COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M Baseball returns to the diamond this weekend when it welcomes the Holy Cross Crusaders to Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park for the 2015 season-opener. The series will begin the Aggies' third campaign in the Southeastern Conference. A&M is coming off a 36-26 campaign in which they advanced to the NCAA Championship for a school-record eighth consecutive sea-son.
NO. 23 TEXAS A&M AGGIES (0-0) vs. HOLY CROSS CRUSADERS (0-0)
Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park (6,100) • College Station, Texas
SCHEDULE - Friday, 6:35 PM • Saturday, 2:05 PM • Sunday, 12:05 PM Â
RADIO - Sports Radio 1150 The Zone • Dave South (play-by-play)
LIVE VIDEO - SEC Network+ (WatchESPN credentials required through cable provider) • Will Johnson (play-by-play), Mark Johnson (color analyst)
LIVE AUDIO - 12thMan.com • radioaggieland.com (free)
LIVE STATS - 12thMan.com/tamustats.com (mobile devices)
RANKINGS - Texas A&M - 23rd (USAT), 17th (D1B), 25th (NCBWA); Holy Cross - unranked
SERIES HISTORY - Texas A&M leads 2-1
SERIES STREAKS - A&M won the last meeting
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (2014 Stats)
• FRIDAY: #34 A.J. Minter (Jr., LHP, 3-0, 1.85) vs. #38 Phil Reese (So., RHP, 2-4, 4.43)
• SATURDAY: #38 Grayson Long (Jr., RHP, 6-2, 3.12) vs. #21 Donny Murray (Sr., RHP, 2-6, 6.55)
• SUNDAY: #31 Matt Kent (Jr., LHP, 3-1, 3.15) vs. #32 Ben White (So., RHP, 0-5, 3.18)
TEXAS A&M/HOLY CROSS SERIES NOTABLES
The Aggies and Crusaders have met on three prior occasions with A&M winning two of three against Holy Cross when the Crusaders visited Blue Bell Park for the second weekend of the 2012 season. The first two meetings went extra innings. In the series opener, Matt Juengel drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 11th inning in a 3-2 win. In the Saturday contest, Holy Cross scored four runs in the top of the 10th for a 7-3 win. A&M won the series with an 8-2 victory in the Sunday game. MITCHELL NAU drove in four runs in his first career start and Rafael Pineda fanned eight in 7.0 innings to earn the win.
Holy Cross is the only Patriot League team the Aggies have faced.
MORE ON HOLY CROSS
The Crusaders are coming off a 13-31 campaign in 2014 that saw them finish sixth in the Patriot League. Holy Cross started with lots of promise last year, opening the season by earning a 2-2 split with No. 7 Mississippi State in Starkville, but the Crusaders lost 11 of their next 12 games to fall to 3-13. Holy Cross appeared to turn the season around, going 6-2 in their next eight games, but closed out the year by losing 16 of their last 20.
Holy Cross had a pair of players named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team, including sophomore first baseman Anthony Critelli (42 games, .299, 16 runs, 2 HR, 19 RBI) and senior outfielder Evan Ocello (44 games, .329, 34 runs, 3 HR, 13 RBI).
The Crusaders traveled to College Station in 2012 for a three-game series. The first two games went extra innings with A&M winning 3-2 in 11 innings in the Friday night affair and the Crusaders posting a 7-3 win in 10 innings in the Saturday game. A&M closed out the series with an 8-2 win, highlighted by a four RBI performance by MITCHELL NAU. Ocello batted 5-for-11 with two runs, two doubles and one RBI in the series.
Holy Cross has made 11 NCAA Championship appearances with the most recent coming in 1978. The Crusaders have appeared in four College World Series, winning the national title in 1952. Holy Cross won its only Patriot League regular-season title in 2013.
