Texas A&M
Ole Miss
Aggies visit Ole Miss for close of the Regular Season
May 13, 2015 | Baseball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies wrap up the regular-season with a road trip to face the Ole Miss Rebels. The Maroon and White enter the final weekend with a chance to win the SEC. It will take a strong showing by the Aggies (17-9 SEC) and help from the outside as A&M enters the final weekend two games behind LSU (19-7) in the standings. The Aggies are also a half game behind Vanderbilt (18-9). Texas A&M is also looking to earn a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament by securing one of the top four seeds. Currently in third place, the Aggies are looking to hold off Florida (17-10) and Arkansas (15-11).
#6 TEXAS A&M AGGIES (42-9, 17-9 SEC) at OLE MISS REBELS (29-24, 14-13 SEC)
Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field (10,323) • Oxford, Mississippi
SCHEDULE - Thursday, 6:30 pm • Friday, 6:30 pm • Saturday, 1:30 pm
TELEVISION - ESPNU (Thu.) • Tom Hart (play-by-play); Chris Burke (color)
VIDEO - SEC Network+ (WatchESPN credentials required through cable provider)
RADIO - Sports Radio 1150 and The Zone 102.7 FM • Dave South (play-by-play)
AUDIO - 12thMan.com • radioaggieland.com (free)
LIVE STATS - OleMissSports.com
RANKINGS - Texas A&M - 6 (USAT), 6 (NCBWA), 7 (D1B), 8 (BA); Ole Miss - unranked
SERIES HISTORY - Texas A&M leads 7-5. The Aggies won the last game
PROBABLE PITCHERS
• THURSDAY: #38 Grayson Long (Jr., RHP, 8-0, 2.84) vs #47 Christian Trent (Jr., LHP, 7-5, 3.68 ERA)
• FRIDAY: #27 Ryan Hendrix (So., RHP, 4-1, 3.48 ERA) vs #21 Brady Bramlett (So., RHP, 6-3, 3.73 ERA)
• SATURDAY: TBA vs TBA
ACROSS THE BOARD IMPROVEMENT
The Aggies are hitting .029 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 51 games from 2014 and 2015.
2014 | 2015 | |
.304 | .359 | |
.348 | .374 | |
.226 | .310 | |
.245 | .329 | |
.280 | .386 | |
.272 | .352 |
BALANCE OF POWER
Coach Childress has the potential to pencil in a lineup that can include eight players with at least five home runs. LOGAN TAYLOR leads the team with 10 home runs, followed by RONNIE GIDEON and HUNTER MELTON with seven. RYNE BIRK and LOGAN NOTTEBROK checks in six home runs apiece, followed by BLAKE ALLEMAND, NICK BANKS and JB MOSS with five dingers each.
TEXAS A&M/OLE MISS SERIES NOTABLES
The Aggies own a 7-5 edge in the all-time series against Ole Miss. The first meeting came in 1907, with A&M scoring a 4-0 victory. The teams wouldn't meet again until a three-game series in College Station in 1998 with Texas A&M winning two of three.
The next two meetings came in NCAA Regional action at Olsen Field. The Aggies won 13-7 in 1999 and Ole Miss earned a 6-3 victory in 2012.
In the Aggies' first season in the SEC, they won 2-of-3 at Ole Miss.
Last year, the Rebels took two of three in College Station. RYNE BIRK batted .462 (6-for-13) in the series. Troy Stein hit .455 with three runs, one home run and four RBI. LOGAN NOTTEBROK logged one double and two home runs.
MORE ON OLE MISS
The Rebels are 29-24 overall with a 14-13 mark in SEC action. Ole Miss enters the fray with a five-game hit streak. The Rebels own series SEC series wins against a pair of teams that were ranked No. 1 at the time, including Florida (March 20-21) and Vanderbilt (April 9-11). They also have series wins against Alabama and Mississippi State.
Ole Miss is batting .270 on the season with a .364 on-base percentage and .389 slugging percentage. Sikes Orvis (16) has hit nearly half of the Rebels' 36 home runs. Colby Bortles and JB Woodman each have seven dingers. Orvis (52) and Bortles (45) have accounted for nearly 100 RBI.
