Diamond Notes: Texas A&M takes series from Vandy, jumps to No. 13

What a weekend at Olsen Field for the now 13th-ranked Texas Aggie baseball team. Rob Childress’ squad scratched and clawed its way to a series win over a Vanderbilt squad that entered the weekend ranked No. 1 in the D1Baseball.com poll. It was a series that featured a little bit of everything ... elite defensive plays all over the field, some outstanding moments and performances on the mound, great at bats on Saturday and Sunday up and down the lineup, and of course, Olsen Magic. If I told you going into the series with the ‘Dores that John Doxakis and Asa Lacy would combine to allow seven earned runs but would still win the series, you would think I was crazy. But that’s exactly what happened. The Aggies won the series with their bats, gloves, bullpen, an incredible Sunday mound display and a whole lot of heart and toughness. Here are some Monday afternoon thoughts, notes, stats and interesting nuggets on the A&M team coming out of the Vandy series and a 2-1 start to SEC play...

Hitter of the Week: 

INF/OF Jonathan Ducoff | 4-for-6 (.667); 1 double; 7 RBI

What a story we got to witness on Saturday and Sunday. Fifth-year senior Jonathan Ducoff, a transfer from HBU who survived a battle with Leukemia during the 2018 season and hit nine home runs while going through chemotherapy in-season a year ago, did not play in Tuesday’s loss to DBU or Friday’s loss to Vanderbilt. He didn’t start the Saturday game vs. Vandy and didn’t enter the game until the eighth inning in game two of the series against the Commodores.

Tarah Cochran, TexAgs

Jonathan Ducoff in his first seaosn at Texas A&M has been a huge impact for the Aggies.

Ducoff pinch hit for Zach DeLoach with one out and the bases loaded and laced a two-run single into left field to ignite a five-run rally that tied the game at 7-7. Then in the ninth, Ducoff smoked a single just over the glove of third baseman Austin Martin, scoring Ty Condel from second base for the game winner and the first true taste of Olsen Magic in 2019. The journeyman who started his college career at Baylor was rewarded the next day with a Sunday start in right field, and he did not disappoint. Ducoff went 2-for-4 on Sunday with a single and a double, driving in four runs from the eight-hole to fuel a 7-0 A&M win in the rubber match. Ducoff started one game last week and played a total of 11 innings, yet drove in seven runs. He entered Saturday with just four hits on the season but had four hits in the Vandy series alone to double his hit total on the year and increase his average from .148 to .242.

In just 33 at bats in ’19, Ducoff has 16 RBI. That is tied with Ty Coleman for second on the team and just two RBI behind Braden Shewmake for the team lead. Shewmake has 18 RBI in 87 at bats … almost three times the official at bats as Ducoff. It’s time we see Jonathan Ducoff get the chance to not only play every day, but to bat in the middle of the lineup. This team is desperate for middle-order production. With Cam Blake batting second and going lefty-lefty in the two-hole and three-hole, somebody has to step up from the right side and hit cleanup. From what I’ve seen all season, I don’t know why that can’t be Ducoff. It’s a change I would make immediately, starting with the Rice game on Tuesday.

Pitcher of the Week:

RHP Christian Roa | 7.0 IP; 3 H; 0 R; 2 BB; 7 K

The sophomore drew his second Sunday start in place of the injured Jonathan Childress and was spectacular. Roa mowed down a lefty-dominant Vandy lineup with an impressive four-pitch mix, top-flight command of the strike zone and a next-level changeup. He tossed seven scoreless frames, scattering three hits and punching out seven while walking just two batters. He tossed 60 strikes in a 90-pitch outing (67% strike rate). The effort was good enough to earn him SEC Pitcher of the Week honors after week one of league play. Roa has everything you want in a starting pitcher and features pinpoint accuracy, a great feel to pitch and low-90s heat to go along with the outstanding changeup. On the year, the Memorial High School product is 2-1 with a 2.29 ERA. He’s allowed just 14 hits in 19.2 innings of work with just three walks and 21 strikeouts (a cool 7/1 K/BB ratio). He’s limiting opponents to a paltry .200 average thus far.

Who’s Hot?

OF Cam Blake - The junior started all four games last week in left field and went 6-for-17 (.353) with three RBI. All three runs batted in came on one swing of the bat, when he followed Ducoff’s two-run single in the eighth on Saturday with a three-run triple to center field, tying the game at 7-7 and setting up Magic in the ninth inning. Blake hit in the two-hole on Saturday and Sunday and enjoyed a 4-for-10 performance in the last two games of the Vandy series. He looked quite comfortable hitting second in-between Bryce Blaum and Braden Shewmake and I certainly see that move sticking at this point. Blake leads the team in average at .340 with a respectable .832 OPS in ’19.

Mintie Betts, TexAgs

The true freshman, Ty Coleman, had a sluggish start this week but came through in a big way this weekend.

