COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 2 Texas A&M Aggies look to get back on the winning track as they wrap up their nine-game homestand with a Tuesday matinee against the UT Arlington Mavericks. The Maroon and White are 11-0 in midweek games in 2015 and they have a 16-game midweek win streak dating back to last season. The Aggies are also 23-0 in non-conference games this season and have won 28 consecutive regular-season non-conference games.
#1 TEXAS A&M AGGIES (35-5, 12-5 SEC) vs UT ARLINGTON MAVERICKS (17-21, 8-10 Sun Belt)
Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park (6,100) • College Station, Texas
SCHEDULE - Tuesday, 2:05 pm
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
RANKINGS - Texas A&M - 2 (USAT), 2 (D1B), 2 (BA), 3 (NCBWA); UT Arlington - unranked
SERIES HISTORY - Texas A&M leads 25-8 and have won the last two meetings
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
• TUESDAY: #23 Turner Larkins (Fr., RHP, 4-1, 3.52 ERA) vs. #35 Brad Vassar (Fr., LHP, 2-4, 3.83 ERA)
MIDWEEK PERFECTION
The Aggies are 11-0 in midweek action this season, outscoring opponents 80-22. The A&M offense has been highlighted by NICK BANKS, batting .556 (20-for-33) with eight runs, three doubles and six RBI, and MITCHELL NAU, hitting .469 (15-for-32) with nine RBI. RONNIE GIDEON has four home runs and 12 RBI. The pitching staff has a 1.78 ERA and the Aggies have 104 strikeouts in 101.0 innings. TURNER LARKINS has started eight of the games, posting a 3-0 record with a 2.92 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 37.0 innings. The bullpen is 7-0 with five saves and a 1.05 ERA in midweek action.
Dating back to last season, the Aggies have won 16 consecutive midweek games.
AGGIES PERFECT IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
The Aggies are 23-0 in non-conference play this season. In non-league play, the Aggie pitching staff owns a 1.77 ERA and is holding opponents to a .224 batting average. The staff has a 1.07 WHIP and 4.06 K-to-BB ratio during the span. On offense, the Aggies are hitting .317 in non-conference action with NICK BANKS (.425) and MITCHELL NAU (.425) both hitting over .400. Texas A&M owns a 28-game win streak in regular-season non-conference play dating back to 2014.
ACROSS THE BOARD IMPROVEMENT
The Aggies are hitting .033 higher than at the same time a season ago and the improvement can be seen sprinkled throughout the lineup. Below is a comparison of batting averages through 40 games from 2014 and 2015.
|
|
2014 |
2015 |
|
.293 |
.315 |
|
|
.315 |
.408 |
|
|
.237 |
.337 |
|
|
.253 |
.349 |
|
|
.291 |
.359 |
|
|
.270 |
.377 |
TEXAS A&M/UT ARLINGTON SERIES NOTABLES
Texas A&M leads the all-time series, 25-8 and the Aggies have won nine of the last 11 meetings. Texas A&M owns a 21-3 edge in games played on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. Last season, the Aggies earned a 5-4 win at Globe Life Park. Texas A&M built a 5-0 lead, including a three-run seventh inning, but had to fight of a furious Mavericks' comeback to leave Arlington with the win. UTA put up two runs each in the eighth and ninth innings, but Andrew Vinson was able to nail the game down for his first career save. TYLER STUBBLEFIELD earned the win, scattering five hits and one walk while striking out nine over 5.2 innings.
MORE ON UT ARLINGTON
UT Arlington is 17-21 on the season, including 8-10 in Sun Belt Conference play.
The Mavericks are hitting .268 on the season with a .343 slugging percentage and .353 on-base percentage. Levi Scott leads UT Arlington with a .341 batting average, nine doubles, four home runs and 31 RBI. Matt McLean is hitting .331 with 28 runs, one double and 12 RBI. Travis Sibley has a team-high 33 RBI, hitting .329 with 11 doubles, one triple and two home runs.
