Preview: Texas A&M Heads to Frisco For Invitational
COLLEGE STATION — Talk about a way to start the season.
Texas A&M baseball might be one of the hottest teams in the NCAA this season after their recent homestand. Following back-to-back 4-0 victories over Houston Baptist and Incarnate Word, the Aggies finished their 10-game series at Blue Blue Park with a perfect record.
Now, the No.18 Aggies will face their first real test of the season as they travel out of College Station to play in the Frisco Invitational. While Friday's game against Illinois should draw in crowds outside the Dallas area, it will be the heavy-weight bouts against No.8 UCLA and No.17 Oklahoma State that will have the attention of fans. A&M will face the Bruins Saturday before taking on the Cowboys Sunday as the final game of the tournament.
The Aggies became the first team in the country to rack up 10 wins this season following a standout performance from Johnathan Childress and Chris Weber on the mound. The duo combined for 11 strikeouts against four hits while walking a combined three batters.
Wednesday's victory the 13th time in program history that Texas A&M began a campaign with a 10-0 mark. The last time it happened was 2015 when the Maroon & White started the year 24-0, an SEC record.
The Aggies lead the nation in runs (115) and hits (114). A&M also ranks in the top 10 in the country in a bevy of other categories, including hit by pitch (2 - 23), scoring (3 - 11.5 runs per game), doubles (3 - 26), stolen bases (3- 24), bases on balls (4 - 62), on-base percentage (4 - .466), batting average (6 - .340), slugging percentage (8 - .534), shutouts (9 - 2) and pitcher strikeouts per nine innings (10 - 12.7).
The duo of Zach DeLoach and Bryce Blaum will be a hard out no matter who the opponent is over the weekend. DeLoach leads the nation in runs (18) and ranks in the top 10 in runs per game (5th - 1.80), total bases (3rd - 32), on-base percentage (5th -.675), hits (6th - 17), slugging percentage (7th - 1.103) and batting average (.586).
Blaum continues his trend to be successful on the base path, scoring in the first inning of four of the last five games. The junior infielder was garnered SEC Player of the Week honors following his weekend series against Army West Point.
The weekend series will mark the fourth season of the Frisco Classic. The list of past tournament champions includes Arizona (2017), Louisiana Tech (2018) and Mississippi State (2019). In their first trip to the tournament, Texas A&M dropped its first game to Louisiana Tech before rattling off victories against Baylor and California in 2018.
Friday's game against the Fighting Illini will have a first pitch time at 7:00 p.m. The Aggies will take on the Bruins at 6 p.m. Saturday before 3:00 p.m. showdown against the Cowboys Sunday.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
• FRIDAY: #35 Asa Lacy (Jr., LHP, 2-0, 1.64 ERA) vs. #7 Ty Weber (Sr., RHP, 2-0, 0.82 ERA)
• SATURDAY: #23 Christian Roa (Jr., RHP, 2-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. #30 Nick Nastrini (So., RHP, 1-0, 2.08 ERA)
• SUNDAY: #18 Chandler Jozwiak (Jr., LHP, 1-0, 4.82 ERA) vs. #3 Bryce Osmond (Fr., RHP, 0-1, 7.50 ERA)