Who: Long Beach State (4-8, 0-0 Big West)
Where: Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park — College Station, TX
When: Friday 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC+)
Saturday 2:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)
Sunday 12:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)
Friday: Stephen Kolek (RHP, 2-1, 1.56) vs. Clayton Andrews (LHP, 1-2, 3.00)
Saturday: John Doxakis (LHP, 2-0, 1.17) vs. Zak Baayoun (LHP, 2-1, 2.21)
Sunday: Mitchell Kilkenny (RHP, 3-0, 1.83) vs. Tyler Radcliffe (RHP, 0-1, 6.75)
On the surface, Long Beach State looks like a team struggling with a tough 5-8 start to the season. But that record, at least in part, reflects the tough schedule the Dirtbags have played so far with games played against TCU (3), Arizona State (2), USC (1), Ole Miss (3), and Vanderbilt (1). They are 2-2 against powerhouse SEC teams, including a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the No. 10 Commodores on Wednesday. The defending Far West Conference champions have a long, storied past having played in four College World Series and eliminating Texas A&M from the NCAA Tournament in 1993. Last season, the Dirt Bags traveled to Austin for the NCAA Regionals, took down the Longhorns and advanced to the Super Regionals.
Due to such a difficult early schedule, it's hard to have a good read on the Dirtbags by just looking at their numbers. They are hitting a paltry .220 as a team, but remember that's against some of the best arms in the nation. Brooks Stotler leads the team with a .289 batting average and with a team-high on-base percentage of .377. The leading RBI man for Long Beach is Chris Jimenez with eight RBI to go along with his .231 average. Overall, the team has slugged just two home runs in 13 games, so the long ball is not the weapon of choice for this squad. In fact, the offense has scored a measly 44 runs through 13 games or 3.3 runs per contest. The Dirtbags will look to scrap a few runs and leave it to their pitching staff to grind out a low scoring contest.
On the mound, Long Beach has a pair of quality left-handed starters and a dominant closer who will challenge the Aggie bats this weekend. Through six combined starts, Clayton Andrews and Zak Baayoun have delivered six quality starts and have pitched deep into every game. Andrews has been the hard-luck Friday night hurler with a 1-2 record despite a respectable 3.00 ERA. Saturday starter Zak Baayoun could be Texas A&M's toughest assignment so far this year, sporting a 2-1 record with a 2.21 ERA pitching against the likes of TCU and Ole Miss. The Dirtbags are still looking for answers on Sundays, and they will go with right-hander Tyler Radcliffe who has struggled in his first two starts with a 0-1 mark and a hefty 6.75 ERA. If Long Beach can grab a late lead, they will give the ball to one of the top closers on the west coast. Chris Rivera has already saved four of the team's five wins. He has not allowed a run in his five appearances and opposing batters are hitting just .125 against him. Needless to say, the Aggies don't want to enter the late innings behind in the score.
So far, the season has gone better than expected. The two freshmen, Zach Deloach and Will Frizzell, have exceeded every expectation, hitting .389 and .362 respectively. Logan Foster is hitting .402, Chris Andritsos is driving the ball, as evidenced by his team-leading .714 slugging percentage, and Braden Shewmake and Michael Helman are hitting well over .300. Only one starter has come out of the blocks in a slump, and that's George Janca scuffling at .143. However, platooning at third base is JUCO transfer Allonte Wingate who is red hot hitting .500 in 24 at-bats. Overall, the Aggies are hitting .332 as a team. That will come down slowly with SEC pitchers just around the corner, but for now the bats have taken care of business. Long Beach State brings in two SEC-quality left-handed starters this weekend, so the Friday and Saturday contests will give Texas A&M hitters a valid barometer of where they stand with conference play just one week away. Can the freshmen hold up to the better pitching? Even more challenging for the two fish hitters will be the left-on-left match-ups against Andrews and Baayoun. It will also be interesting to see what Coach Childress does with the Janca and Wingate at third base.
On the mound, the big storyline is the expected move of sophomore John Doxakis to the weekend rotation on Saturday, replacing freshman Chandler Jozwiak. It's not that Jozwiak's 1-0 record and 2.35 ERA was a problem, but rather Doxakis hitting on all cylinders with a team-leading 1.17 ERA. Control was an issue with the lefty last season, but so far in 2018 he's walked only three batters in 15.1 innings while striking out 18. You can't keep those numbers out of the weekend rotation. But those dominant numbers don't begin or end with Doxakis. Stephen Kolek is rolling into his fourth Friday night start with a cool 1.56 ERA. And Sunday starter Mitchell Kilkenny has the most impressive stat line, allowing just one walk in 19.1 innings while striking out 22. That is phenomenal for a college pitcher. His 1.83 ERA means the entire weekend rotation sits under a 2.00 ERA.
If there is one area with a few small question marks, it's in the bullpen where seniors Kaylor Chafin and Cason Sherrod have struggled to show the consistency needed to anchor the relievers. Both share an ERA of 3.86 which isn't bad for the college ranks, but it isn't closer performance either, especially at the level Texas A&M hopes or expects. The coaches would like to get some answers with those two and a couple of young freshman arms before SEC play.
The Aggies return to Olsen Field this weekend with an oppurtinity to further prove themselves agasinst tournament-quality competition before the start of SEC play next weekend at Auburn. You would like to see a better showing from A&M, particularly at the plate, than was delivered last week against Louisiana Tech's Friday starter, Matt Miller, to demonstrate they are capable of working and eventualy scoring runs off a true ace. A series victory over the Dirtbags this weekend would also go a long way in setting the tone for the guantlet of Southeastern Conference baseball that the Texas Aggies are about to enter.