The Crusaders have had 79 players playing Major League Baseball with the most recent debut com-ing in 1975, when Mike Pazik began a three-game career with the Minnesota Twins. One of the most successful players of Holy Cross heritage was Mike Hegan, son of longtime Cleveland Indians catcher Jim Hegan. Mike Hegan enjoyed a 12-year career, including a 1969 All-Star Game appearance. He went on to a long career as a color commentator, including 12 seasons on TV for the Brewers and 23 seasons on radio and TV with the Indians before passing away on Christmas Day, 2013. Jimmy Ryan enjoyed an 18-year career from 1885-1903, leading the National League with 182 hits, 33 doubles and 16 HR in 1888. He ended his career with 2,513 hits and still ranks in the Top 50 all-time with 1,643 runs scored (36th). Another former Crusader is Louis Sockalexis (1895-96), regarded as the first Native American to play in Major League Baseball, when he played for the Cleveland Spiders from 1997-99. Legend has it a Sockalexis once threw a ball over the Penobscot River - a throw of 600 feet.
CRITICAL MASS
This marks the second consecutive season that Texas A&M will host a squad from the Common-wealth of Massachusetts in a season-opening series at Blue Bell Park. Last year, A&M welcomed Boston's Northeastern to Olsen Field to break the seal on the season. The Aggies swept the Huskies, rolling through the first two contests 10-2 and 11-2, but squeaked by in the series finale, 1-0, with a walk-off home run by LOGAN NOTTEBROK.
Holy Cross visited College Station for the second weekend of the 2012 season. The first two games went extra innings with A&M winning 3-2 in 11 innings in the Friday night affair and the Crusaders posting a 7-3 win in 10 innings in the Saturday game. A&M closed out the series with an 8-2 win, highlighted by a four RBI performance by MITCHELL NAU.
Other recent opening weekend foes have included Illinois-Chicago in both 2012 and 2013, Le Moyne (Syracuse, N.Y.) in 2011, Seton Hall (West Orange, N.J.) in 2010 and Wright State (Dayton, Ohio) in 2009.
NOTES AND NOTABLES
 • Head coach Rob Childress enters his 10th season at the helm of the Texas A&M baseball program, beginning the year with a 359-208-2 record. Last season, he led the Aggies to the postseason to extend their school-record streak to eight consecutive seasons.
 • Texas A&M welcomes back 22 letterwinners, including five players who started more than 50 per-cent of A&M's games in the field last season. The Aggies also return 11 players who started at least 15 games, from last season's 36-26 team that advanced to the NCAA Championship. The Aggies return All-SEC Second Team performer in Nick Banks (OF).Â
 • The Aggies enter the season ranked in the Top 25 in three of the five major college baseball polls, earning the No. 25 ranking in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, the No. 23 spot in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll and the No. 17 position in the inaugural D1Baseball.com ranking.
FRIDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER:Â #34 A.J. MINTER
Making his first career start after 52 appearances out of the bullpen... did not allow a run in his nine SEC appearances last season, going 2-0 with one save in 9.0 innings of work... earned wins against Florida and Ole Miss and picked up a save against Arkansas in SEC action last season... longest career out-ing is 2.2 innings, when he picked up a win against Florida, scattering two runs and striking out a career-high three in a win against Florida in the finale as A&M captured the series... as a freshman, did not allow a run in his first 13 appearances.
SATURDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER:Â #38 GRAYSON LONG
Enters play as the Aggies' active leader in wins (10), innings pitched (135.1) and strikeouts (93)... led the Aggies' with six wins last season... also ranked second on A&M with 15 starts and 89.1 innings pitched... started his sophomore campaign by allowing just one run in his first five starts, scattering 22 hits and 10 walks while striking out 22 batters in 34.0 innings... best career outing came against Auburn last season when he worked 8.0 shutout innings, fanning seven while scattering seven hits and one walk to help A&M stave of a series sweep... also earned SEC wins against Florida, eventual national champion Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Mississippi State, posting a 5-2 record in league action.
SUNDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER:Â #31 MATT KENT
Making his seventh career start and his third career weekend start... both of his prior weekend starts came as a freshman in 2013, losses to Arkansas and LSU... was 1-0 with a 2.77 in his four starts as a sophomore... win came against Texas Southern (3/5/14), striking out a career nine while scattering three hits and one walk over 6.0 innings... has had success in long relief against SEC squads in the past including 5.0 scoreless innings at Mississippi State in 2014 and 5.0 blank frames at Ole Miss in 2013... his effort against Ole Miss in 2013 earned him SEC Freshman of the Week recognition.
