Texas A&M
Alabama
Aggies Face Alabama Wednesday at SEC Tournament
May 19, 2015 | Baseball
HOOVER, Alabama - The Texas A&M Aggies enter the 2015 SEC Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium with their best seeding in their three seasons in the league. With the No. 3 seed, the Aggies earned a first-round bye for the first time. The Maroon and White open play on Wednesday morning with a 9:30 am contest against No. 11 seed Alabama, who defeated No. 6 seed Ole Miss, 6-1, on Tuesday morning. During the regular-season, the Aggies went 2-1 against at Alabama in a series played at the Hoover Met.
#3 TEXAS A&M AGGIES (43-10, 18-10 SEC) at #11 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE (31-26, 12-18 SEC)
2015 SEC Baseball Tournament
Hoover Metropolitan Stadium (10,800) • Hoover, Alabama
SCHEDULE - Wednesday, 9:30 am
TELEVISION - SEC Network
DIGITAL 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 - SECSports.com
RANKINGS - Texas A&M - 6 (USAT), 7 (NCBWA), 7 (D1B), 9 (BA); Alabama - unranked
SERIES HISTORY - Texas A&M leads Alabama 6-5
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Wednesday - #38 Grayson Long (Jr., RHP, 9-0, 2.59 ERA) vs #16 Jake Walters (Fr., RHP, 4-4, 3.15 ERA)
ACROSS THE BOARD IMPROVEMENT
The Aggies are hitting .026 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 53 games from 2014 and 2015.
| 2014 | 2015 |
.294 | .361 | |
.350 | .371 | |
.226 | .307 | |
.245 | .321 | |
.277 | .377 | |
.272 | .355 |
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 RYNE BIRK and HUNTER MELTON with eight. RONNIE GIDOEN has seven home runs followed by LOGAN NOTTEBROK with six and BLAKE ALLEMAND, NICK BANKS and JB MOSS with five dingers each.
TEXAS A&M/ALABAMA SERIES NOTABLES
Texas A&M and Alabama have met on 11 prior occasions with Texas A&M leading the series, 6-5.
The teams played twice at the Continental Airlines Aggie Baseball Classic in 1995, with the Aggies winning 6-2 and 5-4. The teams squared off again once in at the 2003 NCAA College Station Regional where the Aggies won 16-5 before losing two games to eventual regional champion Houston.
In 2013, the Crimson Tide won both games of a rain-shortened series in Tuscaloosa. Alabama won by identical scores of 3-2, taking early 3-0 leads in both games and fighting off late charges by the Aggies.
Last season, Alabama took two of three games in College Station. The Crimson Tide won the opener 5-1 with the Aggies bouncing back for a 13-8 victory in the second game. Alabama captured the series with two runs in the ninth inning to register a 6-4 win. NICK BANKS led the Aggies offense last season, hitting .500 (6-for-12) while Ronnie Gideon hit .429 (3-for-7) in two games.
This season, A&M won two of three at the Hoover Met. In the Friday night game, GRAYSON LONG pitched a gem, striking out 14 of the 23 batters he faced over 6.0 innings of work in a 4-2 victory. The Aggies won the second game of the series, 10-5, for their SEC record 24th consecutive win. In the game, every Aggie starter got a hit and KYLE SIMONDS allowed just one unearned run in 5.0 innings of relief to earn the victory. The Crimson Tide snapped the Aggies' win streak with a 6-2 win in the series finale.
WEDNESDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER: #38 GRAYSON LONG
First Aggie pitcher to start 9-0 since Michael Wacha in 2012... All-SEC Second Team pitcher... scattered two hits and three walks while strike out 12 in 7.0 scoreless innings at Ole Miss last Thursday.... didn't get a decision three week ago 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... 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 .824 winning percentage (19-4) ranks ninth on Aggies' career list... 19 wins is tied for 15th on Aggie all-time 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 | 9-0 | 2.59 | 14/14 | 0 | 80.0 | 62 | 32 | 23 | 36 | 90 | .211 |
Career | 19-4 | 3.01 | 41/39 | 0 | 215.1 | 199 | 83 | 72 | 89 | 183 | .247 |
FOUR AGGIES EARN ALL-SEC
The Texas A&M Aggies had four players earn All-SEC honors, the league announced on prior to the league tournament.
MITCHELL NAU picked up All-SEC First Team recognition as a designated hitter. Aggies on the All-SEC Second Team included outfielders NICK BANKS and LOGAN TAYLOR and starting pitcher GRAYSON LONG.
The four honorees set a new high water mark for the program in their third season of SEC play. The Aggies' four All-SEC performers ranked second behind only LSU with six.
