Credit to Ben Rikard | Assistant Director, Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M Aggies picked up their first SEC series win over the weekend by taking two of three games from Ole Miss and will look to carry that momentum into a midweek matchup with Texas State on Tuesday at Blue Bell Park.
The Aggies will turn to left-hander Troy Wansing who will make his seventh start of the season and his first in a midweek contest.
Texas A&M has won each of its last three meetings with the Bobcats over the past two seasons and eight of nine since 2014. The Bobcats, meanwhile, are the defending Sun Belt Conference champions and have won three midweek games in a row and three of their last four weekend series.
GAME COVERAGE
TV/STREAMING: Tuesday’s game will be aired on SEC Network+… Will Johnson will be on play-by-play with Boomer White providing analysis.
RADIO: The game can be heard locally on SportsRadio 1150/93.7 The Zone… Andrew Monaco will be on the call for with Rody Barker providing in-game analysis… the pregame show begins 15 minutes prior to first pitch.
SOCIAL: Fans can get in-game updates on social media by following @AggieBaseball on Twitter.
NOTES vs THE BOBCATS
– The Aggies won each of the first 10 games played vs the Bobcats from 1987-90; the 10-game win streak to open the series is still the longest streak in the series by either team.
– With the exception of the COVID-altered 2020 season, Texas A&M and Texas State have met on the diamond every year since the series started in 1987.
– The teams have met seven times at Dell Diamond in Round Rock for neutral-site games.
MINNICH MADE
Senior outfielder Brett Minnich hopped on the injury shelf after just one at-bat of the 2023 season but returned to the lineup last week vs Texas. After a game to knock off the rust, Minnich quickly found his stroke in the weekend series against Ole Miss. He opened the series with the first multi-homer game of his career, going 3-for-4 in Game 1 and reached twice in Game 2 with a pair of walks. Minnich then homered again on Sunday and had a pair of RBI to finish the weekend strong against the Rebels. A preseason all-SEC selection, Minnich is one of two returning Aggies to have played in all 64 games in 2022.
RELIEF ON AN EVAN KEEL
Arguably the biggest surprise for the Aggies in 2023 has been relief pitcher Evan Aschenbeck, and the junior from Brenham showed why again last week. He’s second on the team in innings pitched (28.0) despite not making a start this year and added 8.0 innings to his ledger last week with three appearances against Texas and Ole Miss. He pitched 2.0 innings both on Tuesday against the Longhorns and Friday vs the Rebels, not allowing a run in either outing. He threw 4.0 innings of relief on Sunday vs Ole Miss, not allowing a run again, and was in line for his second win of the weekend before an inherited runner scored in the ninth after he had already departed the mound. For the year he is 3-0 with a 2.89 ERA and an opponent average of .192 with 35 strikeouts and only seven walks.
LAVIOLETTE GETTING BIG HITS WHEN IT MATTERS MOST
Freshman Jace LaViolette was one of the more highly-touted freshman position players in the country entering 2023 and has already had his fair share of key hits with go-ahead doubles against Portland and Tennessee. However, none of his swings may be bigger than his grand slam to put the Aggies up in Game 1 vs Ole Miss after an 87-minute weather delay. It was his team-best fifth home run of the year with two of those longballs either tying the game or putting the Ags in front.
MIDWEEK METTLE
College baseball sees most of its focus on weekend series, but success in midweek battles can pay big dividends in the later months of the season. The Aggies dropped their first midweek of 2023 to Lamar but responded a week later with a 23-0 shelling of HCU and have won 5 of 6 midweek games since. Typically the Aggies have taken advantage of their midweek opportunities. Texas A&M was 9-1 in midweek games in 2022 and are now 14-3 in those games under Jim Schlossnagle after falling last Tuesday to Texas. Since the start of the COVID-shortened 2020 season Texas A&M is 31-6 in midweek games.
MOSS THE BOSS
Jack Moss was only hitting .255 after the Aggies’ series opener vs NKU on March 10, but he enters Tuesday carrying a .364 average and a 14-game hit streak, the longest such streak by an Aggie this year. With a hit vs Texas State he would extend his streak to 15 games, tying his career best from 2022. The only Aggies since 2019 with hit streaks of at least 15 games are Moss and Braden Shewmake (2019).
FOLLOW THE AGGIES
Visit 12thman.com for more information on Texas A&M baseball. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M baseball team on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter by following @AggieBaseball.