Six hundred and sixty-five days ago, Jim Schlossnagle was leading the Texas A&M Aggies in the College World Series to the brink of the program’s first national championship. Six hundred and sixty-four days ago, Texas Longhorns athletics director Chris Del Conte was parked by the Snook cemetery, ready to spirit his longtime friend away from Aggieland and to the Forty Acres.
On Friday, Schlossnagle makes his first trip back to College Station since his departure to face the seething hatred of the 12th
Man, sending ticket prices soaring at Blue Bell Park with some behind home plate exceeding $1,000. of the 380 previous matchups in the Lone Star Showdown, it’s possible that none have been more highly anticipated than the first three-game series between the two programs in College Station since 1992.
Redshirt senior left-hander Luke Harrison sees an advantage for Texas players as A&M fans focus their scorn on Schlossnagle.
“They’re going to make it about our coach and we just get to go play,” Harrison said on Thursday.
The hostile environment the Longhorns will face over the weekend in College Station is exactly the kind of situation that Schlossnagle prepares his players for in challenging them to control their performance by controlling themselves.
“Playing at Blue Bell park on a Friday night in a Texas-Texas A&M game, that’s a really big challenge to manage your heart rate and and be consistent with your routine. So I believe that is the secret sauce to our program, and it’s been that way now for over 20 years because if you’re not in control of yourself, it doesn’t matter what your swing is, it doesn’t matter what your pitches are, you’re sped up,” Schlossnagle said.
Beyond the environment in Aggieland, the Texas A&M offense will present the biggest challenge for Texas — the Aggies rank first in the conference in strikeouts (237) and walks (215), second in slugging percentage (.592), and third in the conference in batting average (.320) and home runs (68). A&M averages 9.9 runs per game, ranking fifth nationally with 317 runs this season.
The stars are at the top of the order for Schlossnagle’s former hitting coach Michael Earley, including two holdovers from the Schlossnagle era in leadoff hitter Gavin Grahovac, the A&M first baseman who slashes .35/.458/.667 with nine home runs and 41 RBI, and center fielder Caden Sorrell behind Grahovac leading the team with a .377 average, 16 home runs, and 52 RBI. In the three hole, Maryland transfer Chris Hacopian has battled a back injury, but the second baseman is still batting .320.
“Their lineup is awesome. It’s consistent through the order,” Schlossnagle said.
Harrison was less impressed.
“I think they’ve got nine guys in there. I think a couple lefties, couple righties, couple big guys, couple of littler guys. That’s about all,” he said.
Beyond the power, the low number of strikeouts and the higher number of walks are a testament to the way that the Aggies control the strike zone, and the hitters that don’t have the power of Sorrell and Grahovac can use the whole field to hit, including freshmen infielders Boston Kellner and Nico Partida, who have also played good defense on the left side of the infield as A&M has bolstered its fielding percentage from .974 to .982.
Pitching has been a bigger challenge for Jason Kelly’s group. The 4.74 ERA for the Aggies ranks 14th in the SEC and the .260 opponent batting average and 45 home runs allowed rank last.
Left-hander Shane Sdao was expected to be the ace for A&M and remains the Friday starter, but he’s struggled in his return from a torn ligament in his throwing arm in posting a 5.48 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP in allowing opponents to bat .284 against him with nine home runs. Sdao has allowed at least four earned runs in each of his four conference starts, including seven against Missouri in 4.2 innings.
But Sdao’s season stats may not matter on Friday.
“I know his love for Texas A&M and the opposite of that for the University of Texas,” Schlossnagle said of his former pitcher.
For the Texas series, Earley has moved former Sunday starter Aiden Sims into the Saturday role. The right-hander has been the best Aggie starter so far this season with a 6-0 record and 3.32 ERA. That move frees up right-hander Weston Moss to support Sdao on Friday if necessary or get the start on Sunday. Moss is 3-2 with a 6.69 ERA.
For Texas, senior right-hander Ruger Riojas tries to bounce back from his worst outing of the season after getting hammered for six runs on eight hits in three innings of the 9-1 loss to South Carolina last Friday in Columbia as the Gamecocks took an aggressive approach to Riojas working in the straight zone and were able to produce some big base hits down the third-down base line, a statistical anomaly.
Schlossnagle also has a decision to make at first base with sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez unlikely to play much after having the stitches removed from his left hand following the procedure to remove a staple last week. The absence of Rodriguez resulted in redshirt senior Temo Becerra moving from third to shortstop and junior Casey Borba from first base to third base, where he’s played at a high level. The initial starter at first base was graduate Josh Livingston before Ashton Larson took on Tuesday against UIW.
Schossnagle said he’ll make a decision about whether to start Larson again after watching him field balls at Blue Bell Park on Thursday and Friday.
First pitch on Friday is at 7 p.m. Central on SEC Network with Saturday’s matchup at 2 p.m. Central on ESPN2 and the series finale at 1 p.m. Central on SEC Network+. Weather could impact the series with a 30-percent change of thunderstorms when the game starts on Friday, a 55-percent chance of showers at first pitch on Saturday, and thunderstorms developing later in the day on Sunday.
