COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M Aggies wrap up the regular-season home non-conference slate on Tuesday as they host the Texas State Bobcats. The Aggies are 24-0 in non-conference play this season with a 29-game win streak in regular-season non-conference play dating back to 2014. Texas A&M is 12-0 in midweek action this season, outscoring opponents 84-24. The bullpen is 7-0 with six saves and a 1.09 ERA in midweek action. Dating back to last season, the Aggies have won 17 consecutive midweek games.
#3 TEXAS A&M AGGIES (37-7, 13-7 SEC) vs TEXAS STATE BOBCATS (18-24-1, 10-11 Sun Belt)
Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park (6,100) • College Station, Texas
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
• TUESDAY: #23 Turner Larkins (Fr., RHP, 5-1, 3.31 ERA) vs #27 Jeremy Hallonquist (Jr., RHP, 4-2, 4.75 ERA)
SCHEDULE - Tuesday, 6:33 pm
TELEVISION - SEC Network • Tom Hart (play-by-play); Gabe Gross (color)
RADIO - Sports Radio 1150 The Zone • Dave South (play-by-play)
LIVE VIDEO - SEC Network+ (WatchESPN credentials required through cable provider)
LIVE AUDIO - 12thMan.com • radioaggieland.com (free)
LIVE STATS - 12thMan.com
RANKINGS - Texas A&M - 3 (USAT), 3 (BA), 3 (NCBWA), 4 (D1B), ; Texas State - unranked
SERIES HISTORY - Texas A&M leads 40-13 and won the last two meeting
ACROSS THE BOARD IMPROVEMENT
The Aggies are hitting .027 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 44 games from 2014 and 2015. .
|
|
2014 |
2015 |
|
.299 |
.331 |
|
|
.326 |
.487 |
|
|
.237 |
.330 |
|
|
.248 |
.342 |
|
|
JB Moss |
.262 |
.278 |
|
.291 |
.358 |
|
|
.270 |
.372 |
TEXAS A&M/TEXAS STATE SERIES NOTABLES
The Aggies own a 40-13 edge in the all-time series. The teams have met every season since 1987. Texas A&M owns a 27-9 edge in games played in College Station.
Last season, the Aggies beat the Bobcats 9-2 with BLAKE ALLEMAND, NICK BANKS and Troy Stein each logging three hits. Stein batted 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple.
MORE ON TEXAS STATE
Texas State enters the fray with an 18-24-1 overall record, including a After Bobcats stumbled out of the gates, going 0-5-1, they rebounded to 16-10, including three-game series sweeps of Appalachian State and Baylor and series wins against Louisiana-Monroe and Georgia Southern. Texas State is back on hard times, losing nine of its last 11, including five in a row.
The Bobcats are hitting .239 with a .335 on-base percentage and .353 slugging percentage. Platoon catcher Jared Huber leads the team with a .297 batting average and has added 14 RBI. The top offensive threat is Granger Studdard, hitting .284 with 22 runs, eight doubles, two triples, nine home runs and 29 RBI. Tanner Hill is batting .273 with 19 runs, four doubles, five home runs and 24 RBI. Cedric Vallieries is hitting .259 with 37 runs, nine doubles, eight home runs and 27 RBI.
Texas State's pitching staff owns a 5.29 ERA, .293 opponent batting average and 252 strikeouts in 381.1 innings.
The Bobcats have five NCAA Tournament appearances, winning the Southland Conference tournament in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2011 and earning an at-large bid in 2009. They captured three consecutive Southland Conference titles from 2009-11. They are in their second season in the Sun Belt Conference after spending one year in the Western Athletic Conference.
Texas State boasts nine players who have gone on to play in the Major Leagues. The group is highlighted by two-time All-Star and 2013 NL MVP runner-up Paul Goldschmidt and two-time All-Star, 1995 NL Rolaids Relief award winner Tom Henke who ranks 21st on the MLB career saves list with 311.
TUEDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER: #23 TURNER LARKINS
Making his 12th career start... owns a 3.54-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (46 K/13 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 |
5-1 |
3.31 |
13/11 |
0 |
49.0 |
50 |
19 |
18 |
13 |
46 |
.266 |
|
Career |
5-1 |
3.31 |
13/11 |
0 |
49.0 |
50 |
19 |
18 |
13 |
46 |
.266 |
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 23 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. In the last seven games, they have allowed four or more runs in an inning on four occasions, going 1-3 in the games. Against Arkansas, Aggies allowed more than four runs in an inning in each of the three games in the series and they allowed four runs in the seventh inning of their 9-6 loss to LSU.