3B Ty Coleman - The freshman started the week going 0-for-8 in the two losses against DBU and Vandy but came alive in the wins on Saturday and Sunday. Coleman went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and an RBI in game two vs. Vanderbilt and enjoyed a 3-for-4, one RBI afternoon in the rubber match. Overall, the younger of the Coleman brothers hit .357 on the week but was 5-for-6 in the final two games. Coleman is second on the team in average (.321), home runs (2), RBI (16) and on-base percentage (.391) and leads the team with an impressive .464 slugging percentage.

RHP Kasey Kalich - The sophomore closer battled slight command issues and a very tight strike zone by home plate umpire Barry Chambers on Saturday and delivered in a big way in game two vs. Vandy. With the game on the line and immediately after the Aggies tied it up at 7-7 with a five-run eighth inning, Kalich got into a big ninth inning jam. He loaded the bases with one out and had four-hole hitter Stephen Scott and five-hole hitter Philip Clarke coming to the plate. The tough-minded Kalich struck out both guys swinging to get out of the jam, setting the stage for the Ducoff heroics in the bottom of the ninth. On the year, Kalich is 1-0 with a 0.79 ERA and five saves. He’s allowed just six hits in 11.1 innings of work, walking just three and punching out 16 (better than 5/1 K/BB ratio). Opponents are hitting a minuscule .158 against Kalich this season.

LHP Chris Weber - The freshman tossed 1.1 scoreless frames out of the pen in the loss at DBU on Tuesday, striking out three of the four batters faced. Then on Friday, Weber allowed two runs on four hits over the final three frames in the loss to Vandy but looked very sharp and comfortable on the mound. He didn’t walk a man and punched out three. That’s six Ks and no free passes last week in 4.1 innings of work. The development of Weber is very important because with lefty Chandler Jozwiak starting on Tuesdays, Moo Menefee still getting back to full strength after Tommy John surgery a year ago and being down a left-hander for the year in Jonathan Childress, Rob Childress really needs Weber to step up and fill a bullpen spot from the left side. Joz can pitch out of the pen on Saturdays and Menefee is a major left-handed factor in relief, but Weber and Dustin Saenz have to step to the forefront and produce in big spots on occasion out of the pen during weekend series against SEC competition.

Who’s Not?

2B Bryce Blaum - The sophomore transfer from Ole Miss has been red hot to start the season. Not so much last week, however, as Blaum went 3-for-17 (.176) with just one RBI and one run scored. Now, Blaum smoked a few balls that either got held up by the wind blowing in from the outfield or were hit right to opposing defenders for loud outs. His barrel count was about where the coaching staff wants it to be last week, but it was just one of those weeks where the ball consistently found leather for him last week. That’ll likely even out and the good news is that he still looks quite comfortable in the box and is hitting the ball hard to all fields.

Mintie Betts, TexAgs

The first baseman seems to be in a small slump at the moment, but has showed his impact on the diamond this season.

1B Hunter Coleman - The junior went 0-for-8 last week in three starts at first base. It’s clear that the coaching staff is trying to force Coleman into action in hopes that he hits his stride eventually. Mostly because he’s an elite defender at first base but additionally because of his veteran presence and leadership in the lineup. Coleman is a good hitter with a good approach. He’s just mired in about a year-long slump and is looking for answers offensively right now, hitting just .172 on the season with just three RBI. He does have two home runs, however, and his nine walks have attributed to a salty .385 on-base percentage.

Other thoughts and notes:

• With the weekend that Jonathan Ducoff enjoyed against Vandy, you have to find a spot for him in the lineup. He’s a guy that can play both corner infield spots and all three outfield spots and he’s smashing baseballs hard and on a line right now. It sounds like Logan Foster is day-to-day with a strained groin and should definitely be back by this weekend at Kentucky. So what happens when Foster returns to the lineup? I think you have to insert him back into the lineup in right field. So where does that leave Ducoff? With the way Blake is playing in left and Ty Coleman is performing at third, neither of those slots are really an option right now. You have to like what you’re getting from Ty Condel in terms of defensive presence and offensive production at the bottom of the order. So that leaves two spots ... DH in place of Will Frizzell or first base for Hunter Coleman and Aaron Walters. My gut feeling is to keep Hunter at first base because of his defensive ability and ride it out to see if you can get his bat going, and insert Ducoff in for Frizzell at DH. Will isn’t seeing the baseball well right now and has a paltry .222 / .302 / .278 slashline in 15 starts. I say roll with Ducoff at DH and put in him the middle of the lineup and see what he can do for you. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed in his production. Or better yet, hit Ducoff for Frizzell against lefties and put Ducoff at first base for Hunter Coleman against right-handers.
• Suddenly, the Aggies have become extremely right-handed throughout the lineup. Going into the year, we expected to get much more from lefty bats Will Frizzell (.222 / .302 / .278), Zach DeLoach (.167 / .352 / .167) and Aaron Walters (.237 / .326 / .237) but all three are struggling mightily through the first third of the season and are warranting less and less playing time and fewer and fewer at bats. That, combined with Blake now hitting in the two-hole just ahead of Shewmake means that if A&M plays its nine hottest hitters, they figure to be right-hand dominant in seven of the nine spots in the order ... including four-hole through one-hole. That’s not what you want and is probably why you’ll continue to see the Aggies roll out the aforementioned struggling lefties against right-handed pitching to see if they can find a spark somewhere.

