Texas A&M
Seattle U
Series Preview: Seattle U
Feb 16, 2023 | Baseball
Opening Weekend: Seattle U
- February 17-19, 2023 • Blue Bell Park
- Game Notes • Live Stats • Tickets
GAME ONE
- Friday, Feb. 17 • 6 p.m. • SECN+
- Texas A&M: RHP Nathan Dettmer
- 2022 Stats: 6-3, 4.99 ERA, 92.0 IP, 82 K, 25 BB
- Seattle U: LHP Peter Chronowski
- 2022 Stats: 4-7, 4.75 ERA, 77.2 IP, 59 K, 17 BB
GAME TWO
- Saturday, Feb. 18 • 2 p.m. • SECN+
- Texas A&M: LHP Troy Wansing
- 2022 Stats: 4-4, 5.44 ERA, 51.1 IP, 61 K, 33 BB
- Seattle U: RHP Nestor German
- 2022 Stats: 2-4, 7.02 ERA, 57.2 IP, 35 K, 32 BB
GAME THREE
- Sunday, Feb. 19 • 10:30 a.m. • SECN+
- Texas A&M: RHP Chris Cortez
- 2022 Stats: 6-3, 4.91 ERA, 44.0 IP, 32 K, 13 BB
- Seattle U: LHP Kian Hogan
- 2022 Stats: n/a
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The 121st season of Texas A&M baseball kicks off for the 18th straight year at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park with the Aggies hosting Seattle U for 3 games, beginning Friday night.
The Aggies have not opened a season away from the corner of Bush and Olsen since 2005 when the season started off at the Minute Maid College Classic with games vs Tennessee, Rice and Houston.
GAME COVERAGE
TV: Each game vs the Redhawks will be streamed on SEC Network+ with Will Johnston and Boomer White in the booth and on the call.
RADIO: Each game will be live on over the airwaves on The Zone 1150 AM / 93.7 FM in the Brazos Valley. The games will also be available worldwide inside the 12thMan Mobile app with Tyler Pigg on the call for Friday and Saturday and Andrew Monaco leading the broadcast on Sunday.
SOCIAL: Fans can get in-game updates on social media by following @AggieBaseball on Twitter.
PROMOTIONS AT THE BALLPARK
It is Sunday Funday for the finale vs Seattle U with fans able to purchase one full-price adult ticket and bring up to four (4) kids for free. Kids can also run the bases and get autographs from players following the conclusion of the game.
12thMan Rewards
12th Man Rewards is the free program that appreciates fans for standing with the 12th Man and attending Texas A&M Athletics events in support of creating a home-court advantage for our student-athletes and coaches.
The more events you attend, the more your points will increase. Those points can be redeemed via the online giveaway store for a variety of items.
AGAINST THE REDHAWKS
Texas A&M will be taking on Seattle U for the first time in program history. The Aggies are 225-63 all-time vs current members of the WAC; however, each of A&M's previous opponents from the current version of the WAC hail from Texas (ACU, Sam Houston, SFA, Tarleton, UT Arlington & UTRGV). Texas A&M is 21-8 all-time vs opponents from the State of Washington, most recently taking two of three games from Gonzaga at Blue Bell Park during the 2019 season.
OPENING DAY
The Aggies are 83-32-5 all-time on Opening Day. Texas A&M is 20-2 in season openers since the 2001 campaign. This marks the Maroon & White's second season opener under head coach Jim Schlossnagle. Schlossnagle is 14-7 all-time in season openers after last year's 13-1 win over Fordham. His mark includes an 11-7 record in 18 seasons at TCU. He has logged a 16-3-2 mark in season-opening weekend series and/or events in his 21 years as a head coach.