UTA's pitching staff has a 4.33 ERA and 205 strikeouts in 339.0 innings. Tuesday's starter Brad Vassar is 2-4 with a 3.83 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 40 innings of work. He owns wins against Michigan State and South Alabama. Closer Colin Tornberg is 1-1 with eight saves and a 5.82 ERA.
In 2012, UTA advanced to the NCAA Championship after winning the Southland Conference Tournament. The Mavericks also advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1990, 1992, 2001 and 2006.
UT Arlington boasts 11 former players who have gone on to play in the Major Leagues. The group is headlined by three-time MLB All-Star outfielder Hunter Pence and 2007 MLB All-Star pitcher and 153-game winner John Lackey. Michael Choice is the most recent Maverick to reach the Majors. He was a September call-up for the Oakland A's in 2013, appearing in nine games with a .278 batting average (5-for-18).
TUEDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER: #23 TURNER LARKINS
Making his 11th career start... owns a 4.30-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (43 K/10 BB)... earned a win in his first career SEC and weekend start, holding Auburn to one run on four hits while striking out seven in 6.1 innings... was fantastic in his first career start, scattering five hits while striking out nine in 5.1 innings against Stephen F Austin... made quick work of Holy Cross in his first career outing, using just nine pitches to dispatch of the Crusaders in the eighth inning of the series finale win... selected on pick before Johnny Manziel in the 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
LARKIN'S CAREER TOTALS
|
Year |
W-L |
ERA |
APP/GS |
SV |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
AVG |
|
2015 |
4-1 |
3.52 |
12/10 |
0 |
46.0 |
48 |
19 |
18 |
10 |
43 |
.268 |
|
Career |
4-1 |
3.52 |
12/10 |
0 |
46.0 |
48 |
19 |
18 |
10 |
43 |
.268 |
RECORD-BREAKING INNING
The Aggies posted a few records when they scored 13 runs on 13 hits in their 19-4 win over Sam Houston State. The Aggies started the inning by stringing together 11 consecutive hits. The mark equaled the NCAA Division I record set by Cal State-Los Angeles against UC Santa Barbara on May 21, 1977 and equaled by Oakland against Southern Utah on May 16, 2008. The 13 hits set an obscure mark for “most hits in a third inning” set by UNLV against Alliant International on May 2, 1981 and equaled by Clemson against Maryland on March 21, 1998 and Long Island against Mount St. Mary's on April 10, 2000. The Aggies hit a school-record four home runs during the frame.
BIG INNINGS
The 2015 campaign has been spangled by big innings for the Aggies. Texas A&M has four innings in 2015 in which they've scored at least seven runs. Most recently, the Aggies put up nine runs in the sixth inning of their 14-6 rubber match win against Missouri and 13 runs in the third inning of a 19-4 pounding of Sam Houston State. For the year, the Aggies boast 22 innings in which they've produced four or more runs.
In the first 37 games of the season, A&M's pitching staff allowed four or more runs in an inning on just three occasions. Against Arkansas, Aggies allowed more than four runs in an inning in each of the three games in the series.
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 Bryan, 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 returned 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).
Kopetsky has appeared in 18 games at the plate, including 14 starts. He's batting .283 (13-for-46) with nine runs, two doubles, one triple, 11 walks, four RBI and three stolen bases. Kopetsky has reached base via a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch in 15 of his 18 games and he boasts a .431 on-base percentage. In Texas A&M's 4-3 win against UTPA, Kopetsky tied a school record with five walks.
He has made five appearances on the mound, retiring 11 of the 14 batters he has faced in 3.2 innings, including seven strikeouts.
NINTH-INNING CLAMPS
The Aggie pitching staff has yielded just six earned runs in the ninth inning or extra innings, a body of work that includes 38.0 innings and all six of the earned runs have come with Texas A&M leading by four or more runs. The bullpen, which has yielded just five runs, four unearned, in the ninth inning and extra frames, has allowed just 24 hits and 17 walks in the 37.2 innings, with 44 strikeouts. MARK ECKER has accounted for 14.0 innings, yielding only five hits and four walks while striking out 17. RYAN HENDRIX has worked 11.0 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, scattering nine hits and three walks while striking out 12.
