Credit to Ben Rikard | Associate Director, Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M Aggies will close out their midweek slate for the season on Tuesday when they host the UTRGV Vaqueros at 6 p.m. on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
The Aggies are coming off a massive series win over No. 4 Florida over the weekend, run-ruling the Gators in the middle game before taking the finale on a walk-off balk in the bottom of the ninth inning. Texas A&M put together its most complete weekend of the season in the three-game set, outscoring Florida 23-10 for the series.
Aggie pitching was solid throughout, posting a 3.60 ERA against the Gators with 23 strikeouts and only 11 walks, tied for the lowest walk total in an SEC series this year. A&M also played error-free in the field, not committing an error for the first time in a full series since the first month of the 2018 season.
Justin Lamkin is scheduled to get the start and is coming off a positive performance one week ago against Tarleton when he allowed just one run in 5.0 innings with nine strikeouts.
He will be opposed by right-hander JC Ariza for a UTRGV squad that is 26-20 overall and 12-12 in WAC play. They are coming off a key series win on the road at Sacramento State over the weekend.
GAME COVERAGE
TV/STREAMING: Tuesday’s game will be aired on SEC Network+… the radio call from Andrew Monaco and Rody Barker will be included.
RADIO: The game can be heard locally on SportsRadio 1150 AM/93.7 The Zone… Andrew Monaco will be on the call along with Rody Barker… 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.
PROMOTIONS AT THE BALLPARK
Tiff’s Treats Tuesday: FREE Tiff’s Treats chocolate chip cookies for the first 250 fans
SERIES NOTES vs THE VAQUEROS
– The Aggies are 62-17 all-time vs the Vaqueros, including games played when the team was referred to as UT Pan American
– A&M has won 17 of the last 18 meetings between the teams dating back to 2001
– The Aggies currently have a seven-game win streak vs UTRGV with the last Vaquero win coming in 2012
– This will be the first game between the programs since 2017
TAKEAWAYS FROM THE FLORIDA SERIES
– The Aggies 3-2 in in Game 3 was the second time this year to win a game when scoring less than 5 runs (4-2 win over Texas Tech in 16 innings on 3/5 was the other)
– The Aggies did not commit an error in the series. It was the first time this year to have an error-free weekend and the first time to have a full, three-game weekend series without a defensive miscue since playing three games of clean defense in a sweep of Cornell in February of 2018
– Aggie pitchers allowed six home runs to Gator hitters. The first was a two-run shot on Friday by BT Riopelle, but each of the final 5 homers allowed were only of the solo variety
– Aggie starters Nathan Dettmer, Troy Wansing and Will Johnston combined to throw 13.0 innings in their 3 starts. It is the most combined innings by Aggie starters in a series in SEC play in 2023
– The series win was the first over the Gators since 2014
– The Aggies had been 1-5 in SEC play without Brett Minnich in the lineup before winning two of three games from Florida
ON THE RUN
The Aggies have been at their near best when they’ve been on the bases this season, ranking fourth in the league with 66 successful stolen bases. But what is more impressive is they’ve it in just 79 attempts, and the 83.5% success rate is behind only Mississippi State (69 of 77) as SEC teams with at least 50 steals this year.
TO THE MAX
Freshman Max Kaufer had just three hits on the season and had started just one game since April 7 before the series at Arkansas. But has started each of the last seven games, and has played well, hitting safely in seven of his last eight games and reaching base safely in eight straight outings. That stretch includes his first career home run in the middle game at Arkansas.
BOST NEARING MORE MILESTONES
Austin Bost continues to add to his career totals as an Aggie and sits as the active leader on the roster in games played, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI and walks. He enters Tuesday with 189 career hits and with 11 more base hits this year would become the first Aggie since Braden Shewmake in 2019 to reach the 200-hit mark during an Aggie career. Bost also has socked 27 home runs in his career and needs two more to tie Brodie Greene’s total of 29, which currently stands alone as 10th all-time at Texas A&M.
STACKING WEEKENDS IN THE SCHLOSS ERA
Since Jim Schlossnagle took over the Aggie program for the 2022 season the Aggies have won 13 SEC series, which is the most among SEC programs in that span. They entered last weekend tied with LSU, Tennessee and Florida with 12 series wins over the past 2 seasons, but moved ahead of those programs after the Tigers, Volunteers and Gators all dropped their series last weekend.