OPENING WEEKEND DOMINANCE
The Aggies opened the Jim Schlossnagle era with a three-game sweep of Fordham in 2022, rebounding from dropping two of three in the 2021 opening weekend against Xavier. The series loss in 2021 to the Musketeers marked the first time since 2008 that Texas A&M did not claim its opening weekend series. During the 12-year stretch of claiming season opening series, the Maroon & White put together an overall record of 36-1. The stretch included a four-game sweep of Wright State in 2009 and three-game sweeps of Seton Hall (2010), LeMoyne (2011), UIC (2012), Northeastern (2013), Holy Cross (2015), Hofstra (2016), Bowling Green (2017), Rhode Island (2018), Fordham (2019) and Miami [Ohio] (2020).
TRYING TO RETRACK THE ROAD TO OMAHA
Texas A&M finished off the 2022 season where all college baseball teams want to finish - Omaha. But the 2023 squad will be looking to do something which no Aggie team has done before - reach Omaha in consecutive seasons. The 2022 road to Charles Schwab Field was the seventh time the Aggies have been to the College World Series, but never in its baseball history has Texas A&M gone back to the CWS after making it the previous season. The Aggies have followed each of their last two CWS appearances (2011 and 2017) with at least 40 wins and an appearance in an NCAA regional.
AMONG THE RANKED
With a large chunk of its contributors returning from last year's team, it is no surprise the Aggies are among the national favorites entering 2023. In fact, the national polls back it up with A&M ranked in the preseason top 10 in each of college baseball's primary polls (D1Baseball, Baseball America, USA Today, NCBWA) for the first time since 2016, which was also the last time the Aggies were ranked in the top 10 in each poll for the entire year. Texas A&M is one of seven teams - along with LSU, Tennessee, Stanford, Florida, Ole Miss & Wake Forest - to be ranked in the top 10 of each poll entering 2023.
WINNING TRADITION
With its 44-20 overall record in 2022, the Aggies posted their 16th consecutive winning season. Texas A&M has registered a winning record in 60 of the last 62 campaigns entering 2023.
PORTAL POWER
Jim Schlossnagle took full advantage of the transfer portal in his first season in Aggieland with seven of his eight transfers coming directly from other Division I institutions. This year the Aggies have 15 total transfers on the roster with nine hailing directly from other Division I institutions. Seven of those D1 transfers are on the pitching staff.
DIFFERENT SHADES OF MAROON
One of Texas A&M's biggest additions for 2022 was first baseman Jack Moss from Arizona State, and again the Aggies have added another former Sun Devil as a key piece for 2023 in infielder Hunter Haas. While in Tempe, the pair were roommates as freshmen, working under current Aggie hitting instructor Michael Earley to help ASU to 33 wins and a berth in in the NCAA Austin Regional in 2021. Each earned rookie all-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper following the season.
MR. OPENING DAY
Getting the ball on Opening Day is an honor all starting pitchers hope to get at least once in their careers. But at the collegiate level, it is even rarer. Aggie righty Nathan Dettmer got that honor last year and picked up the win against Fordham to kick off 2022 and has been tabbed to get the ball on Friday vs Seattle U to open 2023. When he throws the first pitch against the Redhawks, he will be the first Aggie pitcher to start the season opener since Khalid Ballouli started the 2001 opener vs Arkansas State and the 2002 opener vs Rice.
AGGIES LEAD WAY IN PRESEASON SEC HONORS
With so much returning firepower, it is little surprise the Aggies led the way with an SEC-high five selections to the preseason all-conference team, released by the league prior to the opening of the season. First baseman Jack Moss was the lone first teamer, but Texas A&M followed that up with four players landing on the second team - Ryan Targac (2B), Trevor Werner (3B), Brett Minnich (OF) and Austin Bost (DH/UTL).
AGGIES PICKED SECOND IN SEC WEST
Along with the preseason all-league teams, the SEC unveiled its preseason polls with the Aggies near the top as well. Only national consensus-No. 1 LSU was picked ahead of the Aggies in the SEC West, with Texas A&M being one of four teams - along with LSU, Florida and Ole Miss - to receive votes to claim the overall SEC crown.
