It’s remarkable when you stop and think about this statement, which is now a reality: Texas A&M is a top-eight national seed in 2022.
Jim Schlossnagle’s first season saw the Aggies scuffle mightily out of the gate, going 10-6 in its first 16 games. It looked bleak. It looked hapless. Honestly, it looked much like we expected it to look in Schlossnagle’s first season, considering that this is only year one for the new regime and the roster that he inherited.
So to see where this team is now — winners of the SEC West division, ranked as the #5 national seed and playing outstanding baseball as it prepares to host TCU, Louisiana and Oral Roberts this weekend in the College Station Regional — is one of the most extraordinary things I’ve seen in 18 seasons covering Aggie Baseball.
And you get the feeling that it’s only getting started.
The bats are still rolling, much as they’ve been throughout SEC play. Micah Dallas is coming off of his best outing in about 10 weeks. The bullpen has figured out many things and has no fewer than four guys — Will Johnston, Jacob Palisch, Joseph Menefee and Chris Cortez — hooked up and pitching very well in relief.
Michael Wade/SEC Photo
The Aggies received the #5 national seed and will have home-field advantage through the upcoming regional and super regional rounds.
It’ll be fascinating whether Schlossnagle elects to start Nathan Dettmer in game one against four-seed ORU or hold him for game two vs. the Horned Frogs or Ragin’ Cajuns. A very likely scenario is for Schlossnagle and Nate Yeskie to start Dallas on Friday to continue to build back his confidence and have Dettmer waiting in the wings for Saturday.
And with how each pitched last week, I don’t think that’s an outrageous proposition.
It’s just the third time in the super regional era (1999-present) that the Aggies have gotten a top-eight national seed (’99 and ’16).
But get used to it because top-eight seeds are common occurrences for Schlossnagle. This is the fifth time that Schlossnagle has coached his team to a national seed in the last eight years.
That’s a huge reason he has reached the College World Series five times since 2010 and has won 11 games in Omaha. And in year one, he’s got a group of players and coaches primed and ready to make another run at it starting this weekend in Aggieland.
It’s going to be a fun weekend in College Station with storylines galore, and it’s only fitting that the Aggies will likely have to go through that team in purple to advance in Schlossnagle’s first tournament with the Aggies.
Here’s a statistical look, By The Numbers, at A&M’s 2-1 showing in the SEC Tournament last week in Hoover...
+.005 - OPS for Dylan Rock in 2022 (so far) vs. Will Frizzell in 2021. Last season, Frizzell enjoyed a historically great individual season for the Aggies. He slashed .343/.451/.686 (1.137 OPS) with 12 doubles, 19 home runs and 49 RBIs. He walked 39 times with only 43 strikeouts and even stole three bags (not bad for a 6-foot-3, 235-pounder who underwent copious injuries during his collegiate career).
But who would have ever guessed that Rock — a UTSA grad transfer — would be better this year than Frizzell had last year?
Rock has been nothing short of remarkable in his lone season in Aggieland, slashing .326/.474/.668 (1.142 OPS) with 12 doubles, 17 home runs and 54 RBIs. He’s walked 44 times, has struck out just 39 and stolen 16 bags this season.
The last time an Aggie enjoyed an OPS above Rock’s 1.142 in an entire season (Zach DeLoach was at 1.336 when play was halted in ’20) was Luke Anders in 2008. That season, The Big Donkey hit .349/.486/.660 (1.146 OPS) with 13 doubles, three triples, 16 homers and 58 RBIs.
Michael Wade/SEC Photo
Jack Moss was named to the 2022 SEC All-Tournament team.
.500 - Jack Moss’ batting average in the three SEC Tournament games. The two-hole hitter went 6-for-12 with an RBI and a run scored. All six of Moss’ hits were singles. Hitters 1-4 in the A&M lineup went 12-for-34 (.353) with four home runs, 14 RBIs and eight runs scored in the first two games in Hoover before suffering through a 3-for-15 (.200) showing in Saturday’s loss to UF. Moss had two of the three hits from that group in the game.
1 - Games all season that the Aggies have been shut out. That came in A&M’s last game ... a 9-0 loss to Florida after run-ruling the Gators just two days earlier. The Aggies scored 22 runs in their first two games in Hoover before getting blanked by UF.
