Series Preview: Ags face Arizona, Oklahoma State and Rice in H-Town
Also included above is a radio segment with Ryan Brauninger, Richard Zane and Scott Clendenin from Friday morning, previewing this weekend’s Astros Foundation College Classic in Houston.
Who: Arizona (5-3, 0-0 Big 12), Oklahoma State (4-3, 0-0 Big 12), Rice (2-5, 0-0 AAC)
Where: Astros Foundation College Classic (Daikin Park – Houston, Texas)
When:
Friday vs. Arizona: 7 p.m. CT (Space City Home Network/@Astros on YouTube)
Saturday vs. Oklahoma State: 7 p.m. CT (Space City Home Network/@Astros on YouTube)
Sunday vs. Rice: 6 p.m. CT (Space City Home Network/@Astros on YouTube)
Pitching matchups
Friday: LHP Ryan Prager (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Collin McKinney (0-1, 1.23 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Justin Lamkin (0-0, 2.70 ERA) vs. TBD
Sunday: LHP Myles Patton (1-0, 0.75 ERA) vs. RHP Robert Fernandez (0-0, 0.90 ERA)
Scouting - Astros Foundation College Classic
Comparison By the Numbers
| Hitting | Avg. | Runs/Game | Slugging % | On-Base % | K/Game |
| Texas A&M | .258 | 6.71 | .456 | .386 | 7.43 |
| Arizona | .304 | 7.00 | .532 | .420 | 6.63 |
| Oklahoma State | .307 | 6.86 | .526 | .417 | 11.14 |
| Rice | .234 | 4.29 | .343 | .317 | 12.00 |
| Pitching | ERA | WHIP | BB/Game | Opp. Avg. | K/Game | Fielding % |
| Texas A&M | 3.30 | 1.38 | 4.29 | .236 | 8.71 | .955 |
| Arizona | 6.27 | 1.53 | 2.38 | .305 | 8.88 | .985 |
| Oklahoma State | 3.39 | 1.33 | 3.86 | .231 | 11.71 | .971 |
| Rice | 5.29 | 1.63 | 5.71 | .261 | 8.86 | .962 |
Friday 7 p.m. CT - Arizona
Arizona is on its second Lone Star swing of the young season after being swept out of Arlington’s Shriners Children’s College Showdown on Opening Weekend. The Wildcats have since won five straight, run-ruled New Mexico and San Diego and have posted double-digit runs in four of those wins, including an 11-8 win at Rice on Wednesday.
Six Wildcats are hitting at or above .300, and four guys with an OPS at or north of 1.000. Junior outfielder Aaron Walton leads the way with a .417 average, though he was 1-for-8 in Arlington two weeks ago. Junior backstop Adonys Guzman is slugging .833 with a team-leading 1.333 OPS in just six starts. He has homered twice and eight RBIs, while junior outfielder Brendan Summerhill has driven in 11.
On the mound, right-hander Collin McKinney has been Arizona’s Friday night starter. The Baylor transfer and native Texan owns a 0-1 record with a 1.23 ERA in just 7.1 innings. On Opening Night vs. Ole Miss, McKinney allowed just one run on three hits in his 4.1 innings as the Wildcats fell to the Rebels, 2-1. Out of the bullpen, right-hander Garrett Hicks has made a team-leading five appearances, while 5-foot-9 righty Tony Pluta has yet to give up a run in his 5.1 innings across four relief outings.
Also, Arizona faces No. 18 Mississippi State and No. 3 Tennessee later in the weekend, so if Chip Hale smells a win against the Ags on Friday, expect the Wildcats to go all-in.
Saturday 7 p.m. CT - Oklahoma State
The Pokes and the Aggies share a common opponent already, as both lost to Texas State in midweek action. On Feb. 18, Oklahoma State fell 4-2 on a neutral site in Arlington, while A&M dropped a 7-3 decision on Tuesday in Aggieland.
Oklahoma State’s offense has been explosive. The Cowboys beat Louisville 12-3 on Opening Weekend and posted 19 and 10 runs in back-to-back wins over UT Arlington on Sunday and Monday, respectively. Switch-hitting outfielder Garrett Shull is hitting .500 with a 1.288 OPS through the first six games of his college career, while junior outfielder Nolan Schubart has a .440 average and a 1.108 OPS. Those two account for two of five Pokes with an OPS over 1.000 and the six slugging at or above .500.
Josh Holliday has not named a Saturday starter, perhaps not looking past Tennessee on Friday. Additionally, an irregular early-season schedule makes it difficult to pin down who usually throws the second game of a weekend series. Harrison Bodendorf did so on Opening Weekend, and he also pitched Sunday vs. UTA. Will he go on short rest, or will it be someone else?
Also of note, OSU started 2025 ranked No. 17 in D1Baseball’s top 25. After just two weeks (and three losses), the Cowboys find themselves among the unranked.
