COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Following a historic 2011 campaign that saw the Aggies claim another Big 12 Championship and earn a trip to the College World Series, the Texas A&M baseball team is back on Olsen Field Monday as it begins fall team practices.
The Aggies are coming off a 47-22 season during which they captured both the Big 12's regular season and postseason tournament titles before winning both the College Station Regional and the Tallahassee Super Regional to advance to the CWS for the fifth time in program history.
As has become tradition under head coach Rob Childress, the Aggies will spend the fall competing internally for the Omaha Cup which has become a staple of the Texas A&M baseball culture. The event features the Aggies being split into different teams and competing against one another both on-and-off the field in order to sharpen the competitive nature and chemistry of the squad.
Unlike previous seasons, fall practices and scrimmages will be closed to everyone but team personnel due to construction at Olsen Field as the stadium undergoes major renovations.
Highlighting the returners for the Aggies is a trio of All-Americans in pitchers Ross Stripling and Michael Wacha and outfielder Tyler Naquin.
Stripling opted to return to Aggieland for his senior season after being selected in the ninth round of the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Colorado Rockies. The right-hander from Southlake, Texas, led the nation in victories last season as he went 14-2 with a 2.29 ERA, 113 strikeouts and four complete games in 125.2 innings of work, earning All-America honors from multiple news outlets along the way.
Rounding out the Aggies' impressive 1-2 punch at the top of their pitching rotation, junior Michael Wacha is back for his third season after garnering third team All-America honors from Baseball America a year ago and Freshman All-America accolades in 2010. The right-hander was 9-4 on the mound last spring with 2.29 ERA and a team-leading 123 strikeouts in 129.2 innings.
Naquin, meanwhile, tops a list of impressive position players back for the 2012 season as the Spring, Texas, native took home Big 12 Player of the Year and All-America honors during his breakout sophomore campaign in 2011. The rifle-armed right fielder led the Big 12 with a .381 batting average while also pacing A&M in runs (68), doubles (23) and triples (7).
Additionally, the Aggie offense looks to be solid with the return of a trio of All-Big 12 performers in outfielder Krey Bratsen, first baseman Jacob House and utility man Matt Juengel.
Bratsen garnered Freshman All-America honors as he burst onto the scene a year ago, batting .332 while piling up 45 runs, 36 RBI and 31 stolen bases.
During his first season back on the diamond after his transfer from the University of Arkansas, House started all 69 games for A&M at first base, providing solid defense and leadership while producing a .301 average and a team-leading 52 RBI.
Splitting time between designated hitter and third base, Juengel's bat was a steady presence in the middle of the Aggie batting order as he contributed a .308 clip at the plate with 50 RBI and a team-leading seven home runs.
Texas A&M will christen the newly-renovated Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park and open its 2012 campaign on Feb. 17-19 when the Aggies host Illinois-Chicago in a three-game series.