How good does it feel going to the ballpark or flipping to the game on your TV and having that feeling that no lead is safe and that your team has a chance to win any game in any situation?
That’s the case with Texas A&M baseball 2022.
It’s a team filled with tough-minded grinders and a group that plays with a lot of guts, togetherness and determination.
A roster cobbled together by Jim Schlossnagle and his all-star crew of assistant coaches has come together in a big way during the season and suddenly finds itself tied for first place in the SEC West with Arkansas (Aggies own the tiebreaker) after sweeping Mississippi State this past weekend at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
They swept the defending national champs.
Sure, Will Bednar isn’t on that roster, Landon Sims is hurt and perhaps the top four bats from last year’s roster are also gone.
Still, there are quite a few guys on that roster that were a big part of a championship team, and despite their RPI ranking and poor season, it’s a team and program with a lot of pride and the ability to be very dangerous if you aren’t ready to play ball.
One thing that has become very clear in year one under Schlossnagle is that you never have to worry about his teams being ready to play... as if we didn’t already know that after seeing A&M’s season come to an end at the hands of Schlossnagle and TCU four times in six years.
The great thing about all of this is that the future is right here, right now. A&M is staring at a great opportunity to host a regional and is right on the cusp of a top-eight national seed.
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However, what we thought would eventually happen with a Schlossnagle-led program in Aggieland has started taking hold at least a year — or maybe two — earlier than anyone could have ever imagined or envisioned.
The great thing about all of this is that the future is right here, right now. A&M is staring at a great opportunity to host a regional and is right on the cusp of a top-eight national seed.
All in year one under Schlossnagle. Pretty unfathomable.
It’s right there for the taking if this special group of Aggies can keep it rolling by closing out the regular season in respectable fashion this weekend at Ole Miss and handling their business with a win or two in Hoover the following week.
Here’s a statistical look, By The Numbers, at A&M’s sweep of Mississippi State...
.444 - A&M’s batting average with runners in scoring position in the MSU series. The Aggies were an eye-catching 12-for-27 against the defending champs with runners on second and/or third — by far the best they’ve fared in this all-important category this season and likely the best they’ve done with RISP in a single series in ages.
1st - A&M’s current place in the SEC West with three games left. The Aggies are tied with Arkansas atop the division at 17-10, with A&M owning the tiebreaker through its series win over the Razorbacks a few weeks ago. The Aggies close the regular season at suddenly-red-hot Ole Miss while the Hogs take on Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Jamie Maury, TexAgs
Ryan Targac went a perfect 3-for-3 alongside two runs and an RBI in Sunday’s win.
#1 - Ryan Targac’s SEC ranking in RBIs in conference games. This weekend, the sophomore went a robust 6-for-10 (.600) vs. the Bulldogs but drove in just two runs in the series. Still, he sits two RBIs ahead of Florida’s BT Riopelle with 36 RBIs in 27 league contests. In addition, all but 11 of Targac’s RBIs have come against SEC pitching.
Targac also has nine home runs in SEC games, which is tied for 12th in the league. Targac is not the only A&M hitter leading the conference in a major offensive category. Dylan Rock is number one in runs scored with 35.
2.57 - A&M’s bullpen ERA against Mississippi State over the weekend. You would be hard-pressed to find a more improved individual unit within the season anywhere in the country than Nate Yeskie's stable of Aggie relievers. The bullpen continues to get better and displayed absolute brilliance for nearly the entirety of the series with the Bulldogs, allowing just four earned runs on nine hits in 14 innings of work.
A total of six different characters combined to give up just three walks to go along with 16 strikeouts. At the forefront of the conversation were Will Johnston and Chris Cortez.
Johnston got two saves on the weekend — his first two of the season — by getting the final out on Friday on a groundout against the only hitter he faced and then dominating Mississippi State hitters in 2.1 perfect innings to close out the Sunday win, fanning five hitters along the way.
Meanwhile, Cortez was masterful on Saturday, replacing Wyatt Tucker with no outs in the fifth inning and shutting down the State bats over the final five frames, giving up just one run on four hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
With Cortez and Johnston now rolling to go along with Jacob Palisch, A&M heads toward the postseason with a solid nucleus of relief options from both the left and right sides.
3 - Number of times since the move to the SEC (10 seasons) that A&M has won at least 17 conference games. The two other times came during the height of the Rob Childress era in 2015 and 2016 (both seasons ended with super-regional losses to Jim Schlossnagle and TCU), with the Ags winning 18 games in ’15 and 20 games in ’16. The 2022 squad is 17-10 and has a shot at improving on that this weekend at Ole Miss.