DINGER WATCH
The Aggies already have 61 home runs on the season. Last year, A&M hit just 25 home runs on the year. The Aggies had just 21 home runs through 53 games in 2014. The Maroon and White hit 24 home runs in their 56-regular-season games last year. A&M has hit 18 of their 61 home runs in series openers. The Aggies have 13 home runs in their last six 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. RYNE BIRK and HUNTER MELTON both have eight home runs.
MEATGRINDER
Starting with the three-game series at Alabama, 21 of Texas A&M's last 31 regular-season games were against teams that advanced to the 2014 NCAA Championship. The gauntlet included 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 21-10 in the stretch.
SEPARATION SECOND
The Aggies are outscoring opponents 39-11 in the second innings of games this season. 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, the only team in the country to go undefeated out of league 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.
SEEMS LIKE JUST LAST YEAR
Texas A&M is averaging 1.6 more runs per game and sporting a batting average .026 higher than the same point last season. Here's a comparison of the Aggies offensive numbers through 53 games in 2014 and 2015.
| 2014 | 2015 |
W-L | 32-21 | 43-10 |
SEC W-L | 13-14 | 18-10 |
Batting Average | .287 | .313 |
Runs Per Game | 5.57 | 7.17 |
Runs | 293 | 380 |
Home Runs | 21 | 61 |
RBI | 265 | 358 |
Slugging Percentage | .382 | .479 |
On-Base Percentage | .366 | .405 |
WINNING WAYS
The Aggies are guaranteed their ninth consecutive winning season. The Maroon and White's 43 wins are the most since the 2012 campaign when A&M finished 43-18. At 18-10 in league action, the Aggies recorded their first winning season in the SEC.
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 402-218-2, he trails only Mark Johnson (876 - 1985-2005) and Tom Chandler (660 - 1959-84) in career wins for the Aggies.
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 12-2 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 career-long 13-game hit streak. He is batting .482 (27-for-56) with 18 runs, five doubles, one triple, two home runs and eight RBI over the span.
• BLAKE ALLEMAND has multiple hits in nine of the last 12 games. He is batting .510 (26-for-51) with 17 runs, five doubles, one triple, one home run and seven RBI over the span.
• BLAKE ALLEMAND is the only Aggie to start all 53 games this season. He has started the last 96 games for A&M.
• BLAKE ALLEMAND has hit in the leadoff spot the last 43 games, batting .371 with a .453 on-base percentage, 44 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), seventh for at-bats (775), eighth for games played (220) and 15th for hits (231).
• The Aggies' current .313 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 .405 on-base percentage would rank as the highest since the Maroon and White reached at a .407 rate in 2008.
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 | 61 | 8th | 1st |
Slugging Percentage | .479 | 7th | 2nd |
On-Base Percentage | .405 | 7th | 1st |
Batting Average | .313 | 7th | 2nd |
Home Runs per Game | 1.15 | 10th | 1st |
Sacrifice Flies | 31 | 10th | 1st |
Hits | 542 | 12th | 2nd |
Runs per Game | 7.2 | 14th | 1st |
Bases on Balls | 241 | 16th | 1st |
Runs | 380 | 17th | 2nd |
Strikeouts per Nine Innings | 9.0 | 8th | 2nd |
Strikeout-to-Walk | 3.09 | 10th | 1st |
ALL-TIME SEC TOURNAMENT RESULTS
The Aggies are 2-3 all-time at the SEC Tournament. In 2013, A&M entered as the No. 10 seed and went 2-2. Last year, the Aggies were the No. 9 seed and went 0-1.
2013 | vs Florida | W, 6-3 |
| vs Vanderbilt | W, 5-0 |
| vs Mississippi State | L, 4-6 |
| vs Vanderbilt | L, 0-3 |
2014 | vs Arkansas | L, 0-4 |
AGGIES IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
The Aggies are 2-3 in the SEC Tournament, earning a berth in 2013 and posting wins against Florida (6-3) and Vanderbilt (5-0) before back-to-back losses to Mississippi State (6-4) and Vanderbilt (3-0). Last season, they lost to Arkansas in the opening round (5-0).
Texas A&M appeared in 14 of 16 Big 12 Tournaments, winning three of the last six. The Aggies won the tournament titles in 2007, 2010 and 2011. The Maroon and White own the second-best winning percentage in tournament history (.563) with a 27-21 mark, trailing only Nebraska (.707) who went 29-12 in their 10 appearances. 2005 and 2006 were the only two seasons the Aggies didn't make the tournament between 1997-2012.
The Aggies won SWC Tournament titles in 1986 and 1989.
UP NEXT
If the Aggies win, they will play a game against 2nd-seed Vanderbilt or 7th-seed Missouri on Thursday at 4:30 pm. If the Aggies lose, they will play an elimination game against Vanderbilt or Missouri at 9:30 am on Thursday.
