Could lineup change lead to storybook ending for Texas A&M baseball?

Could Ryan Targac replace struggling Chestnut to help deliver championship for Texas A&M baseball?

It hasn’t been an easy road for Texas A&M baseball to get here. Of course, every championship contender runs into their fair share of trials and tribulations—that’s nothing new or unique to these Aggies. They’ve encountered theirs in the form of a late-season slump, up-and-down pitching, injuries, and—notably—one of their expected top contributors essentially dropping completely out of the rotation.

I am speaking, of course, of Ryan Targac. Before the season, coach Jim Schlossnagle elected to bestow the coveted #12 jersey on the senior Targac, but he unfortunately began to struggle straightaway. It seemed like a slump at first, but things kept on not getting better—leading to his eventual exit from the regular rotation.

To give you a picture of how severely Targac’s play began to regress, here are his 2024 numbers compared to his career highs (mostly from 2022). 

• His batting average is at .217 down from .294.
• His slugging percentage is at .350 down from .569.
• His fielding percentage is at .923 down from .973.
• His on base percentage is at .300 down from .430.

That’s quite the fall from grace. In an effort to continue his involvement on the team, though, Schloss moved Targac to work as the first base coach. The consummate teammate, Targac has embraced his new role with open arms, and remains a valued member of the clubhouse.

Late in yesterday’s game, though, we saw something interesting. In the early part of the ninth, it was not #12 standing by first base. Rather, he was in the dugout, getting ready for his turn in the on-deck circle.

After the struggles that we saw out of Travis Chestnut—not only in this game, but the whole time the Aggies have been in Omaha—Schloss made the call to see what Targac could do for the Aggies. He eventually ended up flying out near the warning track, but his presence at the plate as well as the contact that he was making looked far better than what we had seen out of the speedy Chestnut so far.

So, could it be that Schloss makes the call to insert Targac into the lineup, either from the beginning or later in the game? Could the twelfth man deliver for the Aggies? It would be quite the storybook moment, to be sure. He’s shown that he can deliver on a big stage; he was a key piece of that 2022 squad. I wouldn’t rule out seeing this in tonight’s contest.