A&M Heads to Knoxville for Series with Tennessee

Friday, May 1

Knoxville, TN

5:00 PM

Texas A&M

Tennessee

Apr 30, 2015 | Baseball

By: Texas A&M Athletics

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies travel to Knoxville for a three-game series against the Tennessee Volunteers. After dropping their last two weekend series, the Maroon and White are looking to get back to their winning ways. The Aggies enter the fray in second place in the SEC Western Division, one game behind the LSU Tigers. With two wins, A&M would be guaranteed their first winning record in SEC play. A series sweep would give Coach Rob Childress 400 career wins.

#3 TEXAS A&M AGGIES (38-7, 13-7 SEC) at TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (18-21, 7-14 SEC)

Lindsey Nelson Stadium (4,283) • Knoxville, Tennessee

SCHEDULE - Friday, 5 pm • Saturday, 6 pm • Sunday, 1 pm

TELEVISION - Saturday - SEC Network • Mike Couzens (play-by-play); Rusty Ensor (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), 4 (D1B), 5 (NCBWA) ; Tennessee - unranked

SERIES HISTORY - Texas A&M leads 3-1; Tennessee the last two meeting

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

• FRIDAY: #38 Grayson Long (Jr., RHP, 8-0, 2.89 ERA) vs #46 Andy Cox (Jr., LHP, 1-3, 3.32 ERA)

• SATURDAY: #27 Ryan Hendrix (So., RHP, 3-1, 2.81) vs #29 Bret Marks (Sr., RHP, 4-5, 3.09 ERA)

• SUNDAY: TBA vs TBA

CROSS 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 45 games from 2014 and 2015.

	2014	2015
Blake Allemand	.312	.337
Nick Banks	.331	.381
Ronnie Gideon	.237	.325
Hunter Melton	.248	.336
JB Moss	.262	.275
Mitchell Nau	.291	.364
Logan Taylor	.274	.372

TEXAS A&M/TENNESSEE SERIES NOTABLES

The Aggies own a 3-1 edge in the all-time series against Tennessee. Texas A&M posted a 10-1 win over the Volunteers at the 2005 Houston College Classic.

In 2013, the Aggies won two of three in Knoxville. Daniel Mengden fired a complete-game in the series opener, allowing one run on seven hits and two walks while striking out four. The offensive stars for A&M were Krey Bratsen (.583 [7-for-12] with five runs, two doubles, one home run and one RBI) and Cole Lankford (.357 [5-for-12] with two runs, one home run and five RBI).

MORE ON TENNESSEE

Entering weekend play, Tennessee is 18-21 overall and 7-14 in the SEC. The Volunteers have confidence heading into the series, winning three of their last four games, including two of three against South Carolina last weekend.

Tennessee is hitting .260 with a .349 on-base percentage and .380 slugging percentage. Christin Stewart stirs the drink for the Vols, leading the team with 30 runs, 12 home runs, and 39 RBI. Nick Senzel owns a team-high .338 batting average with 27 runs, 10 doubles, five triples, one home run and 20 RBI. Andrew Lee is hitting .327 with seven doubles, two triples, five home runs and 24 RBI.

The Volunteers own a 3.99 ERA with three shutouts and 315 strikeouts in 338.2 innings of work. Saturday night starter Bret Marks is holding opponents to a .196 batting average with a 4-5 record, a 3.09 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 70.0 innings. Friday starter Andy Cox is 1-3 with a 3.32 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 43.1 innings. Lee doubles as the Volunteers' closer, posting a 2-0 record with seven saves, a 1.45 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 18.2 innings.

The Volunteers have four College World Series appearances, including 1951, 1995, 2001 and 2005. The Vols have won three SEC regular-season crowns (1951, '94, '95) and three SEC Tournament championships (1993, '94, '95).

Tennessee boasts 38 former players who have gone on to play in the Major Leagues. The group is headlined by five-time All-Star Todd Helton who racked up 2,519 hits during his 17-year playing career. Helton ranks 26th all-time in MLB on-base percentage and won the 2000 NL batting crown, three Gold Gloves (2001, '02, '04) and four Silver Slugger Awards (2000, '01, '02, '03). Other notables include 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey, three-time All-Star and former MLB manager Phil Garner and six-time All-Star Tommy Bridges who pitched two complete-games against the Chicago Cubs in 1935 World Series to lead Detroit to the championship.

FRIDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER: #38 GRAYSON LONG

First pitcher to Aggie pitcher to start 8-0 since Michael Wacha in 2012... didn't get a decision last week at No. 1 LSU despite a strong outing (6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K)... SEC Pitcher of the Week twice in 2015... six weeks ago, fanned 14 of the 23 batters he faced in 6.0 innings at Alabama... named Most Outstanding Player at the Houston College Classic in March, scattering three hits and striking out a then career-high 10 batters without a walk in a 6-0 win against No. 16 Houston... enters play as the Aggies' active leader in wins (18), innings pitched (197.2) and strikeouts (163)... 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... last season he earned SEC wins against Auburn, Florida, eventual national champion Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Mississippi State, posting a 5-2 record in league action.

