It’s time to take a realistic look at the Texas A&M Baseball team after getting swept by Arkansas over the weekend.
At the end of each weekend series for Texas A&M Baseball, I write a recap talking about both the good and the bad of each game. But after watching what I felt was the same game three times in a row, I want to look at this team from a wider perspective.
After a really disappointing weekend in Arkansas, the Texas A&M baseball team is left with a lot of questions. Most importantly, one question I personally did not expect to be asking near the end of this season: will Texas A&M make the 2018 NCAA Regionals?
Let’s state some facts to start: Texas A&M is 3-7 in their last ten conference game and sit at 12-15 in SEC play currently. The Aggies have 3 SEC Weekend series wins against LSU, Mississippi St and Alabama and all three of those teams have losing records in conference.
Against the two division leaders of the SEC, Florida and Arkansas, the Aggies managed a single win in six contests and were outscored 37-15. Over the past six conference games, Texas A&M has gone 40-for-194 at the plate for a .206 batting average as a team. Additionally, there are only two Aggie starters hitting above .256 in SEC Play: Braden Shewmake and Michael Helman.
In the field, Texas A&M is ranked 12th out of the 14 SEC Teams in fielding percentage (.972) with fifty-six errors. There were several examples this weekend where that particular issue cost Texas A&M big time. The Aggie starters have been the only unit where Texas A&M matches up well to the elite of the SEC, having compiled a team ERA of 3.30, second overall in the conference.
Yet this entire season, most fans have questioned this team and nearly every area. Who from the Aggie bullpen will step up and deliver consistent outings? Will George Janca and Zach DeLoach snap out of poor hitting streaks? Will the Aggies deliver hits in clutch moments when they need it the most?
So here we are with four games left in the regular season, a midseason finale vs. Sam Houston State and three critical home conference matchups vs. a streaking South Carolina team. After that, Texas A&M will head to Hoover, AL for the SEC Baseball Tournament.
An important note on the tournament, the committee judges those games as regular conference games which means the Aggies performance there will be critical as well. Texas A&M sits at 34-17 overall and 12-15 in SEC Play.
Next: 5 bold predictions for Aggies 2018 football season
Losing two out of three to South Carolina and going one and done in Hoover could easily find Texas A&M outside of postseason play for the first time since 2006. This would be a huge disappointment for Texas A&M after starting the season by winning sixteen of their first eighteen games.
Who steps up for Texas A&M?