Jamie Maury, TexAgs
On Saturday, Chris Cortez collected his fifth win after allowing only one run on four hits in five innings of work.
4 - Teams in college baseball ranked in the top 20 in RPI, strength of schedule, ELO, and the D1Baseball.com poll. A&M is one of those teams, currently ranked 19th in RPI and SOS, third in ELO, and sixth in the D1Baseball poll. Here are the other four teams ranked in the top 20 in those four all-important sets of ratings/rankings:
- Oregon State (RPI #2; SOS #17; ELO #2; D1B #2)
- Auburn (RPI #4; SOS #5; ELO #5; D1B #19)
- Florida State (RPI #17; SOS #6; ELO #9; D1B #20)
Only two of those teams have won at least 13 games against Quadrant I (RPI top 50) teams: Florida State (15) and Texas A&M (13). By the way, Ole Miss’ RPI jumped 18 points with the sweep at LSU, and the Rebels have now entered Quadrant I, currently sitting at No. 38 as they await the Aggies in Oxford.
4.2 - Innings from Nathan Dettmer on Friday night vs. State. The sophomore did not produce the type of game one performance the Ags have grown accustomed to seeing from him this season. Dettmer allowed five earned runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out three. Four of his seven hits allowed went for extra bases.
5 - As in the Five Factors ... a stat that we’ve tracked for years in the old “Diamond Notes” feature and are continuing here. The five factors to success offensively and defensively/on the mound ... hitting with two outs, with runners on, with runners in scoring position, getting the leadoff man on base, and two-out RBIs. Here’s how A&M did on both offense and positionally in three games last week...
Offensively:
- Two outs - .324 (10-for-31) ... up 44 points from last week
- Runners on - .296 (16-for-54) ... down 33 points from last week
- Runners in scoring position - .444 (12-for-27) ... up 152 points from last week
- Leadoff OBP - .500 (12-for-24) ... up 59 points from last week
- Two-out RBI - 8 ... up 5 RBIs from last week
Defensively:
- Two outs - .250 (9-for-36) ... down (A&M improvement) 71 points from last week
- Runners on - .297 (11-for-37) ... up (opponent improvement) 38 points from last week
- Runners in scoring position - .241 (7-for-29) ... up 17 points from last week
- Leadoff OBP - .333 (9-for-27) ... down 205 points from last week
- Two-out RBIs - 7 ... down 1 RBI from last week
Jamie Maury, TexAgs
In this past weekend's sweep, Trevor Werner picked up his third and fourth homers of the season.
6 - RBIs for Trevor Werner vs. Mississippi State. The sophomore went 4-for-11 (.364) with two homers, six RBIs and four runs scored, all from his newfound leadoff spot. Werner was hitting .167 in league play before the series vs. the Bulldogs, so it was important for him to get rolling after coming off of a hand injury that sidelined him for about six weeks.
8 - Major offensive categories in which A&M leads the SEC in league games. With just one weekend to play in the regular season, the Aggies lead the league in batting average (.288), on-base percentage (.394), hits (276), RBIs (195), runs (205), doubles (52), walks (150) and sacrifice flies (17).
11 - Runs by the Aggie offense in the Mississippi State series in innings seven through nine. A&M produced a four-spot in the seventh inning and turned a 7-4 deficit into an 8-7 lead and win. On Saturday, the Ags were down 5-4 going to the seventh inning before plating two and three more in the eighth to win, 9-6. On Sunday, A&M held a 6-2 lead and tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the eighth to make it an 8-2 final. The Aggies allowed just two runs on the weekend after inning number six.
40 - Games in a row in which Dylan Rock has reached base safely. This ridiculous streak began way back on March 4 at the Frisco Classic. For the season, the UTSA grad transfer is slashing .333/.489/.655 with a team-leading 13 homers, 43 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.
In SEC games only, Rock ranks in the top-five in six major offensive categories. He’s first in runs scored (35), second in on-base percentage (.504) and OPS (1.236), tied for second in walks (28) and sacrifice flies (3) and fourth in slugging percentage (.732).
76.7% - Percentage of strikes thrown in two outings from Will Johnston over the weekend. The sophomore tossed two strikes (needing just three pitches) on Friday, retiring the lone hitter faced to pick up his first save of the season. On Sunday, Johnston threw 21 strikes in 27 pitches and mowed down the Bulldogs in 2.1 innings.
That’ll do it this week. Can’t wait for Thursday night to see what this baseball team has in store for us in Oxford.
See you around the ballpark soon!
