Series Preview: Texas A&M vs. Santa Clara

Also included above is Diamond Talk with David Nuño, Ryan Brauninger, Richard Zane and Scott Clendenin from Friday’s edition of TexAgs Radio.

Who: Santa Clara Broncos (8-4, 0-0 WCC)
Where: Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park – Bryan-College Station, Texas
When:

Friday: 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
Saturday: 2 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
Sunday: 11 a.m. CT (SEC Network+)

Pitching matchups

Friday: Nathan Dettmer (RHP, 1-1, 3.52) vs. Cole Kitchen (RHP, 1-1, 3.18)
Saturday: Micah Dallas (RHP, 1-0, 1.40) vs. Skylar Hales (RHP, 1-1, 2.30)
Sunday: Ryan Prager (LHP, 0-0, 1.29) vs. TBA

Scouting Santa Clara

From the 1960s to the 1990s, the Santa Clara baseball team was a program well-known on the national scene. The 1962 squad finished second in the College World Series, and the Broncos played in the NCAA playoffs from 1968-1972. From 1988 to 1997, Santa Clara earned a berth in the NCAA Regionals on four occasions. However, the Broncos have hit an extended rough patch, failing to post a winning season record since 2008.

Head coach Rusty Filter may put an end to that streak in 2022 currently sitting at 8-4 with wins over USC, California, Northwestern and UC-San Diego. In fact, Santa Clara shows up in College Station carrying an impressive six-game winning streak. Even the losses have come against west coast powerhouse programs USC and Stanford. With that strength of schedule, the West Coast Conference member won't be intimidated facing an SEC club like the Aggies.

If you compare the numbers, both of these teams are very similar, both at the plate and on the mound.

The Broncos are led on the mound by Friday night ace Cole Kitchen with a 1-1 record and 3.18 ERA. He is most impressive and most dangerous for a struggling Aggie line-up is his 14.29 strikeouts per nine innings. Saturday starter Skylar Hales is stingy in his own right with a 2.30 ERA. Santa Clara has struggled on Sundays. Cade Pilchard started Sunday games the last three weekend series and has a bloated ERA of 7.20. That’s the reason why Filter has not announced who will take the hill on Sunday. Jared Feikes, Alex Reelfs and Nick Sando have been solid in the bullpen, all with ERAs under 3.40. Bronco pitching will pose a real challenge for a Texas A&M offense that is trying to get into a groove.

Santa Clara has three batters hitting .348 or higher led by freshman Michael Mugan at .400. Dawson Brigman leads the team with 11 RBIs, while Eamonn Lance is having a great year to date, hitting .389 with a salty .667 slugging percentage. Overall, they have six full-time players hitting over .300. The bottom third of the order is much weaker, and that's where Aggie pitchers must take advantage.

Texas A&M storylines to watch

While the overall numbers show an even match-up on paper, the Aggies do have a distinct advantage in two areas. Despite struggles in the bullpen, A&M has some of the best pitching numbers in the nation. The staff ranks third in the nation (and first in the SEC) in fewest walks allowed. In 106 innings pitched, A&M has surrendered just 25 base-on-balls. In comparison, Santa Clara has walked 48. The trio of weekend starters have walked just four batters in over 48 innings pitched to go along with a sparkling 1.74 ERA.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Kalae Harrison continues to be steady up the middle of the infield.

Defensively, the Aggies have been very clean in the field with a .983 fielding percentage. Santa Clara has a below-average team fielding percentage of .961. Most college coaches would be happy with .972-.975. The pitching and fielding stats quoted for A&M are historic numbers.

It makes you wonder how this team is 8-4.

Oh, that would be an ineffective bullpen and an inconsistent offense that strands way too many runners on-base and has struck out a whopping 113 times in 12 games.

To make matters worse, Trevor Werner was diagnosed with a broken bone in his hand and is expected to miss 4-5 weeks. That’s a big blow for an offense that is trying to kick start more run production. Only Jack Moss (.358) and Troy Claunch (.300) are hitting .300 or higher. Brett Minnich is the leading RBI man with just nine. Where the offensive lineup really struggles is at the bottom of the order where the collective of Ryan Targac, Logan Britt and Kalae Harrison are hitting .209 with a jaw-dropping 42 strikeouts. Add in the .209 batting average for leadoff hitter Kole Kaler and .216 for Dylan Rock in the two-hole, and that’s five consecutive hitters in the order near the dreaded Mendoza line (.200). That’s a huge dead spot and puts way too much pressure on the middle four batters to produce.

If that doesn’t change this weekend, A&M will lose another series...period.

The relief pitching is well-documented, so I won’t expand. For this team to have any hope in turning this season back around in SEC play, veterans like Joseph Menefee and Jacob Palisch must lead this crew and take some of the pressure off freshmen like Chris Cortez, Robert Hogan and Brad Rudis. You can't expect these fish to carry the load in SEC play. That’s too much to ask.

The key to success this weekend is to take advantage of Santa Clara’s propensity to walk batters and boot the ball by putting the ball in play and driving home runs in scoring position, especially with runners on third base with less than two outs. That has been the Aggies’ Achilles’ heel so far in 2022. On the mound, a couple of these veterans in the bullpen have to step up, lead, and give the team some clean innings late in games this weekend.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Jack Moss leads the Aggies with a .359 batting average.

What’s at stake this weekend

You know, it’s time to throw out the records and stop projecting how this team can get to 35 wins and earn a regional bid. Let’s get back to basics. This weekend is about playing good baseball. While there are numerous newcomers on this team, there are also plenty of veterans with Division I experience. A&M has the former All-Pac-12 catcher on the roster. They have one of the best hitters in the Pac-12 from last year in Jack Moss. They have a returning starter who led the team in hitting in 2021. They have a guy who was considered the best JUCO power hitter two seasons ago.

There’s talent and experience in this lineup. I just want to see them get comfortable and perform like they’ve done earlier in their careers. The same can be said for the veteran arms on this team from Stanford, Missouri and Mississippi State along with one of the most promising freshmen two years ago in Menefee.

I think we all know that going into the last non-conference series before the SEC bloodbath begins that this team needs three wins. At the very least, they need to go get two and win the series. Most importantly, they need to play up to their abilities and get out of this early-season funk. If not, this will be a much longer season than any of us imagined a month ago.