It’s been an iffy couple of weeks for the Ags since the finale against Rhode Island, and this weekend presents a huge opportunity to right the ship.
Last weekend in Gainesville, the Aggie pitching staff got humbled a bit. Florida’s Condron Ballpark was playing incredibly small for the first two games, playing right into the Gators’ biggest strength: mashing the baseball. Aggie pitchers gave up eight homers on the weekend, five of which came in the first game of the series. As you might expect, the majority of Florida’s runs came via the longball, with just 28% of them coming from a ball in play. Still, the combined score of the three games was an even 18-18. So it’s not like A&M got run off the field. UF got the timely hit again and again, while the Ags often seemed stuck in neutral. Which is the opposite of what we’ve seen from the Aggies so far this season.
This weekend presents a huge chance to turn things right back around. No. 21 Mississippi State finds themselves ranked again for the first time in forever, having spent the last two seasons following their 2021 National Championship run in the cellar of the SEC West. The Bulldogs are fresh off a series win against LSU, and are definitely feeling good.
Their offense as a whole has been pretty good so far this season, ranking in the top 50 in most categories. And it’s safe to say one man, RF Dakota Jordan, has put up the majority of the team’s offense this season. He’s slashing .418/.566/.924, with 11 of the team’s 23 homers, while driving in 35 runs (14 more than the next highest on the team) and drawing 25 walks. 1B Hunter Hines (.274/.343/.421, 4 HR, 21 RBI) figured to be the big run producer alongside Jordan, but he’s had a slow start to the season. Only fitting that he’s now heating up, hitting three of his four bombs on the season in his last three games.
If the Aggies are going to right the ship, they’re going to need Ryan Prager and Tanner Jones to bounce back in a big way.
Probable Starters
- Thursday: Ryan Prager (4-0, 2.08 ERA) vs. Evan Siary (0-1, 6.00 ERA)
- Friday: Tanner Jones (1-0, 4.76 ERA) vs. Khal Stephen (2-2, 5.01 ERA)
- Saturday: Justin Lamkin (1-0, 1.57 ERA) vs. Jurrangelo Cijntje (4-0, 2.70 ERA)
How to Watch
- Times (CDT): 6:30 p.m. Thursday | 6:00 p.m. Friday | 2 p.m. Saturday
- TV: Thursday’s game will be broadcast on ESPNU
- Live Video: All three games can be streamed on SECNetwork+
- Radio: SportsRadio 1150 AM/The Zone 93.7 FM
- Live Stats: 12thman.com, or tamustats.com