 5-7 against some very good competition, these next two weeks are an opportunity to move up the SEC standings in a big way.
Over the next two weekends, A&M plays two teams with a combined 5-19 SEC record. The goal for this weekend is to win the series 2-1, and if things fall into place, possibly sweep the Tide. A 2-1 series win places the Aggies just one game under .500 (7-8) with 3-9 Tennessee coming to town next week. Lose the series 1-2, and it's definitely a step back to 6-9 with the Aggies needing a sweep against Tennessee simply to get back to .500. In addition, a couple of losses to a 14-19 Alabama squad will not look good on the season resume in regard to the NCAA Tournament.
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