Sunday 6 p.m. CT - Rice
With this being the only time A&M will face their former SWC brethren, it’s only right we start by remembering Wayne Graham. Rice’s Hall of Fame skipper of 27 years passed away in September at the age of 88.
That said, the Owls are a shadow of the program they were during Graham’s heyday. Rice hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2017, and current head coach José Cruz Jr. is 61-112 in his fourth full season at his alma mater, with his Owls picked to finish last in the 10-team American Athletic Conference in 2025.
Statistical leaders include junior outfielder Trey Duffield, who is hitting .333, junior infielder Barrett Eldridge with a team-leading .916 OPS and senior utilityman Treyton Rank, who has a team-high six RBIs.
Interestingly, Cruz has tabbed right-handed senior Robert Fernandez as his Sunday starter. The Miami native has allowed one run on five hits in his 10.0 innings of work. That’s a 0.90 ERA. Fernandez started Rice’s Saturday game on Opening Weekend but was pushed back to Sunday last week vs. Southern Cal due to weather canceling Saturday’s Owls-Trojans matchup.
Texas A&M storylines to watch
Tuesday served as our first chance to see what a Gavin Grahovac-less lineup and defensive alignment might look like as we proceed through the rest of 2025 without the reigning SEC Player of the Year.
Wyatt Henseler moved back to his natural position at third base. Braden Shewmake-clone Sawyer Farr made his first start at second base. With new faces in new spaces, the Aggies played error-less ball for just the second time out of seven tries. Further, Henseler was 3-for-5 with a homer and a double, as he has been one of A&M’s few offensive standouts, and Farr notched his first career hit vs. the Bobcats.
Improved defense with added offensive production is important to note because, quite frankly, the offense has been the most disappointing aspect of this ball club thus far. A year ago, the record-setting Aggies slugged .543 and had a team average near .300, and that was after going through SEC play and a postseason run. Currently, only two qualified hitters are above .300 — Terrence Kiel II (.400) and Henseler (.370) — as the approach has been a far cry from what made A&M so dangerous a year ago. Additionally, some of the biggest and most experienced bats are currently ice cold. Jace LaViolette’s RBI single in Tuesday’s ninth inning snapped an 0-for-10 slide, while Hayden Schott has just three hits in his last five games. Those two are much closer to the Mendoza line than .300, while Gavin Kash is well below .200, hitting .160.
Needless to say, the bats must come alive, but that won’t come easy for LaViolette, Schott and Kash as the place formerly known as Enron Field plays more like a pitcher’s park for left-handed hitters than righties who can sneeze home runs into the Crawford Boxes.
When it comes to pitching, Tuesday’s woes are likely being overexaggerated, as A&M’s weekend rotation has been brilliant thus far. In 32.0 innings, Ryan Prager, Justin Lamkin and Myles Patton have a combined ERA of 1.41. Should the trio of southpaws remain consistent, extended outings will help Jason Kelly’s bullpen, which is still a work in progress.
Josh Stewart will be on the shelf this weekend as he manages a knee injury suffered last Saturday. Brad Rudis remains the most experienced reliever, but his dependability must prove to be effective vs. power conference hitting. Weston Moss continues to showcase his value, and this weekend is another opportunity to solidify himself as a weapon. The same can be said about Isaac Morton, Luke Jackson and Kaiden Wilson, who all threw on Tuesday. Finally, Clayton Freshcorn will continue to be a back-end piece to the Aggie bullpen. He’ll have to show that Sunday’s blown save was just a blip and get back to being the guy that Michael Earley and Kelly were so excited about leading into the season.
And here’s this just as a reminder: LaViolette is closing in on Daylan Holt’s program record for home runs in a career. Holt finished his tenure with 56. “Lord Tubbington” sits at 53 but has not homered since the finale vs. Elon. Will this be the weekend No. 17 passes No. 17 to become No. 1?
What's at stake this weekend
After this, there’s one weekend left until conference play begins against the Alabama Crimson Tide on March 13.
To this point, we have yet to see Earley’s Aggies put together a complete performance of solid pitching, stout defense and timely hitting. In truth, they’ve underperformed in multiple phases more times than they’ve excelled. That obviously has to change.
A weekend trip to the ballpark at Union Station might be just what the Maroon & White need to finally jumpstart their season and find some confidence before a series with New Mexico State serves as their final dress rehearsal before the SEC gauntlet begins.
Yes, the competition level goes up a notch higher than Elon and Cal Poly this week.
Yes, the Wildcats, Cowboys and Owls are hungry to end their respective slow starts, too.
But as Earley said after Tuesday’s loss to Texas State, there has to be a team on the field that is desperate to win each ballgame this weekend.
And it better be the Fightin’ Texas Aggies.