The peripheral statistics of the 2019 pitching staff continue to be quite impressive. On the whole, the pitching staff has a combined 2.54 ERA and has allowed 147 hits in 195 total innings pitched. Now for the eye-popping numbers ... just 58 total walks and 242 strikeouts. That’s nearly a 4/1 K/BB ratio for an entire pitching staff. Unreal. Additionally, A&M pitchers have a combined .208 opponents average. Ridiculous. Let’s break it down even further...

• 9 A&M pitchers boast an ERA under 2.50.
• 10 have allowed fewer hits than innings pitched.
• 10 have a 3/1 K/BB ratio or better.
• 9 have held opponents to a .200 average or below.

Some individual highlights that stand out among the group...

• LHP John Doxakis has 40 strikeouts and just 4 walks allowed (10/1).
• LHP Asa Lacy has allowed just 15 hits in 29 innings of work ... nearly two frames per hit allowed.
• LHP Moo Menefee has struck out 12 batters with 0 walks in his first eight innings of his freshman season.
• RHP Bryce Miller has struck out 22 batters with just 7 walks in 14.2 innings … 13.5 Ks per nine innings.
• LHP Chandler Jozwiak has struck out 27 batters with 10 walks in 18.1 innings … 13.3 Ks per nine innings.

I think it’s time we think about the lineup completely differently when facing a right-hander vs. facing a lefty. There’s still not a clear-cut top nine or 10 guys and several positions seem to be up for grabs entering week two of SEC season ... particularly center field, first base and DH.

Here is what I would go with vs. left-handed pitching...

1. Blaum - 2B (R)
2. Blake - LF (L)
3. Shewmake - SS (L)
4. Ducoff - DH (R)
5. Hoehner - C (R)
6. T. Coleman - 3B (R)
7. Foster - RF (R)
8. H. Coleman - 1B (R)
9. Condel - CF (R)

Here’s what I would do vs. right-handers...

1. Blaum - 2B (R)
2. Blake - LF (L)
3. Shewmake - SS (L)
4. Ducoff - 1B (R)
5. Hoehner - C (R)
6. T. Coleman - 3B (R)
7. Frizzell - DH (L)
8. Foster - RF (R)
9. DeLoach - CF (L)

And I would still like to work in Walters because he has a very pure swing. But he’s hitting just .237 and doesn’t have one extra-base hit to his credit the entire season. We’re still waiting for the light to fully come on for the very talented Hill Country hitter.

• The SEC West went 13-2 overall in five series against the East in week one. Every series was either a 2-1 win or a 3-0 sweep for the West. The Aggies will stay on the East in week two, heading to Kentucky to take on the unranked Wildcats. UK got swept at LSU last weekend and got outscored, 25-7 in three games in Baton Rouge. The Aggies host Rice on Tuesday before making the trip to Lexington. It’s been a tremendous start for Rob Childress’ squad and A&M has a great opportunity to keep the hot start to league play going against a mediocre ‘Cats squad this weekend. TexAgs will have full post-game analysis reports from our rotation of Ryan Brauninger, David Sandhop and myself after each game in the series.

Key notes from Will Bolt interview

• The crowds were absolutely amazing this weekend. it was a huge difference maker in the two wins we got. We certainly saw some of the Olsen Magic happen, and our fans made it really tough for the Vanderbilt pitchers. I was proud of our guy’s resiliency and toughness, and to respond so well after a gut wrenching loss. Things weren’t going our way Saturday, but the guys just kept coming. Our last 15 innings have been fantastic. 
   
• The vibe is great right now. On Saturday, we challenged the guys to step up and make a comeback. We need to start forging the identity of our team. Saturday we kept coming when things weren’t going our way. If we didn’t have that mindset then there wouldn’t be a comeback. Being down that much late, the belief never left them.
   
• At this point we need to figure out how to be more consistent. We’ve played great defense and the pitching has been good. We have a lot of room to interchange batting lineups. Cam Blake looks good in the 2 hole, he took some good swing this weekend. Jonathan Ducoff has had 5 or 6 starts and drove in 16 runs. Ty Coleman has been a bit streaky but that 6 spot looks good for him right now. Normally, you would hope to have the lineup figured out by the time conference play comes around. 
   
• Logan Foster tweaked his quad, so he was held out. He could’ve pinch hit yesterday. It’ll be day-to-day, so not anything major. We anticipate having him back around the weekend, or potentially tomorrow.  
   
• Christian Roa has done a fantastic job. The coaching staff and his teammates knew he was capable of being a starting pitcher, and he has really mastered his role as a starter. He needed to get more opportunities, and when one of our starters went down he stepped up. He mixed up his four pitches well on Sunday, but his main weapon is that changeup.