Jim Schlossnagle joins TexAgs Radio to recap rough series with Portland

Texas A&M baseball dropped a series to Portland over the weekend, and head coach Jim Schlossnagle came in studio to discuss the Aggies' recent shortcomings. Schlossnagle detailed his overall thoughts on the weekend and looked ahead to a midweek meeting with HCU.

Key notes from Jim Schlossnagle interview

• You feel much better today than you have in the past week. Nobody feels worse about it than our team. Nobody wants to win more than they do. Evan Aschenbeck did a good job keeping us in the ball game. We played great defense, especially Hunter Hass. Limit the damage. You never know what run will win.
   
• The thing I have spent the most time on is trying to keep them positive. The 12th Man is so amazing. The guys want to please the fans, and they want to win for them so badly. I want them to care a little bit less. We lost. Keep it in perspective. In baseball, you can overtry. I had Matt Carpenter talk to the guys before the season, and he reminded them of that. He was a three-time All-Star and then, analytically, was the worst player. He ended that season with MVP votes. There are going to be waves, and you have to ride them out. You have to stay committed to the process. Yesterday, we did no scouting report, and we showed highlights of what they can do. This game will eat you alive. Yesterday afternoon was good for us. 
   
• We have to pitch better out of the bullpen. Get the first guy out. Aschenbeck was the highlight. Brad Rudis is pitching a little better. We are not experienced in our bullpen.
   
• Jace LaViolette is having good at-bats. What am I going to do? Sit Jace or Austin Bost? I can do it for one day, but I want to instill confidence. The crowd in general is so awesome. I made comments to a few fans. The beauty of A&M was the fans are so loyal. Our players feed off of that.
   
• It bodes well for the future. Kaeden Kent is elite. We looked at him as a catcher. He can play anywhere. We will be building around him for years to come.
   
• Hunter Haas has been super consistent. He is healthy. He had an injury to his throwing arm which is scary. If we can keep him healthy, he’s a heck of a player. He also had great at-bats. His glove kept us in the game.
   
• Will Johnston had a weird rib thing going on and only threw one time in intrasquad games. He will pitch at least one inning on Tuesday. We have to find more right-handers other than Robert Hogan.
   
• Nathan Dettmer has done a nice job. He has thrown his breaking ball better. We will get him out there Friday against a super-talented Louisville team. I like that Dettmer can give us that, and Troy Wansing can give us something close to that. Chris Cortez is finding himself. I like our starting rotation, but we will reevaluate all of it before conference play.
   
• Yesterday was special. Former members of the Corps of Cadets thanked us for doing it. You feel really connected with people. I love it here. It is traditionally rich and something I hope to be a part of for a long time.
   
• Wyatt Tucker will start on Tuesday. I will start watching the video on HCU today. We are not taking them lightly. Lance Berkman is trying to get a program going, and I have been there.