LONG'S CAREER TOTALS

Year	W-L	ERA	APP/GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	AVG
2013	4-2	3.52	12/10	0	46.0	39	19	18	25	38	.235
2014	6-2	3.12	15/15	0	89.1	98	32	31	28	55	.284
2015	8-0	2.89	11/11	0	62.1	49	25	20	27	70	.211
Career	18-4	3.14	38/36	0	197.2	186	76	69	80	163	.250

SATURDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER: #27 RYAN HENDRIX

Making his fourth career start and third start in 2015... held No. 1 LSU in check for the first six innings, allowing just two runs on six hits, before allowing four runs in the seventh... stellar in the bullpen in 2015, logging a 3-0 record and five saves in 14 outings... worked 4.1 innings of relief in the Sunday game against Mississippi State three weeks ago, retiring the first 12 batters he faced before allowing a hit with two outs in the ninth inning... this season he has worked the ninth inning on 11 occasions logging a .220 opponent batting average and 0.82 ERA.

HENDRIX'S CAREER TOTALS

Year	W-L	ERA	APP/GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	AVG
2014	0-2	7.27	11/1	0	8.2	8	8	7	6	9	.242
2015	3-1	2.81	16/2	5	32.0	31	11	10	8	33	.254
Career	3-3	3.76	27/3	5	40.2	39	19	17	14	42	.252

CHILDRESS NEARING 400-WIN CLUB

At 397-215-2, 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.

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 19 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 16 of his 19 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 recently been added to the bullpen to give the Aggies another left-hander on the staff after losing southpaws TYLER STUBBLEFIELD and AJ MINTER to injury. He has appeared in eight games, posting a 3.00 ERA with three runs, two earned, on seven hits and two walks while striking out eight over 6.0 innings.

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.

Banks is living up to the hype in 2015, batting .381 (64-for-168) with 39 runs, seven doubles, two triples, five home runs, 36 RBI and nine stolen bases. He has reached base via walk, hit or HBP in 43 of his 44 games, sporting a .450 on-base percentage.

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.

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.

ALLEMAND JOINS THE 200-GAMES CLUB

With his appearance against Rice on April 7, Blake Allemand became the 17th player in Aggie history to play in 200 games. Six 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).

With 212 games played, Allemand currently ranks 11th on A&M's career list. For his career, Allemand is hitting .290 (215-for-742) with 24 doubles, six triples, five home runs, 95 RBI and 30 stolen bases. He has made 206 career starts, including 47 in 2012, 61 in 2013 and 53 in 2014.

Allemand hit two home runs in his first 196 games. In the last 16 games, the Boerne, Texas-native has left the yard three times. He ranks eighth on A&M's career walks list with 111.

MIDWEEK PERFECTION

The Aggies are 13-0 in midweek action this season, outscoring opponents 92-31. The A&M offense has been highlighted by NICK BANKS, batting .500 (22-for-44) with 11 runs, three doubles and eight RBI, and MITCHELL NAU, hitting .487 (19-for-39) with 11 RBI. RONNIE GIDEON has four home runs and 12 RBI. The pitching staff has a 2.08 ERA and the Aggies have 126 strikeouts in 121.0 innings. TURNER LARKINS has started 10 of the games, posting a 4-0 record with a 3.32 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 40.2 innings. The bullpen is 8-0 with six saves and a 1.46 ERA in midweek action, striking out 73 in 68.0 innings.

Dating back to last season, the Aggies have won 18 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 43.1 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 28 hits and 17 walks in the 43.0 innings, with 51 strikeouts. MARK ECKER has accounted for 17.0 innings, yielding only six hits and four walks while striking out 20. 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 18 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 29 of 111 (73.9 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 20 of the 25 ducks he inherited on the pond (80.0 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.

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 16-7 in the stretch.

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 45 games in 2014 and 2015.

	2014	2015
W-L	27-18	38-7
SEC W-L	10-11	13-7
Batting Average	.288	.315
Runs Per Game	5.76	7.18
Runs	259	323
Home Runs	18	48
RBI	235	303
Slugging Percentage	.380	.471
On-Base Percentage	.366	.410

STREAKS AND TRENDS

• The Aggies are 10-1 on the opening nights of series/tournaments in 2015. Last season, A&M was 3-11 on opening night in the regular season, and additionally lost its opening games at the SEC Tournament and NCAA Houston Regional.

• 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 18-game win streak in midweek games, including a 13-0 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 30 regular-season non-conference games, including 25 in a row this season.

• The Aggies have 26 home runs in the last 18 games. A&M has hit multiple home runs in eight of the last 17 contests.

• BLAKE ALLEMAND has hit in the leadoff spot the last 35 games, batting .343 with a .440 on-base percentage, 31 runs, nine doubles, two triples, three home runs and 22 RBI.

• LOGAN TAYLOR has hit cleanup the last 10 games, batting .444 with a .556 on-base percentage, .694 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 (741), 11th for games played (212).

AGGIES IN THE TOP TEN

Starting the week, the Aggies were 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 action next weekend with a three-game against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. It marks the end of the regular-season home schedule for the Maroon and White.