Series Preview: A&M aims to seal postseason ticket hosting Missouri

Also included above is a TexAgs Live segment with Ryan Brauninger, Richard Zane and Scott Clendenin from Friday morning, previewing this weekend’s series vs. Missouri.

Who: Missouri Tigers (13-35, 0-24 in SEC)
Where: Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park - Bryan-College Station, TX
When:

Friday: 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network+/ESPN+)
Saturday: 2 p.m. CT (SEC Network+/ESPN+)
Sunday: 1 p.m. CT (SEC Network+/ESPN+)

Pitching matchups

Friday: LHP Ryan Prager (3-3. 3.95 ERA) vs. LHP Brady Kehlenbrink (0-4, 8.58 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Justin Lamkin (3-6, 3.88 ERA) vs. RHP Sam Horn (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
Sunday: LHP Myles Patton (3-3, 4.95 ERA) vs. LHP Wil Libbert (2-3, 6.33 ERA)

Scouting Missouri

With a quick look at the statistics below, it’s easy to see why the Missouri Tigers are winless in conference play with just six SEC games remaining. However, dismissing Kerrick Jackson’s club as a walkover opponent would be unwise, especially considering the Aggies are still fighting for their postseason lives.

Callie Garner, TexAgs

Texas A&M will honor its senior class prior to Saturday’s contest.

Just last week, Mizzou played a trio of close ballgames with No. 6 Georgia. The 9-2 defeat on Friday did not get out of hand until the Bulldogs posted a four-run ninth. On Saturday, the Tigers led for much of the evening until UGA scored five unanswered (including a four-run sixth), and Sunday’s finale was tied 2-2 entering the ninth before Georgia used a two-run blast to complete the sweep.

Further, of their 24 conference losses, five have been by margins of three runs or fewer, including a 7-6 loss to LSU at Alex Box about a month ago. In most of those close ballgames, the Mizzou bullpen has been the bugaboo. The staff ERA is a bloated 9.27 to rank 15th-worst in the country, and that number jumps to 11.99 in league games. Additionally, the relievers have a rather ugly 9.83 mark across all 48 games and 12.29 in conference play, which points to the importance of getting starters Brady Kehlenbrink, Sam Horn and Wil Libbert out of games earlier to feast in the later innings. Also, there is an old friend in that Mizzou bullpen as right-hander Xavier Lovett, a member of A&M’s 2022 Men’s College World Series team, has made 17 appearances for the Tigers this season. In his second year in Columbia after a stint at Memphis, the Houston native has a 6.64 ERA in 39.1 innings pitched.

However, as one might expect, Missouri’s woes extend far beyond the pitching. In 24 conference games, they’re hitting a league-worst .215 with a league-worst .340 slugging percentage. The Tigers are the only team to score fewer than 100 runs vs. SEC opposition with 87, and they have hit a league-fewest 19 home runs. Only Kentucky has a worse on-base percentage (.963) in conference than Mizzou (.966).

Still, the name to know is Jackson Lovich. The 6-foot-4 junior shortstop is hitting a team-leading .340 and also owns team-best marks in slugging (.577) and on-base percentage (.418) while sitting atop the Tiger batting lineup. A right-handed bat, he has nine home runs with 42 RBIs, and you guessed it, those are both tops on this Mizzou ball club.

Texas A&M storylines to watch

Bad “news” first. Much has been made of Jace LaViolette’s recent slump. In his last seven games, he’s 2-for-27 with a pair of infield singles (the second of which was vital to last week’s series victory vs. LSU). Whether he’s leading off or back in his familiar No. 2 spot in the order, LaViolette will be key to A&M’s success down the stretch and into the postseason. Even without a midweek game, Michael Earley told TexAgs Live on Thursday morning that No. 17 has been putting in the necessary work and making adjustments to his swing that will allow him to return to form in short order. Oh, and for those unnecessarily worried about his draft positioning and writing fiction about him slipping out of the first round, MLB.com’s Jim Callis has Cincinnati selecting LaViolette ninth overall in his first 2025 mock draft...which would make him the highest drafted position player in program history.

From sour to bittersweet, LaViolette is just one of a large group of Aggies that will likely be playing at Blue Bell Park for the final time this weekend. Sure, the NCAA baseball tournament is a giant unknown, and crazy things have happened (2017 says hello), and they could find themselves back on Olsen Field in a couple of weeks, though that seems improbable. Before Saturday’s contest, Earley & Co. will honor a senior class that includes Matt Bergevin, Wyatt Henseler, Gavin Kash, Brad Rudis, Hayden Schott, Josh Stewart and Troy Wansing, but draft-eligible players like Kaeden Kent, Justin Lamkin, LaViolette, Myles Patton and Ryan Prager will probably also be bidding farewell to the 12th Man this week.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

A&M’s rotation of Ryan Prager, Justin Lamkin and Myles Patton stayed consistent all year. They’ve combined for a 4.18 ERA and 204 Ks in 200.1 IP.

What has been good to see over the last five weeks is that A&M has started to play elite-level baseball against many of the nation’s, well, elite.

With three series victories over opponents ranked among teams ranked No. 2 or No. 1, Earley & Co. have shown the ability to pitch and hit with the best of the best.

Over the last two weekends, Jason Kelly’s pitching staff has gone toe-to-toe with a couple of the best staffs in the country. While the trek to Austin was unsuccessful, the Aggie arms held down a dangerous LSU offense last weekend, combining great starting pitching from the likes of Prager, Lamkin and Patton with stout relief appearances from Weston Moss, Caden McCoy and Kaiden Wilson. Suddenly, after much consternation early in the conference slate, A&M pitching appears to be a force to be reckoned with as the postseason approaches.

Offensively, A&M clubbed its way to series victories in Knoxville and Fayetteville and in the magical comeback vs. South Carolina. However, there has been a dip in production against the Longhorns and Bayou Bengals. LaViolette’s slump has been well documented, but guys like Bear Harrison, Kaeden Kent and Terrence Kiel II have cooled of late... Even Caden Sorrell’s numbers, aside from a big Sunday in Austin and a big swing in last weekend’s finale, aren’t the most impressive of late. The capability when they’re all clicking is well documented. This weekend seems like a perfect time to get back to those levels.

The Aggies are going well right now. This is a weekend to get going even better.

What’s at stake this weekend

As they’ve kept winning, the weekends have kept getting bigger.

While this opponent isn’t ranked among the nation’s top two, this weekend is vitally important.

The prevailing thought among pundits across the nation is that 13 SEC wins will be enough for A&M to punch its ticket to the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Entering this series with 10 such victories, the finish line is not only in view but attainable this week.

Now, no one inside the offices at the Corner of Bush and Olsen is counting chickens before they hatch. Everyone is fully aware of what happens when you “assume” anything, let alone a sweep in the vaunted Southeastern Conference.

Still, that is what the Aggies are wholly capable of and expected to do this weekend. That is also what they should require of themselves.

Simply play your game and not down to the level of the opponent, and you’ll be dreaming of regional destinations come Sunday night. #BTHOmissouri