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Credit to Ben Rikard | Assistant Director, Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
AUBURN, Ala. – The Texas A&M Aggies will be in search of their second consecutive SEC series win this weekend when they head to The Plains for a three-game series against Auburn at Plainsman Park.
First pitch against the Tigers is set for 7 p.m. CDT on Thursday, 6 p.m. CDT on Friday and a 3:30 p.m. CDT start in Saturday’s finale.
Both teams are coming off trips to the College World Series in 2022 but each is at 3-6 through three weekends of SEC play this year. The Tigers have lost their last three games entering the series, falling twice last weekend to No. 2 Florida before dropping a midweek contest on Tuesday at UAB.
GAME COVERAGE
TV/STREAMING: Thursday’s game will each be aired on the SEC Network with Sam Ravech and Gregg Olson calling the action… the games set for Friday and Saturday are to be aired on SEC Network+ with Jonathon Hoppe and Gregg Olson on the call each time.
RADIO: Each game can be heard locally on SportsRadio 1150 AM/93.7 FM The Zone…. Andrew Monaco will be on the call from Plainsman Park… 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.
HALFWAY HOME
When Ryan Targac walked off Ole Miss on Sunday at Blue Bell Park to clinch the series for the Aggies, it also got Texas A&M to the halfway point of the 2023 regular season. The second half of the season was very good for the Aggies in 2022, going 18-10 in the final 28 games of the regular season. They would reach the finish line in Omaha, winning 27 of their final 40 games overall.
COMING ALL THE WAY BACK
The Aggies spotted Texas State a five-run first inning on Tuesday, but answered with five runs of their own in the bottom half before holding the Bobcats off for a 10-9 win. That qualifies as a come-from-behind victory and the five-run deficit was the largest overcome by the Aggies this year.
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN
Texas State was able to tie the game up with a solo home run to open the seventh inning, knotting things at 9-9; however, a run-scoring double from Austin Bost in the bottom half put the Ags back in front to stay. With that go-ahead run, the Aggies upped their record to 15-0 in 2023 when leading after seven innings.
MOSS THE BOSS
Jack Moss was only hitting .255 after the Aggies’ series opener vs NKU on March 10, but he enters the weekend carrying a .368 average and a 15-game hit streak, the longest such streak by an Aggie this year, after two hits against Texas State on Tuesday. The 15-gamer ties his career best from 2022 and puts him in company with Braden Shewmake as the only Aggies since 2019 with hit streaks of at least 15 games. Prior to that, the longest hit streak by an Aggie was 20 straight games by Michael Helman in 2018.
LAVIOLETTE PRODUCING FOR THE AGGIES
Freshman Jace LaViolette was one of the more highly-touted freshman position players in the country entering 2023, but was hitting .209 with 25 strikeouts after the conclusion of the LSU series to open SEC play. However, he has been a productive piece of the offense of late with seven RBI and 11 RBI in his last seven games, including a key go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the seventh in the series opener vs Ole Miss.
OFF TO THE RACES
The Aggies are 44 for 49 in steal attempts this year with the 44 swipes ranking third in the SEC. What is more impressive is the Aggies have been successful in their last 21 attempts, its longest such streak since stealing 23 straight bags during a stretch of the 2018 season. Texas A&M has not been caught since its final attempt on March 7 vs UIW, a game in which they stole five times successfully. The Aggies have stolen at least four bags in a game four times this year with a season high of seven in the series finale vs Seattle U.
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 and has hit safely with at least one RBI in three of his last four games. 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.