AGGIES SELECTED THIRD IN THE SEC WESTERN DIVISION
Texas A&M was selected to finish third in the SEC Western Division in the 24th annual SEC Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll, the league announced on Thursday. Nick Banks named Preseason All-SEC Second Team in the league's first-ever release of preseason all-conference squads.
The Aggies were slotted to finish third by LSU, who received 13 of 14 first-place votes and Alabama. Texas A&M received one first-place vote. The Bayou Bengals were overwhelming favorites with all 91 possible points. Alabama tallied 62 points, followed by Texas A&M (60), Arkansas (59), Mississippi State (52), Ole Miss (42) and Auburn (19).
Defending national champion Vanderbilt was the selection to win the Eastern Division with 89 points and 11 first-place votes. Florida earned three first-place votes, finishing second with 80 points. South Carolina was slotted third with 67 points, followed by Tennessee (51), Georgia (42), Kentucky (36) and Missouri (20).
Points were compiled on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for each division. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. Each coach also voted for one team as an overall conference champion.
Vanderbilt was predicted to be the 2015 SEC champion. In the 14 votes cast for the overall league winner, Vanderbilt received 11 votes, followed by Florida with two and LSU with one.
BANKS EARNS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA
NICK BANKS picked up a pair of Preseason All-America honors. The sophomore outfielder was named to the Perfect Game's 2015 Preseason College All-America Second Team and D1Baseball.com Preseason All-America Second Team.
As a freshman, Banks batted .327 with 29 runs, 10 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 26 RBI and seven stolen bases. In 30 SEC contests, Banks ranked fourth in the league with a .360 batting average, going 41-for-114 with seven doubles, one triple, one home run, 15 runs and 16 RBI.
Following his successful rookie campaign, Banks earned Freshman All-America recognition from National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association and Collegiate Baseball. He was named All-SEC Second Team as well as earning a place on the SEC All-Freshman squad. Banks and Florida's Logan Shore were the only two freshmen to earn All-SEC status in 2014.
LOCAL BOY
With the departure of Krey Bratsen, the all-time Aggie leader in games played, newcomer BLAKE KOPETSKY takes over the role of the local boy. Kopetsky was a standout at Rudder High School in Bry-an, earning three letters. He was tabbed an All-Texas 4A Third Team outfielder by the Texas SportsWriters Association as a senior in 2012. The last two years he played at Temple Junior College and re-turned home in the summers to star for the Brazos Valley Bombers.
Other recent players to hail from Bryan or College Station include Bratsen (2011-14), Luke Anders (2006-09), Nick Anders (2009), Kyle Nicholson (2004-07) and Keith Stein (2005-06).
TOUGH TESTS SPANGLE THE 2015 SCHEDULE
The Aggies will play 11 teams that participated in the 2014 NCAA Championship for a total of 27 games, including Alabama (3), Kentucky (3), Mississippi State (3), Arkansas (3), LSU (3), South Carolina (3), Ole Miss (3), Sam Houston State (2), Dallas Baptist, Houston, Nebraska and Rice.
The Aggies will play seven SEC series against teams that played in the 2014 NCAA Championship, including College World Series participant Ole Miss.
Four of A&M's opponents hosted a regional in 2014 and Ole Miss and Houston both played in Super Regionals. The Aggies' meat grinder of a schedule includes 18 games against squads that racked up 40 or more wins last season as well as three games each against Mississippi State (39-23), Alabama (37-23) and Kentucky (37-24).
ALLEMAND'S SENIORITY
BLAKE ALLEMAND enters the season as the most senior of veterans on the squad. Heading into the series against Holy Cross, Allemand has played in 167 games. With 33 more games, Allemand would become just the 17th Aggie to appear in 200 games. Five Aggies have appeared in 200 games in the 21st century, including school record holder Krey Bratsen (245 - 2011-014), Kevin Gonzalez (236 - 2008-11), Brodie Green (228 - 2007-10), Kyle Colligan (218 - 2006-09) and Brandon Wood (204 - 2010-13).
