Jim Schlossnagle previews Aggies' weekend trip to the Frisco Classic

Jim Schlossnagle and Texas A&M baseball hit the road for the first time this season as the Aggies head to North Texas for the Frisco Classic. Ahead of the tournament, Jim Schlossnagle spoke to TexAgs Radio about the unique challenges presented by this weekend's slate.

Key notes from Jim Schlossnagle interview

• We love playing at home and in one of the best environments in college baseball that’s only going to get better over time. The road trips are where great memories are made. Although it’s a neutral site this weekend, you still feel like it’s your group of guys vs. the world. Good times happen on the road, and you can lock in on your team. I’m looking forward to it, and I’ve never been part of the Frisco Classic. We’re looking forward to a good weather weekend, and we know the 12th Man always shows up there.
   
• It’s a lot of work to prepare for these tournaments. I don’t like to look at video ahead of a game we’re going to play. Other people on staff do that. I was up late last night breaking down Washington State. All of the amount of work you put in for one weekend, you have to multiply that times three for these tournaments. It is a lot of work, and your routine changes. We won’t get to take batting practice before the games. That’s normal for a tournament, but that’s out of routine. It's all good stuff because in the NCAA Tournament or a conference tournament, that's what it's like. This simulates that regional atmosphere somewhat.
   
• Washington State will be a good matchup between two Friday night starters. I've never faced Washington State in my career, so that will be fun. They have some big, athletic-looking guys. They've swung the bat well at the top of the order.
   
• I think Iowa, far and away, will be the most talented and physically gifted team we play all weekend. Iowa is a very, very good program. An underrated program across the country.
   
• Wichita State is a historic baseball program. They have a former major leaguer in the dugout, which should be a good test on Sunday.
   
• I've been pretty impressed with our starting pitching so far. Nathan Dettmer has been solid. I think he still has incredible room to grow, however. If I guy makes 10 starts, you'll have two where you are great, two where you're bad, and it's all about those six in the middle that define you as a pitcher. How can you keep your team in the game when you're not at your best?
   
• Brett Minnich has been huge for us. He gives us another left-handed bat, which we don't have a lot of. He's got speed on the bases, which is a big asset. The big key for Brett is to keep learning and getting better at using the whole field to hit. If you can use the whole field, it just makes you so tough to pitch to. It's only been eight games, but it's been a great start to the season.
   
• It's no surprise to us as a staff that the three guys that are leading our team in hitting right now use all of the field and draw walks. That's what we're trying to build on and get through the lineup 1 to 9.
   
• We need to get on time on fastballs. We're swinging through a lot of fastballs that are strikes. It doesn't matter how hard it's coming, you have to be ready for it. Our whole hitting philosophy is built off of being on time on fastballs. I hate the strikeouts. They are frustrating. When you go back and look at it, a lot of our strikeouts go back to not being on time on fastballs.
   
• We also have to be better at getting runners home when they are in scoring position. We are getting on base, getting in scoring position. We are just not driving them home. We spent a ton of time at practice recently on the importance of driving a guy home when there's a runner on third with less than two outs. That's huge.
   
• I want to win all three games. That's the bottom line this weekend. All jokes aside, we just need to keep getting better. Constant improvement is what we need right now. I want to see some more arms come out of the bullpen and perform well. We also need to play better team offense. We need to be healthy as well. We need to get Trevor Werner back as well. Not sure if he will play this weekend, but he is making strides. He makes the complexion of our lineup so much different when he's in there.