Schlossnagle's Aggies begin make-or-break series on Thursday night

It's a key weekend in the Southeastern Conference as Texas A&M ventures to Starkville with their postseason fate on the line. On Thursday morning, Jim Schlossnagle joined TexAgs Radio to discuss where his team stands ahead of the Ags' series-opener at Mississippi State.

Key notes from Jim Schlossnagle interview

• There is nothing more important. Every weekend is important, but we've put ourselves in a position where we need to win every single game we possibly can. Everybody is aware of what's at stake. When you get to where we are, every game is important. The challenge is to keep these guys loose and confident, and that's where we are. We'll see.
   
• You have to have a short-term memory in every single game. The past never equals the future. In order to go on a stretch that we want and need to go on, you have to find success. We felt good about the team as early as last Friday coming off a couple of midweek wins and taking two of three from Florida. We played great on Friday in front of a great crowd, and then we got our doors blown off for the next two days. Mississippi State is playing well. They came back from a 13-4 deficit against LSU, and they're playing for their lives as well. Good luck predicting it.
   
• I know our guys. I know how much they care. I wish everybody could spend time around them to see how much they care, and it's probably a little too much. We're just keeping them loose, and hopefully, Nathan Dettmer can get us off to a good start tonight.
   
• We've been preparing Will Johnston to start all week, so he could start one of the games this weekend. Evan Aschenbeck and Brandyn Garcia have been good and can help us win games. Right now, we don't have a final plan for starting pitching. It's one-game seasons right now.
   
• Garcia has been Jacob Palisch with higher-end stuff recently. He has been good against both right and left-handed hitters. He has put himself in a good position to be an anchor at the backend of our bullpen, and the key is to not have to use him much. We want him for an inning or two at a time, not in the middle of the game like we had to on Sunday.
   
• Dettmer's last two starts have been better. Have they been good enough at least to his expectation or my expectation? No, it hasn't. He pitched in a really offensive ballpark on Friday night. We gave him a four-run lead. He gave up a two-strike homer and got behind a right-handed hitter. He did a nice job given the conditions, but we need him to go deeper. I know he feels better. The fastball is back to 95 mph. He hasn't given up as many walks. We need his breaking ball to be crisp. We need his best baseball to be ahead of him.
   
• I didn't know that stat about being undefeated when leading after seven innings, and I'd be interested to know who is pitching. Giving the ball to Aschenbeck, Johnston or Garcia with a lead, I feel good about that. The key is getting to that point. When you play from ahead and score early, you feel more confident and can do more things on the bases. When you're playing from behind, you can't run your offense how you want to. Playing with aggression and running bases the way we're capable is a big part of our offense, so we need to play from ahead. Still, it's good to have Aschenbeck and Garcia down there. They're strike-throwers that are different. Getting to them is the formula. For us to win a series or more than that, we're going to need two starting pitchers to give us something.
   
• When we ended last year, we looked at what we needed to get better at. We weren't good defensively on the infield or on the mound. That was a huge point of emphasis, and we went over the top with that. We've been better. A lot of our defense has to do with Hunter Haas playing well and being healthy. Trevor Werner is also healthy. Austin Bost turns the double play better now. Jack Moss is great around the base and saves a lot of errors. Max Kaufer has been great behind the plate as well.
   
• Werner put us on his back on Friday night, and he has been doing that since the third game of the Arkansas series. He's confident at the plate and has good body language. He anchors the order with Jace LaViolette, and it hurts that we haven't had a healthy Brett Minnich. We'd love to have Werner back because he has another year of eligibility. What you're seeing now is a healthy, confident ballplayer.
   
• My guy Big Shooter asked me that question yesterday. He asked outside of winning games what can we do? What else can we do? If we win, we'll be fine. If we don't, then we'll get what we deserve. I want these guys to have an Opening Day mentality and to treat this weekend like a super regional. You have to win this weekend to advance your season.