MIDWEEK PERFECTION
The Aggies are 12-0 in midweek action this season, outscoring opponents 84-24. The A&M offense has been highlighted by NICK BANKS, batting .538 (21-for-39) with nine runs, three doubles and seven RBI, and MITCHELL NAU, hitting .472 (17-for-36) with 10 RBI. RONNIE GIDEON has four home runs and 12 RBI. The pitching staff has a 1.72 ERA and the Aggies have 111 strikeouts in 110.0 innings. TURNER LARKINS has started nine of the games, posting a 4-0 record with a 2.70 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 40.0 innings. The bullpen is 7-0 with six saves and a 1.09 ERA in midweek action.
Dating back to last season, the Aggies have won 17 consecutive midweek games.
NINTH-INNING CLAMPS
The Aggie pitching staff has yielded just seven earned runs in the ninth inning or extra innings, a body of work that includes 40.1 innings and six of the seven earned runs have come with Texas A&M leading by four or more runs. The bullpen, which has yielded just six runs, five unearned, in the ninth inning and extra frames, has allowed just 27 hits and 17 walks in the 40.0 innings, with 46 strikeouts. MARK ECKER has accounted for 15.0 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 48 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 48 home runs in series openers. The Aggies have 26 home runs in their last 17 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.
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 25 of 100 (75.0 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 26 inherited runners (76.9 percent). ANDREW VINSON has left 17 of the 22 ducks he inherited on the pond (77.3 percent). KYLE SIMONDS has stranded eight of the nine 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. Two weeks ago against Rice, the bullpen stranded six of seven inherited runners.
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 15-7 in the stretch.
COLLEGE STATION FIRE DEPARTMENT
The Aggie bullpen has been tested more frequently as the season has progressed and are stepping up to the challenge. Fourteen pitchers have combined to work 168.2 innings out of the bullpen, posting an 14-3 record, 17 saves, a 1.92 ERA, 130 hits and 47 walks while striking out 158. The bullpen sports a WHIP of 1.05, opponent batting average of .206 and a 3.32-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 70.8 percent (92-of-130) of the first batters they have faced. They've also stranded 75.0 percent (75-of-100) of the runners they have inherited.
In games decided four runs or less, the Aggie bullpen owns a 1.52 ERA and is holding opponents to a .221 batting average. ANDREW VINSON has 17 appearances in those games with a 3-1 record, allowing just two runs, scattering 16 hits while striking out 19 in 24;0 scoreless innings. RYAN HENDRIX has appeared in 11 of the contests out of the bullpen, 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 the Saturday-Sunday game two loss at Arkansas. Ecker has eight saves and 2.20 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 16.1 innings in tightly contested games.
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.
The northpaw has been impressive in his 15 appearances this season. Simonds is 3-1 with a 1.06 ERA, one save and 27 strikeouts in 42.1 innings. He owns a WHIP of 1.09 and is holding opponents to a .211 batting average. In his first career outing, he retired 12 of 13 batters he faced with the only batter reaching base on a HBP, blanking Holy Cross for 4.0 innings with four strikeouts. Simonds earned his first career win working 2.1 innings, scattering two hits and one walk while striking out one in a 4-1 victory against UTPA. At Alabama (3/21), Simonds worked 5.0 innings of relief, allowing one unearned run to help the Aggies' secure their 24th consecutive win, setting an SEC record. In the series finale at No. 1 LSU, he tip-toed around eight hits, giving up two runs, one earned, over 5.0 innings to earn the win.
BALANCE OF POWER
Coach Childress has the potential to pencil in a lineup that can include eight players with at least four 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 BLAKE ALLEMAND, RYNE BIRK, LOGAN NOTTEBROK and HUNTER MELTON with four dingers each.
CHILDRESS NEARING 400-WIN CLUB
At 396-215-2, ROB CHILDRESS is within striking distance of the 400-win plateau. He trails only Mark Johnson (876 - 1985-2005) and Tom Chandler (660 - 1959-84) in career wins for the Aggies.