For his career, Allemand is hitting .276 (158-for-573) with 15 doubles, four triples, one home run, 65 RBI and 25 stolen bases. He has made 161 career starts, including 47 in 2012, 61 in 2013 and 53 in 2014.
CALL ON ME
Coach Childress has a pair of pitchers who has called on 50 or more times in their career, including JASON FREEMAN and A.J. MINTER. He also has a pair of arms nearing the 50-game plateau, including ANDREW VINSON with 48 and MATT KENT with 46.
Freeman leads all active players with his 54 games which includes 51 relief appearances. For his career, the right-hander is 3-3 with a 4.96 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 61.2 innings. Minter is 3-0 with a 2.89 ERA, two saves and 24 strikeouts in 24.1 innings in 52 appearances, all in relief. In 48 games, all out of the bullpen, Vinson is 4-3 with a 3.34 ERA, two saves and 54 strikeouts in 56.2 innings. Kent counts six starts among his 46 games. The southpaw is 5-4 with a 3.61 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 82.1 innings.
POSTSEASON STREAK CONTINUES INTO 2015
Prior to the arrival of head coach ROB CHILDRESS, Texas A&M had never appeared in the NCAA Tournament more than four consecutive years. Advancing to the NCAA Houston Regional in 2014 extended the Aggies current string to eight consecutive years, something that had never happened be-fore in the program's 113 year history.
Childress has led the Aggies to the postseason each of the last eight seasons, topping the previous-high water mark of four-straight trips, a feat that had happened only twice before at Texas A&M. Former head coach Tom Chandler led his squad to the NCAA Regionals each season from 1975 to 1978 and 11 years later the Aggies enjoyed a similar four-year run from 1986-89 under the direction of head coach Mark Johnson.
BOLT RETURNS TO STAFF
WILL BOLT returns to College Station for the first year of his second stint on Rob Childress' Aggie coaching staff. He previously served a two-year stint as a volunteer assistant coach at Texas A&M in 2006-07. Bolt's primary functions include coordinating the offensive game, mentoring the infielders and serving as third base coach.
In addition to serving as a volunteer assistant under Childress, Bolt was also a four-year starter at Nebraska from 1999-2002, while Childress was serving as an assistant coach under Dave Van Horn.
Bolt spent the last three seasons as an associate head coach for Nebraska under Darin Erstad. He helped the Huskers get back to the NCAA Championship in 2014 after a five-year hiatus.
TRENDING UPWARD
The Aggies are one of just 22 schools to log 200 or more wins between 2010-14. Over the five-year span, Texas A&M is tied with Kent State for 17th place with 203 victories. The Maroon and White are 203-116-1 (.636) over the span. The SEC boasts six teams with over 200 wins between 2010-14, including South Carolina (245), Vanderbilt (240), LSU (227), Florida (216), Arkansas (208) and Texas. The six leads all conferences, trailed by the ACC (5), Pac 12 (4) and Big 12 (4).
2,500-WIN CLUB
The Aggies have a few days left to say they're the only SEC team with 2,500 wins. Texas A&M is currently one of just 12 NCAA Division I programs to reach the 2,500-win plateau, entering play with a 2,515-1,430-42 mark. Before February is over, three teams may join the 2,500-win club including a pair of SEC teams. Mississippi State begins the season with 2,499 wins followed by Alabama with 2,496 and Minnesota with 2,494. South Carolina would need 44 wins to reach the plateau by the end of the year. Everybody is at least two decades worth of wins behind Fordham which owns 4,366 all-time wins.
PONY EXPRESS
In a rare convergence, the Texas A&M roster includes a pair of players who put together as five-year string as starting running backs for the Houston Memorial High School Mustangs. From 2009-13, main ball carrying role was handled by BOOMER WHITE (2009-11) and MATT COLLINS (2012-13). Over the five-year span, the two combined for 8,096 yards and 99 TDs as starting running backs. White, who must sit out the 2015 season due to NCAA transfer rules, rushed for 5,569 for 69 touchdowns, including an epic junior campaign in which he amassed 2,417 yards and 29 TDs. He was named District 19-5A Offensive Player of the Year as a senior. Collins ran for 2,527 yards and 30 TDs in his two seasons as a starter. The pair rang up all-district honors all five years.
