Rob Childress
Grayson Long
Matt Kent
Michael Barash
Texas A&M Baseball
Childress, Aggies react to national seed snub, regional draw
In the words of secret agent Maxwell Smart of Get Smart fame, the Texas A&M baseball team "missed it by that much."
Though the Aggies seemingly possessed a body of work worthy of a national top-eight seed in the NCAA Tournament, the selection committee did not see fit to award them one. Instead, it was announced on Monday that A&M will host a regional in College Station before a possible showdown with TCU in Fort Worth in a Super Regional.
While the seeding snub won't be the focus of the week, starting pitcher Grayson Long believes that it will provide some extra motivation to prove the selection committee wrong.
"We think we deserved a top-eight national seed, but we're also very lucky to have the regional here at Olsen to play in front of a home crowd," Long said. "We're just going to take it one game at a time, but deep down, I'm sure everybody's going to play with a little chip on their shoulder that we're not getting the respect that we think we deserve."
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
The Aggies can do nothing but turn their entire focus to the College Station Regional — something the team echoed in unison on Monday.
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Rob Childress agreed, saying his team will carry and edge into this weekend's regional.
The Aggies' first challenge comes in the form of Texas Southern.
"Well, our guys have played with a chip on their shoulder all year long, and it's going to continue to stay there," Childress explained. "We're excited about Friday night and looking forward to taking care of business against a very good Texas Southern team."
In a slightly unusual turn of events, the College Station Regional features teams from opposite ends of the country in California and Coastal Carolina. Matt Kent, coming off a stellar performance in the SEC Tournament, plans to study up on the unfamiliar opposition.
"It'll be a little different not knowing what the other teams have, coming from the different coasts," he said. "We'll get our research done these next four days and see what we come up with."
Most of all, however, the Aggies are chomping at the bit to get back on the field.
Catcher Michael Barash insists that the team will be taking a game-by-game approach for the season's final leg — and, as the venerable Agent Smart would say, loving it.
"We're just thankful to have a regional," Barash said. "It's tough to even get to this point. We had a great year all year, and I thought we put ourselves in a good position. The committee didn't see that. That's OK.
"We're going to go out and compete our butts off on Friday night and just work our way through our own regional."
The Aggies will take on Texas Southern at 6:00 pm Friday evening.
Though the Aggies seemingly possessed a body of work worthy of a national top-eight seed in the NCAA Tournament, the selection committee did not see fit to award them one. Instead, it was announced on Monday that A&M will host a regional in College Station before a possible showdown with TCU in Fort Worth in a Super Regional.
While the seeding snub won't be the focus of the week, starting pitcher Grayson Long believes that it will provide some extra motivation to prove the selection committee wrong.
"We think we deserved a top-eight national seed, but we're also very lucky to have the regional here at Olsen to play in front of a home crowd," Long said. "We're just going to take it one game at a time, but deep down, I'm sure everybody's going to play with a little chip on their shoulder that we're not getting the respect that we think we deserve."
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
The Aggies can do nothing but turn their entire focus to the College Station Regional — something the team echoed in unison on Monday.
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"The Aggies can do nothing but turn their entire focus to the College Station Regional — something the team echoed in unison on Monday.","MediaItemID":54293}
The Aggies' first challenge comes in the form of Texas Southern.
"Well, our guys have played with a chip on their shoulder all year long, and it's going to continue to stay there," Childress explained. "We're excited about Friday night and looking forward to taking care of business against a very good Texas Southern team."
In a slightly unusual turn of events, the College Station Regional features teams from opposite ends of the country in California and Coastal Carolina. Matt Kent, coming off a stellar performance in the SEC Tournament, plans to study up on the unfamiliar opposition.
"It'll be a little different not knowing what the other teams have, coming from the different coasts," he said. "We'll get our research done these next four days and see what we come up with."
Most of all, however, the Aggies are chomping at the bit to get back on the field.
Catcher Michael Barash insists that the team will be taking a game-by-game approach for the season's final leg — and, as the venerable Agent Smart would say, loving it.
"We're just thankful to have a regional," Barash said. "It's tough to even get to this point. We had a great year all year, and I thought we put ourselves in a good position. The committee didn't see that. That's OK.
"We're going to go out and compete our butts off on Friday night and just work our way through our own regional."
The Aggies will take on Texas Southern at 6:00 pm Friday evening.
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