DINGER WATCH
The Aggies already have 45 home runs on the season. Last year, A&M hit just 25 home runs on the year. The Aggies had just 18 home runs at this point in the season in 2014. A&M has hit 15 of their 45 home runs in series openers. The Aggies have 23 home runs in their last 13 games, including five home runs in a 19-4 win against Sam Houston State. A&M added five more home runs in the doubleheader sweep at Kentucky and logged two in a 4-3 win over No. 13 Rice.
A SERIES-OPENING FIX
One of the things that doomed the Aggies in 2014 was an inability to win the opening game of the weekend, putting the Aggies behind the 8-ball for much of the year. Last year, A&M struggled the first night of series, going 3-11 in openers (3-13 if you count the SEC Tournament and NCAA Houston Regional). This season, the Maroon and White have already exceeded the opening night win tally with a 10-0 mark. In opening games, the Aggies are batting .310 and they have hit 15 of their 45 home runs. The pitching staff owns a 1.74 ERA and is holding opponents to a .199 batting average in series/tournament openers. Last year, A&M hit .227 in their series openers, averaging just 3.21 runs per game. The pitching staff posted a 3.62 ERA and yielded a .249 batting average to foes.
INHERITANCE TAX
In the Aggies' 3-2 win against Baylor, A&M's bullpen had a string of stranding 18 consecutive inherited runners snapped. The Aggie relievers have still been rather salty on the season, allowing just 21 of 89 (76.4 percent stranded) inherited runners to score. TY SCHLOTTMANN has been the most tested out of the bullpen and he has been up to the task, stranding 20 of his 25 inherited runners (80.0 percent). ANDREW VINSON has left 15 of the 20 ducks he inherited on the pond. KYLE SIMONDS has stranded seven of the eight runners he has inherited. Against Prairie View A&M, Aggie relievers entered the game with seven baserunners, including bases loaded on two occasions, and they didn't yield a run. In the doubleheader sweep of Kentucky, the Aggies allowed just one of six inherited runners to score. Last Tuesday against Rice, the bullpen stranded six of seven inherited runners.
STOUT BULLPEN
The Aggie bullpen has been tested more frequently as the season has progressed and are stepping up to the challenge. Thirteen pitchers have combined to work 155.0 innings out of the bullpen, posting an 14-2 record, 15 saves, a 1.80 ERA, 115 hits and 44 walks while striking out 149. The bullpen sports a WHIP of 1.03, opponent batting average of .207 and a 3.39-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. At the Houston College Classic, the bullpen allowed just one hit in 7.2 innings of scoreless relief.
Texas A&M's bullpen has outstanding numbers in two key stats. The Aggie relievers have retired 73.1 percent (87-of-119) of the first batters they have faced. They've also stranded 76.4 percent (68-of-89) of the runners they have inherited.
In games decided four runs or less, the Aggie bullpen owns a 1.22 ERA and is holding opponents to a .211 batting average. ANDREW VINSON has 15 appearances in those games with a 3-0 record, allowing just one run, scattering 11 hits while striking out 15 in 19.2 scoreless innings. RYAN HENDRIX has appeared in 11 of the contests, allowing two runs, one earned, on 11 hits and six walks while striking out 11 in 15.0 innings. He has a 2-0 mark, five saves and a 0.60 ERA in the tight games. MARK ECKER was perfect in his duties until suffering the Aggies' lone blown save in last Sunday's loss at Arkansas.
1,000 WINS AT OLSEN FIELD
With their win in the Saturday game against Auburn, the Aggies secured their 1,000th win at the friendly confines of Olsen Field. Playing their 38th season at the now-Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park, the Maroon and White are 1,010-328-4 (.754) at the corner of George Bush Drive and Olsen Boulevard.
