Schlossnagle's No. 7 Ags open set vs. No. 21 Mississippi State on Thursday

After squeaking out an 11-9 victory over Prairie View on Wednesday night, seventh-ranked Texas A&M turns right around to open a top-25 series with No. 21 Mississippi State. On Thursday, head coach Jim Schlossnagle previewed the SEC showdown on TexAgs Radio.

Key notes from Jim Schlossnagle interview

• The plan today is to sit around and wait. The forecast I keep getting is that there may be a window this evening for us to get the game in with big storms behind it. If we feel like we have a two-and-a-half or three-hour window to get all or most of a game in, we will do everything we can to avoid a doubleheader or having to play three games in 24 hours.
   
• We signed the contract with Prairie View and set up that Wednesday game, but the SEC TV schedule came out so late. We had requested not to play a Thursday-Sunday series, but that request was obviously not honored, which is fine. It is what it is. Things happen for you, not to you. That game last night, playing all nine innings, allowed us to get Isaac Morton into the game with it in question. He threw strikes and did well, so I thought that was good. I don’t think we overtaxed anybody. The guys we want will be available this weekend, and we didn’t have to throw any of the guys that we’ll want to use tonight.
   
• You’ve heard me moan and groan about having some right-handed power arms and strike throwers out of the bullpen for the last two or three years. Morton looked like that last night. Chris Cortez has hopefully made a big jump where he can be more consistent, and he did an awesome job vs. a good Florida team. That’s two arms. The discouraging thing about last night is the guys that threw last night or the guys that didn’t travel will still have to pitch in the midweek games. There are a lot of guys that want to be upset that they didn’t make the travel roster, so when they get the ball, it’s their time to shine. Guys are going to have to pitch better for us to have a good totality of the season.
   
• It’s as much about the things Jett Johnston has earned. He had a good fall and a good spring for us. With Travis Chestnut down, we’re actually down some outfielders. Yes, we have Braden Montgomery, Hayden Schott and Jace LaViolette, but then we have Caden Sorrell. The only other healthy outfielder is Johnston. We needed to get him some at-bats. I thought he did fine on Wednesday. He hit two balls over 100 mph, but they happened to be outs. He drew a walk. We really like Johnston as a player. We’re trying to keep Jackson Appel off his feet when we get an opportunity to do so. Max Kaufer hit a home run, which obviously helps, but he knows he’s a better player than he showed last night. Sometimes guys over-try when they get their chance. That’s part of it.
   
• I’m not sure if Kaufer would ever DH, but you never know. Some of those right-hander hitters need to emerge, or we’ll have to see if a guy like Hank Bard can handle left-handed pitching. Bard always puts together really good at-bats vs. right or left-handed pitching. There are opportunities out there, but guys just have to take advantage of them when they get them.
   
• Mississippi State has only struck out 139 times. They’ve walked 132 times and have been hit 27 times. They are 28-for-31 in stolen bases, which is a great percentage. Dakota Jordan is super hot right now, and he’s a great player. Eighteen of his 33 hits are for extra bases. He’s a future big leaguer. Pitching-wise, even though their No. 1 pitcher is out, they’re doing a great job with their new pitching coach. It’s an Omaha-caliber club. I know they’ve been down, but they’re very motivated. They’re feeling good about themselves right now.
   
• Pitchers are who they are. They won’t go from sinking the ball to riding the ball. We’ve been preparing. All of Mississippi State’s guys throw hard. It’s super high-end velocity. We must do a good job of being above baseball and swinging at strikes. The switch pitcher, Jurrangelo Cijentje, leads the team in walks, but everybody else has very high strikeouts and very low walks. It’s 247 strikeouts as a team and only 83 walks. This is a good team, and rankings don’t mean a thing. They’ve been recruiting off a national title for two years, so they should be good.
   
• Blue Bell Park can always have an impact. The 12th Man can have an impact, which is why I want the weather to get out of here and fans can get out to the ballpark. It’s awesome when it’s full, loud and everyone is on their feet.
   
• The double base looks different, and traditionally, baseball has been very hesitant to change. Still, it makes so much sense. It’s a safety thing. I was the president of our coaches association, and as a competition committee, we’re trying to get this into our sport next year. It’s a permissive rule, and I won’t do it this weekend. It’s easier on the umpire. You cannot run in a straight line to first base and have it be legal, which makes no sense. Hopefully, we can get this rule passed. I was just trying to bring some awareness to how we can make our sport better.
   
• I’m expecting Ryan Prager and Tanner Jones to pitch better. It will be interesting to see. You can control how you react. I expect Prager to do well, and he has to get back his fastball command and get that breaking ball going. This game at our level is compensating and adjusting. We’ll scout Mississippi State. We’ll see what they do well and haven’t done well. We’ll try to exploit that.