Michael Earley's 'Battle-Tested' Aggies Ready To Face No. 1 Longhorns

The time has come. It's finally here. The series that Aggie and Longhorn fans alike have been waiting for since the first pitch of the 2025 season began.

The Aggies will travel to the 40 Acres this upcoming weekend to combat their foes from Austin in the first Lone Star Showdown on the diamond with both teams being part of the Southeastern Conference.

This also marks the first games that the Aggies will match up against former head coach Jim Schlossnagle, who took the Texas head coaching job after controversially rejecting the fact after the Aggies came up short in the 2024 College World Series.

jace — Texas A&M's Jace LaViolette (17) smiles during game three of the NCAA College World Series finals between Tennessee and Texas A&M at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb., on Monday, June 24, 2024. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

However, Schlossnagle has led the Longhorns all the way to the No. 1 spot in the weekly college baseball rankings, the same rank that Michael Earley and the Aggies held to start the season before an early-season collapse saw the Aggies out of the Top 25 after only a month of play.

But the Aggies have put up a valiant effort in an attempt to crawl back into the rankings and book their tickets to Omaha for the second year in a row, and what better way to do that than taking a series against your top-ranked rivals in their house?

And after the past few road trips, the confidence that Michael Earley possesses in his team cannot be ignored.

"I feel great with where we are at right now. I understand Texas is a rivalry, and that it's super important to a lot of people. It's important to us, too," Earley said in an interview with TexAgs. "But, at the same time, we're going to play this road game like we've played the last couple of road games. I feel like we're battle-tested. I feel pretty good about it, but at the same time, you are only as good as your next one. We just have to continue to play good baseball."

Earley also highlighted the sudden power surge of Blake Binderup, and the hardships he overcame to earn his spot in the starting nine.

"Blake's power is real. It's not just his power. It's good at-bats. It's timely hitting," Earley said. "Something about it that I've really liked is when he's gone down in the count back to even or full and has had a chance to do something. He takes the coaching, and he's done a really good job. He's had some struggles this year, like anyone else, but credit to him for staying with it. He has really, really stayed with it even when he wasn't playing well."

The Aggies have been victorious in their past two contests against the Longhorns, and will look to secure another weekend series over a top-two team when the first pitch is thrown at 7:00 PM Friday night in Austin.

And also stick it to their old friend, Jim Schlossnagle.