SEEMS LIKE JUST LAST YEAR
Texas A&M is averaging 1.4 more runs per game and sporting a batting average .027 higher than the same point last season. Here's a comparison of the Aggies offensive numbers through 44 games in 2014 and 2015.
|
|
2014 |
2015 |
|
W-L |
26-18 |
37-7 |
|
SEC W-L |
9-11 |
13-7 |
|
Batting Average |
.287 |
.314 |
|
Runs Per Game |
5.75 |
7.16 |
|
Runs |
253 |
315 |
|
Home Runs |
18 |
48 |
|
RBI |
229 |
296 |
|
Slugging Percentage |
.381 |
.475 |
|
On-Base Percentage |
.364 |
.408 |
STREAKS AND TRENDS
• In the series finale at LSU, NICK BANKS had his 42-game streak of reaching base (via walk, HBP or hit) snapped. It was the longest stretch for an Aggie since Mikey Reynolds reached in 46 consecutive games in 2013. He had a pair of 13-game hit streaks during the stretch.
• The Aggies are on a 17-game win streak in midweek games, including a 12-0 mark in 2015. 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 29 regular-season non-conference games, including 24 in a row this season.
• The Aggies have 26 home runs in the last 17 games. A&M has hit multiple home runs in eight of the last 16 contests.
• BLAKE ALLEMAND has hit in the leadoff spot the last 34 games, batting .336 with a .438 on-base percentage, 30 runs, nine doubles, two triples, three home runs and 21 RBI.
• LOGAN TAYLOR has hit cleanup the last nine games, batting .455 with a .538 on-base percentage, .727 slugging percentage, three doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI.
• LOGAN TAYLOR's 10 home runs are the most for an Aggie since 2010 when a trio hit the mark, led by Brodie Greene with 14.
• BLAKE ALLEMAND ranks eighth on A&M's career list for walks (111), 10th for at-bats (736), 11th for games played (211).
QUICK DRAW
• The Aggies are outscoring opponents a combined 84-33 in the first two innings of games, including 48-27 in first innings and 36-6 in second innings.
• In the first inning of games, the Aggies are batting .341 (63-for-185) with a .429 on-base percentage and .508 slugging percentage. The Maroon and White have drawn 29 walks and have been hit by two pitches. The extra-base hits include 14 doubles, one triple and five home runs.
• In the first inning of games, the A&M pitching staff has held opponents to a .278 batting average (49-for-176) and have struck out 50 of the 196 batters they've faced (25.5%).
• In the second inning of games, the Aggies are batting .284 (48-for-169) with a .378 on-base percentage and .467 slugging percentage. The Maroon and White have drawn 23 walks and have been hit by five pitches. The extra-base hits include five doubles, one triple and eight home runs.
• In the second inning of games, the A&M pitching staff has held opponents to a .236 batting average (39-for-165), own an 1.02 ERA and have struck out 47 of the 182 batters they've faced (25.8%).
AGGIES PERFECT IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
The Aggies are 24-0 in non-conference play this season. In non-league play, the Aggie pitching staff owns a 1.73 ERA and is holding opponents to a .223 batting average. The staff has a 1.08 WHIP and 3.82 K-to-BB ratio during the span. On offense, the Aggies are hitting .316 in non-conference action with MITCHELL NAU (.429) and NICK BANKS (.422) both hitting over .400. Texas A&M owns a 29-game win streak in regular-season non-conference play dating back to 2014.
WINNING WAYS
The Aggies are guaranteed their ninth consecutive winning season. The Maroon and White's 37 wins are the most since the 2012 campaign when A&M finished 43-18. With two more league wins, the Aggies will have their first-ever winning mark in SEC play.
HISTORIC START
The Aggies started the season 24-0. It marked the best start for the Maroon and White since the 1989 campaign when A&M set a 26-0 foundation. It also broke the SEC record for longest win streak, topping LSU's 23-game win streak in 2008.
AGGIES IN THE TOP TEN
The Aggies rank in the top 10 in the nation in six NCAA categories, including four on the offensive side and two on the mound.
|
|
Stat |
National Rank |
SEC Rank |
|
Batting Average |
.314 |
5th |
2nd |
|
Home Runs |
48 |
5th |
1st |
|
On-Base % |
.408 |
6th |
1st |
|
Slugging & |
.475 |
9th |
2nd |
|
ERA |
.257 |
7th |
1st |
|
Strikeout-to-Walk |
3.38 |
7th |
1st |
UP NEXT
The Aggies return to the road for a three-game series in Knoxville. Texas A&M and Tennessee will play at 5 pm on Friday, 6 pm on Saturday and 1 pm on Sunday.