3 - Number of times in the super regional era (1999-present) that Texas A&M has received a top-eight national seed and the right to host both a regional and a super regional (if it wins its regional) in College Station.
The Aggies garnered a top-eight seed in ’99 on their way to the College World Series. They also received a national seed in 2016, ultimately hosting and falling to Schlossnagle and TCU in the College Station Super Regional that season. Coach Schlossnagle received a top-eight seed in Ft. Worth four times in his last seven seasons with the Horned Frogs.
4 - Total runs allowed by Will Johnston in the last two months of the season. That spans 15 outings dating back to a two-inning appearance against Auburn on March 26. During that time frame, the sophomore lefty has allowed just four earned runs on 18 hits over 24.2 innings (1.46 ERA), walking just 10 and fanning 32. Dating back to his April 30 outing at Vanderbilt, Johnston has not walked a single hitter and has struck out 22.
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 in Hoover last week...
Offensively:
- Two outs - .343 (12-for-35) ... up 10 points from last week
- Runners on - .318 (14-for-44) ... up 30 points from last week
- Runners in scoring position - .360 (9-for-25) ... up 74 points from last week
- Leadoff OBP - .400 (10-for-25) ... up 90 points from last week
- Two-out RBIs - 12 ... down four RBIs from last week
Defensively:
- Two outs - .138 (4-for-29) ... down (A&M improvement) 135 points from last week
- Runners on - .239 (11-for-46) ... down 66 points from last week
- Runners in scoring position - .276 (8-for-29) ... down 75 points from last week
- Leadoff OBP - .400 (10-for-25) ... down 23 points from last week
- Two-out RBIs - three ... down six RBIs from last week
6 - Home runs by the Aggie hitters in Hoover. All six came in the first two tournament games before failing to score a run in the third and final game. Trevor Werner led the way with two dingers, one in each game. Dylan Rock, Austin Bost, Ryan Targac and Jordan Thompson had one homer. That’s 13 long balls for A&M hitters in the two weeks leading into regional play and currently sits at 73 home runs.
Michael Wade/SEC Photo
Despite boasting one of the best offenses in the nation, the Aggies were held scoreless for the first time this season in Saturday’s 9-0 loss to Florida.
That’s the most in a season for the Aggies since blasting 85 dingers in 2009 (two years before college baseball switched to BBCOR bats).
11.17 - Nathan Dettmer’s ERA over his last three starts. The sophomore right-hander has given up 12 earned runs on 15 hits in 9.2 innings dating back to his May 13 start against Mississippi State. He’s also walked six and struck out just eight during that span.
A foot blister has been the documented culprit. Still, Dettmer was reportedly close to fully recovered from the injury last week heading into his SEC Tournament start against Alabama, but he lasted just 1.1 innings and gave up three earned runs.
38 - Strikeouts for Joseph Menefee in his last seven appearances, dating back to a seven-strikeout performance vs. Arkansas in 4.2 innings on April 23. Since that outing, Menefee has struck out 38 hitters and walked 16 in 23 innings of work (0.7 walks and 1.7 strikeouts per inning).
43 - Most pitches any of A&M’s bullpen arms threw in Hoover last weekend. Will Johnston tossed 43 pitches in his three-inning save against Alabama on Friday night, allowing no runs on three hits, no walks and five strikeouts.
Jacob Palisch was right behind him at 42 pitches, followed by Chris Cortez (38). Joseph Menefee needed just 25 pitches (18 strikes) to get through his two-inning stint in the run-rule win over Florida last Thursday. On Saturday, Robert Hogan tossed only 24 pitches in the loss to the Gators.
75 - Days between starts for Micah Dallas, in which he went at least five innings and gave up fewer than three earned runs. That dates back to a win over Santa Clara in March when Dallas gave up two earned runs in five innings.
Things got rocky for Dallas in SEC play. The ERA ballooned to 9.08 in league games, and he found himself out of the rotation altogether during the stretch run of the regular season.
He threw a total of 1.1 innings over 27 days before getting the start against Florida to open up A&M’s run in Hoover and was brilliant in the game. Dallas had his full three-pitch mix working, blanking the Gators, giving up just one hit and one walk over five innings and punched out seven hitters.
That’ll do it for this week. It will be a memorable scene this weekend on the corner of George Bush and Olsen.
I can’t wait. See you around the ballpark.