POWER & SPEED
The Aggies smashed 84 home runs during the 2022 campaign, marking Texas A&M's highest dinger tally since hitting 85 during the 2009 season. The Aggies only hit the 70-tater mark once since 2009, hitting 70 in 2015.
The Aggies also swiped 81 bases during the 2022 campaign, marking Texas A&M's highest stolen base mark since registering 85 during the 2013 season. A&M returns six players who hit at least six homers last year, led by Ryan Targac's 15.
40 DAWGS
With their victory to claim the College Station Regional in 2022, the Aggies secured their first 40-win season since 2018 and the 25th in school annals. With the win, head coach Jim Schlossnagle passed Mark Johnson (1985: 39-16) for most wins by a first year Aggie skipper. It marked Schlossnagle's 14th 40-win season as a head coach, having logged 12 at TCU and one each at UNLV and Texas A&M.
BOST EARNS NO. 12
Texas A&M head baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle bestowed senior infielder Austin Bost with the honor of wearing the No. 12 jersey for the 2023 season on 12/12 after the conclusion of fall camp. Bost follows Troy Claunch as players who have been bestowed the No. 12 by Schlossnagle and staff, an honor Schlossnagle knew he wanted to highlight when he joined the program prior to the 2022 season by presenting it to a worthy student-athlete who demonstrates program values and the overall Aggie spirit.
BIG DREAMS IN A SMALL TOWN
Pitcher Wyatt Tucker is back for his third year with the Aggies and holds the distinction of being from Douglass High School, a small 2A high school in deep East Texas. That may not stand out to most, but it makes him one of only five players on a 2023 roster for one of the 22 NCAA Division I baseball programs in the State of Texas. Oddly enough, all are right-handed pitchers, including Alex Magers (D'Hanis HS) who was on the Aggie roster last year before transferring to Sam Houston for 2023. The others are Zane Morehouse (Texas/Dawson HS), Landon Odom (Lamar/Gary HS) and Hunter Murray (UIW/Lovelady HS)
POSSIBLE IMPACT FRESHMEN
Jim Schlossnagle and his staff will undoubtedly lean heavily on a veteran presence in 2023, but the Aggies have several freshmen who could be impact players this season as well. Talents such as outfielder Jace LaViolette and left-handed pitcher Justin Lamkin are big pieces to the current freshman class, one which was ranked as the No. 12 freshman class in the country by D1Baseball.com. The outlet also has LaViolette as the No. 3 ranked rookie in the SEC and Lamkin as No. 16.
BACK IN BULK
The Aggies bring back 4 position players who played in at least 60 games for last season's team — Jack Moss (64), Brett Minnich (64), Austin Bost (63), Ryan Targac (62), Three of those players - Moss, Minnich, Bost - all started at least 60 of those games.
BIG WILLY STYLE
Rated by D1Baseball.com as the No. 11 relief pitcher in the nation for 2023, Aggie lefty Will Johnston upped his stock with a supremely strong finish to his 2022 campaign. The Keller native had a 4.86 ERA for the year when he took the mound on 4/15 against Georgia, his first of four consecutive scoreless outings. He went on to pitch 18.1 innings over his last 13 appearances, 11 of which were scoreless. Johnston posted a 1.96 ERA over that stretch, lowering his season ERA to 3.25.
TAR-GOTCHA
Ryan Targac sported just a .213 batting average with two doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI in 20 non-conference games before taking off in league play in 2022. In 30 SEC games, Targac led the league with 41 RBI and boasted a .346 batting average (10th) with five doubles, two triples and 10 home runs in the 10 weekends of league play.
GRADUATED AGGIES
Despite several Aggies on track to graduate with degrees from Texas A&M, Trevor Werner will be the only Aggie donning the SEC Graduate patch on his chest this spring after walking across the stage to accept his bachelor's degree in December. Transfers Matt Dillard (Sam Houston) and Carson Lambert (USC) are the only other Aggies currently on the roster to already have their undergraduate degrees in hand, completing those at their previous institutions.