PITCHER WEDGE
KYLE SIMONDS marks the only player on the squad to not play high school baseball. Simonds spent his springs at Grand Island (Neb.) Central Catholic High School playing golf. Skilled on the links, Simonds qualified for the Nebraska Class C state tournament all four years, finishing 11th at the championship as a junior. He got his share of baseball in the summers staring for American Legion squad Home Federal. He went 2-for-2 with one double, one home run and three RBI at the Cornhusker League All-Star Game in July 2012.
Simonds honed his pitching skills at Hutchinson Community College where he blossomed last year. As a sophomore, he was named the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Pitcher of the Year, posting a 13-0 record (13 wins led the nation) and a 2.30 ERA. He broke single season school records for wins (13), complete-games (nine), shutouts (three) and strikeouts (103) in 2014.
RED, WHITE, AND BLUE
Three Aggies were blessed with the experience of traveling with the USA Baseball Collegiate Na-tional Team last summer. Sophomore outfielder NICK BANKS and junior pitcher A.J. MINTER were selected to play and ROB CHILDRESS served as the team's pitching coach.
Team USA went 18-8-2 over the season and claimed the title at the Honkbal - Haarlem Week in the Netherlands. Banks appeared in 26 of the 28 games with 23 starts. He batted .241 (21-for-87) with 11 runs, two doubles, two home runs and 13 RBI. Minter appeared in nine games, logging a 0-0 record with a 0.00 ERA. He yielded just two unearned runs on four hits and seven walks while striking out 10 over 12.1 innings.
TURNER BASEBALL
TURNER LARKINS has the distinction of being selected in the 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft one spot before Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel. The Milwaukee Brewers selected Larkins out of Arlington Martin High School in the 28th round with the 836th overall pick. The San Diego Padres followed by drafting Manziel with the 837th pick.
SUMMER LOVIN'
Aggies picked up a number of accolades during the summer campaign.
In the Alaska Baseball League, TYLER STUBBLEFIELD was named the ABL Pitcher of the Year and ABL Top Prospect, and RYAN HENDRIX was named to the All-ABL team. Stubblefield led the ABL in ERA (1.06) and wins (5-0). He also ranked third in the league with 45 strikeouts. Hendrix was 3-1 with a 3.06 ERA, striking out 43 batters in 44.0 innings.
In the Northwoods League, MATT KENT was earned honors as NWL Midseason All-Star, MWL Post-season All Star and NWL Co-Pitcher of the Year as well as being named a NWL Top 10 Prospect for the second consecutive year. The Northwoods League Top 200 Prospects list included No. 4 Matt Kent, No. 19 RYNE BIRK, No. 58 MARK ECKER.
In the Texas Collegiate League, LOGAN NOTTEBROK was named to the All-TCL team as a designated hitter, batting .339 with four home runs, 28 runs and 20 RBI in just 32 games.
In the Florida League, HUNTER MELTON earned postseason All-Star recognition. He led the league in RBI (33) and ranked sixth in batting average (.330), second in slugging percentage (.530) and OPS (.919) and third in doubles (10).
1,000 WINS AT OLSEN FIELD
The Aggies enter the season needing 17 home wins to reach the 1,000-win plateau at the friendly confines of Olsen Field. Now in their 38th season at the now-Blue Bell Park, the Maroon and White are 983-324-4.
2015 SEC TOURNAMENT
The 2015 SEC Baseball Tournament is scheduled for May 19-24 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala., a suburb of Birmingham.
The tournament, being held in Hoover for the 18th consecutive year, for the third consecutive year, the tournament will be a 12-team field. The regular-season division winners will claim the top two seeds and the next 10 teams by conference winning percentage, regardless of division will claim the remaining berths in the tournament. The No. 5-12 teams will play a single-elimination opening round on May 19, followed by a double-elimination format until the semifinals, when the format will revert to single elimination through the championship game.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M will host Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. Last season, the Aggies defeated SFA, 4-3, in a February matchup in College Station.