The Rebels pitching staff owns a 4.46 ERA and 368 strikeouts in 467.2 innings, with opponents batting .270. Ole Miss' two regular weekend starters include Christian Trent (7-5, 3.68 ERA, 62 K, 85.2 IP) and Brady Bramlett (6-3, 3.73 ERA, 71 K, 72.1 IP). Closer Wyatt Short is 4-1 with nine saves, a 1.56 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 34.2 innings.
Ole Miss boasts five College World Series appearances, including last season when they scored elimination victories over Texas Tech and TCU before getting eliminated themselves by Virginia. The other appearances came in 1956, 1964, 1969 and 1972. The Rebels have earned NCAA Tournament bids 13 times in the last 16 years (since 1999), missing out in 2000, 2002 and 2011. Ole Miss has won seven SEC regular-season titles, but just one since 1978, which came in 2009. They won SEC Tournament titles in 1977 and 2006.
Ole Miss has had 42 players reach the Major Leagues. The Rebels had six players earn spots on opening day MLB rosters in 2015. Ole Miss' most prolific major leaguer was Don Kessinger who earned six All-Star appearances and two Gold Gloves as a shortstop for the Chicago Cubs.
THURSDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER: #38 GRAYSON LONG
First pitcher to Aggie pitcher to start 8-0 since Michael Wacha in 2012... last three starts have resulted in no decision.. didn't get a decision three week sat 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... eight 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 (208.1) and strikeouts (171)... his .818 winning percentage (18-4) ranks 10th on Aggies' career list... 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 | 2.84 | 13/13 | 0 | 73.0 | 60 | 32 | 23 | 33 | 78 | .221 |
Career | 18-4 | 3.11 | 40/38 | 0 | 208.1 | 197 | 83 | 72 | 86 | 171 | .252 |
FRIDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER: #27 RYAN HENDRIX
Making his sixth career start and fifth start in 2015... earned win at Tennessee, allowing one run on four hits and two walks while striking out five in 6.0 innings... 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, 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 | 4-1 | 3.48 | 18/4 | 5 | 41.1 | 43 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 45 | .267 |
Career | 4-3 | 4.14 | 29/5 | 5 | 50.0 | 51 | 25 | 23 | 21 | 54 | .263 |
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.
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 was added to the bullpen in the middle of March to give the Aggies another left-hander on the staff after losing southpaws TYLER STUBBLEFIELD and AJ MINTER to injury. He has appeared in 11 games, posting a 2.25 ERA with three runs, two earned, on nine hits and four walks while striking out 11 over 7.0 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 .374 (71-for-190) with 45 runs, nine doubles, three triples, five home runs, 39 RBI and nine stolen bases. He has reached base via walk, hit or HBP in 49 of his 50 games, sporting a .452 on-base percentage.
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 218 games played, Allemand currently ranks eighth on A&M's career list. For his career, Allemand is hitting .297 (228-for-768) with 27 doubles, six triples, six home runs, 99 RBI and 31 stolen bases. He has made 212 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 22 games, the Boerne, Texas-native has left the yard four times. He ranks eighth on A&M's career walks list with 112 and 15th in hits with 228.
MIDWEEK PERFECTION
The Aggies finished the regular-season with a 13-0 record 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 was 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.
DINGER WATCH
The Aggies already have 58 home runs on the season. Last year, A&M hit just 25 home runs on the year. The Aggies had just 20 home runs at this point in the season in 2014. A&M has hit 17 of their 58 home runs in series openers. The Aggies have 10 home runs in their last three games, including five home runs in a 15-14 win against South Carolina. LOGAN TAYLOR leads the Aggies with 10 home runs, the most for an A&M player since three Aggies logged double-digit dingers in 2010.
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 eight occasions this season, going 7-1. The uniforms have been especially friendly to the pitching staff that owns a 2.59 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 68 strikeouts in 73.0 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, 22 of Texas A&M's last 32 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 20-9 in the stretch.
SEPARATION SECOND
The Aggies are outscoring opponents 38-8 in the second innings of games this. Much of the dominance can be attributed to the pitching staff which is holding opponents to a .241 batting average and boasts an 1.24 ERA. In the 51 innings, the Maroon and White have allowed just 10 extra-base hits.
