Around Aggieland (2/18)

During Friday's edition of TexAgs Radio, the fishbowl's own Richard Zane joined to share updates from the latest in Aggie Athletics as a busy weekend is on tap in College Station with basketball season in full swing, baseball's opening weekend and much, much more.

Women’s Basketball (14-11, 4-10 in SEC)
On Thursday afternoon, Texas A&M announced that the playing surface at Reed Arena will be renamed to “Gary Blair Court” in honor of legendary women’s basketball coach Gary Blair.

• The Aggies will hold an official renaming ceremony prior to A&M’s Feb. 24 contest with South Carolina at Reed Arena, which will be Blair’s final home game as head coach.

Unfortunately, the celebration was not long-lived as the Aggies suffered a 20-point loss on the road to the Ole Miss Rebels, 74-54, on Thursday night.

• Kayla Wells scored a team-high 13 points.

The Aggies return to Reed Arena on Sunday evening as they host Alabama in the penultimate home game of the 2021-2022 season.

• Tipoff between the Ags and Tide is set for 5 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.
• The game will also serve as Senior Night for Texas A&M.

Baseball (0-0, 0-0 in SEC)
The Jim Schlossnagle era in College Station finally begins on Friday night as Texas A&M hosts Fordham for three-game series at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.

• Friday: Nathan Dettmer (3-2, 4.37 ERA in 2021) vs. Gabe Karlso (4-2, 5.01 ERA in 2021)
  • 6:30 p.m. CT, streaming on the SEC Network+
• Saturday: Micah Dallas (4-3, 3.51 ERA at Texas Tech in 2021) vs. Brooks Ey (0-4, 4.99 ERA in 2021)
  • 2 p.m. CT, streaming on the SEC Network+
• Sunday: Ryan Prager vs. TBD
  • 12 p.m. CT, streaming on the SEC Network+

Men’s Basketball (16-10, 5-8 in SEC)
A long eight-game losing streak finally came to an end on Tuesday night as Texas A&M eeked out a one-point victory over Florida at Reed Arena, 56-55.

• Trailing by two with 19 seconds remaining, Wade Taylor IV hit three free throws to give the Aggies a one-point lead. Taylor finished with eight points.
• Quenton Jackson led all scorers with 16 points.
• Texas A&M led by as many as 13 points in the contest and by 12 with 11:02 remaining in the game. However, Florida took the lead with 5:03 left to play.
• The Aggies were a perfect 16-of-16 from the free-throw line in the victory.

Texas A&M hits the road this weekend as they face the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville on Saturday night.

• Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.

Softball (6-0, 0-0 in SEC)
In a Wednesday road contest, Texas A&M stayed hot at the plate as the Aggies crushed the Sam Houston Bearcats, 13-6, in Huntsville.

• A&M led 11-0 after the second inning.
• Katie Dack and Mayce Allen each hit home runs.
• Emiley Kennedy earned her second career victory, tossing a complete game in the process.

It’s another busy weekend for the Aggies at Davis Diamond as the Maroon & White hosts the Texas A&M Invitational and will play five games over the next three days.

• Friday vs. Kansas - 2 p.m. CT, SEC Network+
• Friday vs. Missouri State - 4:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network+
• Saturday vs. Stephen F. Austin - 2 p.m. CT, SEC Network+
• Saturday vs. Pittsburgh - 4:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network+
• Sunday vs. Kansas - 11:30 a.m., SEC Network+

Swimming & Diving
Texas A&M is currently in action in the 2022 SEC Championships in Knoxville, and through three days of competition, the Aggies have had a number of standouts.

• Kurtis Mathews earned a silver medal in the 3-meter dive with a score of 437.80 on Tuesday. Mathews later added the fourth gold medal of his career in the 1-meter dive with a score of 420.30 on Wednesday.

• Victor Povzner earned a silver medal in the 1-meter dive with a score of 412.15.
• Kaloyan Bratanov earned a bronze medal in the 200m IM with a personal-best time of 1:42.98.
• Chloe Stepanek lowered her school record in the 200m free as part of the opening leg of the Aggies’ 800m relay team. Stepanek posted a split of 1:42.20. Stepanek won bronze in the 200m free with a time of 1:44.14.
• Texas A&M’s men’s team currently sits in fifth place with 457.5 points heading into Friday. The women are currently in sixth with 363 points.

The SEC Championships continue Friday and Saturday with action beginning at 4:30 p.m. CT on both days.

• Friday and Saturday will be available through streaming on the SEC Network+.

Men’s Golf
No. 9 Texas A&M began the 45th John A. Burns Intercollegiate on Thursday, playing at the par-72, 7,156-yard Ocean Course at the Hokuala Golf Club in Lihue, Hawaii.

• The event runs through Saturday, Feb. 19.

Men’s Tennis (6-0, 0-0 in SEC)
No. 12 Texas A&M continued its perfect start with a 6-1 victory over Texas Tech at the T Bar M Racquet Club in Dallas on Tuesday.

• Texas A&M took the doubles point, 2-0.
• Noah Schacter won his match over Issac Arevalo in straight sets (6-1, 6-3).
• Raphael Perot won his match over Ollen Wallin in three sets (6-3, 4-6, 6-1).
• Matthis Ross won his match over Franco Rivero in straight sets (7-5, 7-5).
• Guido Marson won his match over Dimitrios Azoidis in straight sets (6-4, 7-5).
• Luke Casper won his match over Piotr Pawlak in straight sets (6-2, 6-1).

The Aggies travel to Seattle this weekend to play in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.

• Texas A&M will face No. 2 Tennessee in the first round at 2 p.m. CT. The match is not televised.
• The ITA National Team Indoor Championships will continue through Monday, Feb. 21.

Women’s Tennis (11-1, 0-0 in SEC)
On Wednesday, it was announced that Carson Branstine and Mary Stoiana had each earned SEC Weekly Honors following a 2-1 showing in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wisconsin, last weekend.

• Branstine was named the SEC’s Player of the Week after taking down a pair of ranked singles players in Madison, including top-ranked Eryn Cayetano of USC.
• Stoiana was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week, who is a team-best 6-2 against ranked opponents in singles action and a perfect 5-0 in doubles action.

No. 12 Texas A&M is back at the Mitchell Tennis Center this Saturday for a doubleheader against TCU and Abilene Christian.

• A&M vs. TCU: 12 p.m. CT, not televised
• A&M vs. ACU: 4:30 p.m. CT, not televised