SEEMS LIKE JUST LAST YEAR
Texas A&M is averaging 1.7 more runs per game and sporting a batting average .033 higher than the same point last season. Here's a comparison of the Aggies offensive numbers through 40 games in 2014 and 2015.
|
|
2014 |
2015 |
|
W-L |
23-17 |
35-5 |
|
SEC W-L |
7-10 |
12-5 |
|
Batting Average |
.284 |
.317 |
|
Runs Per Game |
5.7 |
7.4 |
|
Runs |
226 |
296 |
|
Home Runs |
16 |
45 |
|
RBI |
206 |
277 |
|
Slugging Percentage |
.378 |
.480 |
|
On-Base Percentage |
.362 |
.412 |
STREAKS
• NICK BANKS has reached base (via walk, HBP or hit) in all 39 game he's played in 2015. He owns a .470 on-base percentage with 60 hits, 15 walks and three HBP over the span. It's the longest streak for an Aggie since Mikey Reynolds reached in 46 consecutive games in 2013.
• The Aggies are on a 16-game win streak in midweek games. The string includes five games at the end of 2014, including wins over then-No. 16 Rice and then-No. 25 Sam Houston State.
• The Aggies have won their last 28 regular-season non-conference games, including 23 in a row this season.
• LOGAN NOTTEBROK has a home run in each of his last three starts. His dingers have come in the series finale against Missouri and midweek games against Sam Houston State and Rice. Over the three starts, Nottebrok is hitting .417 (5-for-12) with one double, three home runs and seven RBI.
QUICK DRAW
• The Aggies are outscoring opponents a combined 79-31 in the first two innings of games, including 45-26 in first innings and 34-5 in second innings.
• In the first inning of games, the Aggies are batting .341 (57-for-167) with a .435 on-base percentage and .503 slugging percentage. The Maroon and White have drawn 28 walks and have been hit by two pitches. The extra-base hits include 13 doubles, one triple and four home runs.
• In the first inning of games, the A&M pitching staff has held opponents to a .270 batting average (43-for-159) and have struck out 45 of the 179 batters they've faced (25.1%).
• In the second inning of games, the Aggies are batting .292 (45-for-154) with a .388 on-base percentage and .496 slugging percentage. The Maroon and White have drawn 18 walks and have been hit by five pitches. The extra-base hits include five doubles, one triple and seven home runs.
• In the second inning of games, the A&M pitching staff has held opponents to a .227 batting average (34-for-150) and have struck out 44 of the 165 batters they've faced (26.7%).
MEN IN BLACK
The Aggies have a new black uniform in their wardrobe for the 2015 season. The squad is only permitted to wear the jerseys for games in which they are trying to complete a series sweep. They have had the opportunity to don the black unis on seven occasions this season, going 6-1. The uniforms have been especially friendly to the pitching staff that owns a 1.97 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 65 strikeouts in 64.0 innings of work in the look. The Aggies were unable to wear black jerseys in their series finale at Kentucky as the Wildcats elected to wear black in the second game of the doubleheader.
MEATGRINDER
Starting with the three-game series at Alabama, 23 of Texas A&M's last 33 games will be against teams that advanced to the 2014 NCAA Championship. The gauntlet includes seven SEC weekend series against NCAA tournament teams, including Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and South Carolina, two games against Sam Houston State and one game against Rice. The Aggies are currently 13-5 in the stretch.
BALANCE OF POWER
Coach Childress has the potential to pencil in a lineup that can include nine players with at least three home runs. LOGAN TAYLOR leads the team with 10 home runs, followed by RONNIE GIDEON with seven. JB MOSS and NICK BANKS checks in five home runs apiece, followed by LOGAN NOTTEBROK with four. BLAKE ALLEMAND, RYNE BIRK, HUNTER MELTON and MITCHELL NAU all have three home runs.
UP NEXT
The Aggies return to league play with a three-game series at LSU starting on Thursday. Game times 6:30 pm on Thursday, 7 pm on Friday and 1 pm on Saturday. Thursday's game is set to air on ESPNU and Saturday's game will air on ESPN.