AGGIES PERFECT IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
The Aggies finished the regular-season 25-0 in non-conference play. In non-league play, the Aggie pitching staff owns a 1.93 ERA and is holding opponents to a .233 batting average. The staff has a 1.09 WHIP and 3.88 K-to-BB ratio during the span. On offense, the Aggies are hitting .316 in non-conference action with MITCHELL NAU (.438) and NICK BANKS (.409) both hitting over .400. Texas A&M owns a 30-game win streak in regular-season non-conference play dating back to 2014.
The last time the Aggies went through a regular-season non-conference slate without a loss was in 1930 when they went 8-0 outside of SWC play.
WINNING WAYS
The Aggies are guaranteed their ninth consecutive winning season. The Maroon and White's 42 wins are the most since the 2012 campaign when A&M finished 43-18. At 17-9 in league action, the Aggies are guaranteed their first-ever winning record in SEC play.
CHILDRESS JOINS 400-WIN CLUB
With the win in the series finale at Tennessee, ROB CHILDRESS earned his 400th career win. With his current record of 401-217-2, 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 1.7 more runs per game and sporting a batting average .029 higher than the same point last season. Here's a comparison of the Aggies offensive numbers through 51 games in 2014 and 2015.
2014 | 2015 | |
W-L | 30-21 | 42-9 |
SEC W-L | 12-14 | 17-9 |
Batting Average | .288 | .317 |
Runs Per Game | 5.57 | 7.29 |
Runs | 284 | 372 |
Home Runs | 20 | 58 |
RBI | 258 | 350 |
Slugging Percentage | .384 | .482 |
On-Base Percentage | .367 | .410 |
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.
STREAKS AND TRENDS
• The Aggies are 11-2 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 an 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.
• BLAKE ALLEMAND is on a season-long 11-game hit streak. He is batting .490 (24-for-49) with 16 runs, five doubles, one triple, two home runs and eight RBI over the span.
• BLAKE ALLEMAND has multiple hits in eight of the last 10 games. He is batting .523 (23-for-44) with 15 runs, five doubles, one triple, one home run and seven RBI over the span.
• MITCHELL NAU is on an 11-game hit streak. He is batting .476 (20-for-42) with six runs, five doubles, one home run and 13 RBI over the span.
• BLAKE ALLEMAND has hit in the leadoff spot the last 41 games, batting .369 with a .454 on-base percentage, 42 runs, 12 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 26 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 (112), eighth for at-bats (768), eighth for games played (218) and 15th for hits (228).
• The Aggies' current .317 batting average would rank as the highest since the Maroon and White batted .322 in 1999. A&M has not batted .300 since 2010.
• The Aggies' current .410 on-base percentage would rank as the highest since the Maroon and White reached at a .418 rate in 1996. The last season with an on-base percentage higher than .400 was 2008 (.407).
AGGIES IN THE TOP TWENTY
Starting the week, the Aggies were rank in the top 10 in the nation in 12 NCAA categories, including 10 on the offensive side and two on the mound.
Stat | National Rank | SEC Rank | |
Home Runs | 58 | 4th | 1st |
Sacrifice Flies | 31 | 4th | 1st |
Slugging Percentage | .482 | 5th | 2nd |
On-Base Percentage | .410 | 6th | 1st |
Batting Average | .317 | 5th | 2nd |
Runs | 372 | 9th | 1st |
Home Runs per Game | 1.14 | 10th | 1st |
Hits | 542 | 12th | 2nd |
Runs per Game | 7.3 | 13th | 1st |
Bases on Balls | 241 | 16th | 1st |
Strikeout-to-Walk | 3.13 | 10th | 1st |
Strikeouts per Nine Innings | 8.8 | 13th | 2nd |
UP NEXT
The Aggies head to Hoover, Alabama, to participate in their third SEC Tournament. The tournament begins on Tuesday with the No. 5-12 seeds playing elimination games. On Wednesday the No. 1-4 seeds join the action for a double-elimination phase. The Aggies can be seeded anywhere between No. 1 and No. 5.
