News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The No. 2 ranked Texas A&M baseball team (40-8) returns home to Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park for its final non-conference contest of the season Tuesday night as they host Rice (19-28) in midweek action at 6 p.m.
Tuesday’s midweek will be streamed on SEC Network+ and can also be heard locally on SportsRadio 1150AM/93.7 The Zone. Fans can also follow along with the games on X, @AggieBaseball.
The Aggies are a perfect 24-0 in non-conference action and 12-0 in midweeks this season. The Maroon & White are looking to finish off non-conference play undefeated for the first time since 2015.
Tuesday’s contest marks the 289th meeting all-time between the two programs. Texas A&M leads the series 189-97-2 and have won eight of the last 10 contests. At home, the Aggies are 37-15 against the Owls.
For the sixth straight week, Texas A&M is a unanimous Top 5 team across all five major polls. Four of the five polls have the Aggies ranked as high as No. 2, while D1Baseball.com has the Maroon & White at No. 3.
Under first year pitching coach Max Weiner, the Aggie pitching staff has lowered its ERA from a season ago by nearly two runs. The Maroon & White rank first in shutouts (8), fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.27), sixth in WHIP (1.24), sixth in ERA (3.89), 10th in hits allowed per nine (7.81), 13th in strikeouts per nine (10.8) and 13th in walks allowed per nine (3.31). Their eight shutouts are the most since 2016.
Offensively, the Aggies have been scorching of late as they’ve averaged 10.7 runs per game over the last 15 contests. Nationally, Texas A&M ranks third in walks (317), fourth in homers (109), fourth in homers per game (2.27), fourth in slugging percentage (.591), sixth in on-base percentage (.434), seventh in runs (448), 10th in scoring (9.3) and 14th in hits (516).
The Aggies have arguably the best 1-2-3 lineup punch in all of college baseball in Gavin Grahovac, Jace LaViolette and Braden Montgomery. The trio has combined for 193 of the Aggies 425 RBI on the year.
Entering the week, Montgomery ranks fourth nationally in RBI (73), seventh in homers (23), seventh in RBI per game (1.52), eighth in homers per game (0.48), 11th in walks (47) and 12th in total bases (146).
LaViolette currently sits fourth nationally in runs (71), fifth in homers (25), fifth in total bases (156), sixth in homers per game (0.52) and ninth in slugging percentage (.834). Against Alabama on April 20, LaViolette became the first player in program history to record back-to-back seasons of 20 or more home runs. LaViolette and Montgomery are also the first pair of teammates in program history to hit 20 or more homers each in a season.
Grahovac has turned in a stellar rookie campaign thus far, ranking fourth in the SEC in RBI with 56. In SEC play, Grahovac has belted 12 homers and driven in 30 RBI.
2024-05-07 22:40:08
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