Series Preview: Texas A&M at Shriners College Classic
Also included above is Diamond Talk with Gabe Bock and Scott Clendenin from Friday’s edition of TexAgs Radio.
Who: No. 12 Baylor (8-0, 0-0 B-12), No. 23 TCU (5-2, 0-0 B-12), UH (4-3, 0-0 AAC)
Where: Minute Maid Park — Houston, TX
When:
Friday 7:00 p.m. CT (AT&T SportsNet)
Saturday 7:00 p.m. CT (AT&T SportsNet)
Sunday 3:00 p.m. CT (AT&T SportsNet)
Pitching matchups
Friday: John Doxakis (LHP, 2-0, 0.00) vs. Hayden Kettler (RHP, 2-0, 0.00)
Saturday: Asa Lacy (LHP, 2-0, 0.82) vs. Brandon Williamson (LHP, 1-0, 2.08)
Sunday: Jonathan Childress (LHP, 0-1, 2.79) vs. Lael Lockhart (LHP, 0-1, 6.75)
Scouting - Shriners College Classic
Friday - No. 12 Baylor
Head coach Steve Rodriguez has spent the past couple of years rebuilding the Baylor baseball program, and it appears 2019 could be his breakout season. The Bears made it back to the NCAA Regionals in 2018 but bowed out quickly in Palo Alto to finish the season at a respectable 37-21. But expectations are higher which is reflected in their lofty No. 12 ranking. While the Bears are 8-0, they haven’t been tested so far this season with wins over Cornell and Holy Cross. So Friday night’s contest with the Aggies will be their first serious challenge of the season, as it will be A&M’s first front-line competition of the young season.
Baylor has come out smoking offensively hitting .375 as a team which is third nationally. They’ve slugged 11 home runs and have scored a hefty 10.4 runs a game. On the flip side, the pitching has been solid, but unspectacular against the lighter competition. The Bears sport a 4.00 ERA. However, Friday’s starter, Hayden Kettler, has been a rock so far with a perfect 2-0 mark and a 0.00 ERA. So it will be the battle of 0.00 ERA’s on Friday with John Doxakis going for the Aggies. It should be noted that the Aggies faced Kettler in the Frisco tournament last season, winning 5-4 and collecting seven hits in six innings of work.
Saturday - No. 23 TCU
Over the past 3-4 years, the Horned Frogs have emerged as a secondary rival for the Aggies after several memorable post-season confrontations. Jim Schlossnagle has built a nationally relevant program in Fort Worth, and 2019 will be no different. One advantage that TCU will have coming into Saturday’s contest is the schedule. Texas Christian has already beaten blue bloods Vanderbilt and Virginia, and have lost to Cal State-Fullerton. They also have a bad loss to Grand Canyon.
The biggest early season storyline for the Frogs is their pitching. Two of their weekend starters did not participate in fall workouts and are still rounding into shape this spring. That includes Saturday’s scheduled starter Brandon Williamson. The 6-foot-6 lefty is considered one of the best prospects in college baseball, but he’s not quite hitting on all cylinders and has only been stretched to five innings so far. Despite his “struggles”, he still boasts a record of 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA. But in his last start against Grand Canyon, he did allow 4 hits, 3 walks, and 3 runs.
At the plate, TCU has plenty of pop in the lineup. The Frogs have a team batting average of .311 with nine home runs and they’ve put up an average of 7.85 runs per game.
The offense is led by Johnny Rizer who is hitting .429 with a .784 slugging percentage, and Jake Guenther who is hitting .417 with a whopping 12 RBI and a team-leading slugging percentage of .875. TCU has the most well-rounded team in the Minute Maid Classic field.
Sunday - University of Houston
The Cougars are off to a ho-hum 4-3 start, but they did win two games against No. 24 ranked Arizona at home last weekend. Losses to McNeese State and Northwestern State have dampened the start of the 2019 season. Sunday’s game will be a battle of struggling offenses. As much as A&M has struggled offensively with a team average of .242, the Cougars’ are limping into the weekend with a paltry .239 batting average. UH is scoring just 4.4 runs per contest.
The Aggies are scheduled to face UH left-hander Lael Lockhart who has had a rocky start so far in 2019 with a 0-1 record and a bloated 6.79 ERA. Houston’s team ERA is high as well at 4.50. THis could be what the doctor order for Texas A&M’s offense.
Texas A&M storylines to watch
At this point, it’s no secret that all eyes are on the offense. Given the early season competition, Texas A&M’s team batting average (.242) is about 70 points below where it should be at this point in the season. The task to break out of this deep slump will be daunting going up against Baylor’s Kettler with a 0.00 ERA and Williamson of TCU with a 2.08 ERA. It all starts with Braden Shewmake who is supposed to be the cornerstone of this lineup who is flirting with the Mendoza line (.200). He did collect a couple of extra base hits on Tuesday against HBU and he actually went the other way with a single between shortstop and 3rd base on Wednesday, but there’s still way to many pitches harmlessly pulled on the ground to the right side of infield. If Shewmake struggles this weekend, the Aggies will be hard-pressed to generate a lot of runs.
Aside from Shewmake, guys like Bryce Blaum and Mikey Hoehner, who are putting up solid .300 averages, need to have some breakout multi-hit, multi-run games this weekend to spark this offense. Logan Foster needs to start ripping some home runs and gappers which is his strength as a hitter. There are quite a few veterans who need to shake the doldrums and start creating at the plate. It’s easier said than done, but at some point soon they have to deliver on their potential.
On the mound, it’s pretty simple. Keep doing what you are doing which is throw strikes, limit walks and dominate the competition. For Doxakis and Lacy, the assignment will be tough because with a struggling offense matched up against some stellar pitching, there is little room for error. The pitchers must avoid falling behind in the count trying to be too fine and feeling that they must put up zeroes every inning to win. It would make their jobs much easier if the offense could put an early 2-spot on the board.
What's at stake this weekend?
Normally at this early stage, I’d tell you that not much is on the line other than improving execution and playing good, fundamental baseball. But after losing two games to the likes of Illinois-Chicago and Incarnate Word, there’s some pressure to win a couple of games in the Minute Maid Classic. If A&M comes out of this weekend at 9-4 or heaven forbid 8-5, they will be in a hole with the killer SEC slate approaching. The reason why last year’s A&M team made the NCAA Regionals despite a 13-17 SEC record was the stellar non-conference record. Under Childress, Texas A&M has always done well in early season non-conference action that gives the team some wiggle room in SEC play. Well, lose 2-3 games this weekend and that wiggle room is gone in 2019. That won’t be good.
