Texas A&M
Vanderbilt
A&M Battles Vanderbilt Thursday at SEC Tournament
May 20, 2015 | Baseball
HOOVER, Alabama - The No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies continue action at the 2015 SEC Baseball Tournament on Thursday as they battle the No. 9 Vanderbilt Commodores. Both squads won one-run games on Wednesday with A&M scoring the winning run of a 4-3 victory in the eighth inning against Alabama. Vanderbilt needed 10 innings to dispatch of Missouri, 7-6.
#3 seed - TEXAS A&M AGGIES (44-10, 18-10 SEC) vs #2 seed - VANDERBILT COMMODORES (40-17, 20-10 SEC)
2015 SEC Baseball Tournament
Hoover Metropolitan Stadium (10,800) • Hoover, Alabama
SCHEDULE - Thursday, 4:30 pm
TELEVISION - SEC Network
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); Vanderbilt - 7 (BA), 9 (USAT), 9 (D1B), 10 (NCBWA)
SERIES HISTORY - Texas A&M leads series 3-2
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Thursday - #31 Matt Kent (Jr., LHP, 6-1, 3.74 ERA) vs #15 Carson Fulmer (Jr., RHP, 11-1, 1.51 ERA)
ACROSS THE BOARD IMPROVEMENT
The Aggies are hitting .024 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 54 games from 2014 and 2015.
| 2014 | 2015 |
.286 | .356 | |
.353 | .370 | |
.226 | .307 | |
.245 | .319 | |
.274 | .376 | |
.272 | .358 |
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/VANDERBILT SERIES NOTABLES
Texas A&M and Vanderbilt have met on six prior occasions with Texas A&M leading the series, 3-2.
The teams first met at the SEC Tournament in 2013, splitting a pair of games. In the first meeting, A&M won 5-0 behind Parker Ray's best career outing. Ray worked 8.0 scoreless innings, scattering three hits and three walks while striking out three. The Aggies got home runs from HUNTER MELTON, Troy Stein and Cole Lankford. The Commodores turned the tables in an elimination game two days later with a 3-0 win. Tyler Beede worked 7.1 blank frames, scattering two hits and four walks while striking out three.
Last year, Texas A&M won two of three in Nashville in the only series the two teams have met. The Aggies sandwiched 10-4 and 8-2 wins around an 8-5 loss. Krey Bratsen sparked the offense, hitting .545 (6-for-11) with five runs, two doubles, one triple, three RBI and four stolen bases.
THURSDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER: #31 MATT KENT
Ranks fourth among active pitchers in fewest walks per nine innings (0.96)... owns a 9.67-to-1 K/BB ratio in 2015 (6th among NCAA DI) and 6.94-to-1 for his career... as in the starting rotation the first 10 weekends... spent the last four weeks in the bullpen... picked up his first two career saves in the Saturday and Sunday games at Tennessee... retired all 16 players he faced, including seven strikeouts, in 5.1 innings of relief against Texas State... induced three inning-ending double plays to work 6.0 shutout innings against Missouri despite allowing seven hits... named to the Houston College Classic All-Tournament Team as he stymied Baylor hitters for the better part of 7.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and one walk while striking out nine... opened season with a win against Holy Cross, yielding just one unearned run on five hits while striking out three in 7.0 innings of work... has had success in long relief against SEC squads in the past including 5.0 scoreless innings at Mississippi State in 2014 and 5.0 blank frames at Ole Miss in 2013... his effort against Ole Miss in 2013 earned him SEC Freshman of the Week recognition.
KENT'S CAREER TOTALS
Year | W-L | ERA | APP/GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | AVG |
2014 | 2-3 | 4.17 | 26/2 | 0 | 36.2 | 43 | 17 | 17 | 2 | 21 | .299 |
2015 | 3-1 | 3.15 | 20/4 | 0 | 45.2 | 50 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 32 | .284 |
2015 | 6-1 | 3.74 | 15/10 | 2 | 67.1 | 81 | 34 | 28 | 6 | 58 | .303 |
Career | 11-5 | 3.67 | 61/16 | 2 | 149.2 | 174 | 69 | 61 | 16 | 111 | .296 |
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.
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 37 of 132 (71.9 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 23 of his 30 inherited runners (76.7 percent). ANDREW VINSON has left 21 of the 28 ducks he inherited on the pond (75.0 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.
MEATGRINDER
Starting with the three-game series at Alabama, 22 of Texas A&M's last 32 games have been 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 22-10 in the stretch.
SEEMS LIKE JUST LAST YEAR
Texas A&M is averaging 1.61 more runs per game and sporting a batting average .024 higher than the same point last season. Here's a comparison of the Aggies offensive numbers through 54 games in 2014 and 2015.
| 2014 | 2015 |
W-L | 32-22 | 44-10 |
SEC W-L | 13-15 | 18-10 |
Batting Average | .288 | .312 |
Runs Per Game | 5.50 | 7.11 |
Runs | 297 | 384 |
Home Runs | 23 | 61 |
RBI | 269 | 352 |
Slugging Percentage | .386 | .476 |
On-Base Percentage | .366 | .403 |
WINNING WAYS
The Aggies are guaranteed their ninth consecutive winning season. The Maroon and White's 44 wins are the most since the 2011 campaign when A&M finished 47-22 en route to the College World Series. 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 403-218-2, 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 13-2 on the opening nights of series/tournaments in 2015. Last season, A&M was 3-13 on opening night in the regular season, including losing 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 the only Aggie to start all 54 games this season. He has started the last 97 games for A&M.
• BLAKE ALLEMAND has hit in the leadoff spot the last 44 games, batting .365 with a .449 on-base percentage, 45 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 seventh on A&M's career list for walks (113), seventh for at-bats (778), eighth for games played (221) and 15th for hits (231).
• The Aggies' current .312 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 .403 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 3-3 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 |
2015 | vs Alabama | W, 4-3 |
AGGIES IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
The Aggies are 3-3 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 get a day off and play either No. 2 seed Vanderbilt, No. 7 seed Missouri or No. 11 seed Alabama in a semifinal game on Saturday. If the Aggies lose, they will play an elimination game against Missouri or Alabama at 3 pm on Friday.
