Jim Schlossnagle recaps Texas A&M's weekend series victory over Santa Clara

Aggie baseball head coach Jim Schlossnagle joined Monday's edition of TexAgs Radio to look back on his team's series win over Santa Clara, provide an update on the latest round of injuries for the Maroon & White and more.

Key notes from Jim Schlossnagle

• I think any time you can get a win, no matter how ugly or pretty it is, it's always good, especially given our roster and injury problems. We'll take it. Any win is a good win, and they're so hard to get. It was a good weekend for us. I would've liked to spread the games over three days rather than a doubleheader because it gives us a chance to utilize our pitching better.
   
• The game is about pitching, defense and timely hitting. Two-out hitting is what changes games. When you're on defense, you want to end the inning and not allow them to score on defense. That's something that's a round in our batting practice every single day. You're just trying to put together a good at-bat, get a pitch to hit and put a good swing on it. It's about being consistent in your at-bats. Know that you're in charge and get a good pitch to hit.
   
• I've seen Micah Dallas pitch very well, dating back to when I was at TCU and he was at Texas Tech. He can pitch with anyone in the country when he has it going. I think he enjoys being here, and Nate Yeskie has done a great job working with him. Nathan Dettmer has been throwing Fridays for us, but he had a rough spell in his last two starts. We still have high hopes for Nathan. We'll see how everybody is feeling in the first part of the week and then decide.
   
• Ryan Prager has been right there with Dallas in terms of a consistent starting pitcher. To have a freshman go out there against a team that was swinging the bats well and toss six-plus shutout innings, that was the performance of the weekend along with Dallas.
   
• The whole game of baseball is as mental as it is physical. Dettmer knows why he didn't have success in his last couple of starts. It begins with fastball command and then landing an offspeed pitch for strikes. When you're not doing that, it's a recipe for disaster regardless of who you're playing. Dettmer is a better pitcher than that. Sometimes you're able to win without your best stuff, and I actually thought Dallas' start might have been his worst start. Dettmer didn't have that luck, but we're fully confident in him and looking forward to him bouncing back next week.
   
• We have so many non-conference games to play the rest of the year, but you'd like to win it and go into SEC play feeling good. Houston is playing really well right now. Todd Whitting and I are really good friends from his time at TCU. He deserves a lot of credit for helping get the TCU program off the mat. We'll get Khristian Curtis back out there tomorrow night, and we have a lot to prove.
   
• I'm excited to experience SEC play. I'm definitely not nervous. I coached at Tulane for eight years, so I have plenty of experience at the old Alex Box Stadium. This will be my first trip to the new one. Yes, I know how rough they can be on opposing fans and players. We'll get through Tuesday before we turn our focus on LSU. I know what kind of gauntlet the SEC is, but that's part of the reason myself and the coaching staff came to Texas A&M. We're going to build a winner here that the 12th Man can be proud of, and I'm excited to get that going.
   
• I have a perfect idea of what the lineup looks like. Our starting shortstop is our 4-6 weeks. Our starting third baseman is out 4-6 weeks. We thought Austin Stracener would be a guy that we'd redshirt this year, but here we are. We need to get more out of some of our veteran players offensively. I think the lineup you saw yesterday is what it is for the most part with a move here or there.
   
• You know injuries are going to happen. It's part of the game. It's frustrating, but it's more frustrating for the player. You start the season off, and some guys aren't in the lineup much. You try to encourage them to be ready because things could change in an instant, and they obviously have. You have to have depth in your program, and you build that through recruiting. There is no AAA. There is nobody to call up. Guys like Stracener and Ty Hodge have to step up. What a blessing it is for Kole Kaler to move to short while Kalae Harrison is down. We're going to have to catch the baseball, and I thought that was one of our biggest strengths. We'll have to do it with different guys now.
   
• Our starting pitching has surprised me the most. We've had two or three bad outings out of 15. I knew Prager was good because you could see it in his presence and talent. He has exceeded my expectations to this point. Dallas was inconsistent at Tech, but through four starts, he has been consistent. Although our starting pitching probably grades out as a B, it has been better than we thought it would be through four weeks.