Jim Schlossnagle and the Aggies ready to start postseason run on Friday

Ahead of Texas A&M's first ballgame in the College Station Regional at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park on Friday afternoon, Aggie baseball head coach Jim Schlossnagle joined TexAgs Radio to share his thoughts on the matchup with Oral Roberts, TCU coming to town and more.

Key notes from Jim Schlossnagle interview

• I'm excited. It has been a long week of not playing. I'm hoping we can get practice in today with the off-and-on rain. Guys are excited to play and to be back home. It feels like it has been a long time since we have been in front of the 12th Man, so we're ready for that.
   
• No doubt about it, we earned the #5 national seed. Even Tennessee had to overcome a big arm injury to have a historic season. Anybody who comes this far has to persevere and overcome a lot of things. This time last year, we hired a new coaching staff and had to put together a roster. Everyone was new, and everyone needs to be credited, mainly the players. We lost Khristian Curtis, our starting shortstop Kalae Harrison for most of the year and then our best player was hurt for part of the year in Trevor Werner. It has been a cool story, and I will look back on this team as one that is truly special and one that set the standard of what we want to do here.
   
• I knew when I left TCU to come to a place in the same region of the country that there was a really good chance of playing them. I do still love TCU, the people there and Fort Worth. They treated me and my family so well for 18 years, and I owe a lot of my career to what happened there. However, Texas A&M is a perfect fit. I knew we weren't going to play there during the regular season, but when you get to the postseason, you end up playing teams in your region. It is what it is. It will feel different in years to come when guys that I coached at TCU are no longer there. I will be fine when the game starts, and I know they'll be ready to play.
   
• As of right now, the plan is to start Micah Dallas on Friday vs. Oral Roberts. It is not out of the question to start Nathan Dettmer. Dallas is pitching the best, and Dettmer had the best bullpen I've seen him throw on Monday. His mechanics look good. We'll get Dallas out there, and after that, it will be our usual cast of characters.
   
• Oral Roberts will likely start a good left-hander tomorrow. I don't know if they've announced Ledgend Smith, but I would expect him to start. We will have our hands full.
   
• When Oral Roberts gets in, they are usually a four-seed, and that's because of the stupid RPI. They almost always win their conference, which means they're always in the NCAA Tournament. Kids on their rosters always have regional experience. I think we are the team in this regional that has the fewest number of players with NCAA Tournament experience, and only six guys on our team have played in a regional. Oral Roberts is as scary of a four-seed as you could ever want because they're used to being here.
   
• I knew Dallas was close to getting it back. He was close against Vanderbilt, and if he fielded his position vs. South Carolina, he probably gets through it. The first pitch of the Florida game and the play Jordan Thompson made helped him get into a rhythm, and then he started having success. That's who he is. Dallas has pitched in every possible role all the way through Omaha. He'll be more than ready tomorrow, and he's facing a good team.
   
• Defense was embarrassing in Hoover. It's something that we do every day. We've tried to be more game-like where we didn't hit them as many balls, but the ones they got had more pressure on them. Hopefully being back in our ballpark will help calm the nerves a little bit. You can go through fielding slumps the same way you go through hitting and pitching slumps. The problem is, if you go through too many slumps this time of year, your season is going to be over.
   
• You want to stay in the winner's bracket as long as possible, within reason. We won't risk anybody's career, but we will try to win each game one at a time. We want to stay in the winner's bracket so we can avoid two games in a day. If you can get through this weekend, you get to a super where it's more like a regular series. In this format, you have to win at least three games to advance. It is possible to advance through the loser's bracket, but we want to win each game we play.
   
• Louisiana is more than pretty salty. They're a super high-pressure offense. They run the bases and have over 130 stolen bases. Matt Deggs has always been known for pushing the envelope offensively. They're going to bunt, hit-and-run and squeeze, so if you just don't panic and get the outs, you should be OK. If you don't execute and give them extra outs, you have to make extra pitches. That's when balls start flying out of the ballpark. That should be a fun ballgame tomorrow night between Louisiana and TCU. That should be an awesome game and should be very entertaining baseball to watch.
   
• I've been in the visiting dugout when Olsen Field is rocking, so I'm looking forward to it rocking tomorrow afternoon.
   
• You're not hiding anything from anybody anymore. You're playing real teams with really good pitchers that value the baseball. There are going to be great teams that had awesome seasons that play badly for one weekend, and their season will end. You could have two bad days, run into a hot pitcher or have bad luck, and your season is over. It's never about the best team. It's about the team that plays the best. If we play well, we should be fine. If we don't play well, we could be turning in jerseys before we know it.