Series Preview: No. 24 A&M faces veteran Penn squad

Also included above is a TexAgs Live segment with Ryan Brauninger, Richard Zane and Scott Clendenin from Friday morning, previewing this weekend’s series vs. Penn.

Who: Penn Quakers (21-20, 13-8 in Ivy League in 2025)
Where: Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park – Bryan-College Station, Texas
When:

Friday: 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
Saturday: 2 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
Sunday: 1 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)

Pitching matchups

Friday: LHP Shane Sdao (1-0, 6.75 ERA in 5.1 IP) vs. RHP Jake Moss (1-1, 2.82 ERA in 2025)
Saturday: RHP Weston Moss (1-0, 7.20 ERA in 5.0 IP) vs. LHP Marty Coyne (4-2, 3.89 ERA in 2025)
Sunday: RHP Aiden Sims (1-0, 1.50 ERA in 6.0 IP) vs. TBD

Scouting Penn

Ivy League schools always start a week later than the rest of the country. Why? Nobody knows.

After winning back-to-back regular-season titles in 2022 and 2023 and making consecutive NCAA Tournament trips in 2023 and 2024, John Yurkow’s Quakers went 0-2 in last year’s Ivy League Tournament as Hayden Schott’s Columbia Lions ultimately earned the league’s auto-bid, much to the chagrin of proud Penn alums Jackson Appel, Wyatt Henseler and Mike Elko.

Jake Crandall/USA TODAY NETWORK

Wyatt Henseler hit 54 home runs in four years at Penn to set the Ivy League record. Henseler will throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Friday night.

Penn is a program that has been kind to Aggie baseball in recent years, but the Quakers will be undaunted by the trip to Blue Bell Park. Back in 2022, Yurkow & Co. took two of three from A&M, winning a Sunday rubber match by scoring five in the ninth with both Appel and Henseler driving in runs during the rally.

The 2022 A&M club famously went on to Omaha. Appel joined the Aggies and hit .331 for the national runners-up in 2024 before Henseler — the Ivy League home run king — concluded his collegiate career in Aggieland last spring.

Now that we’ve finished the trip down memory lane, Penn returns its top six hitters from a year ago. Utility man Jarrett Pokrovski is back for a senior season after hitting .335 with 33 RBI and a team-best 24 doubles on his way to All-Ivy first-team honors. Junior outfielder Gavin Collins also hit .335 to garner All-Ivy acclaim. Shortstop Davis Baker, from Dallas Episcopal, slugged .526 to pace the Quakers in homers (8) and RBI (39) en route to a spot on the All-Ivy second team. It’s an experienced offense that features NCAA Tournament experience and thus won’t be overwhelmed by the atmosphere in Aggieland.

On the mound, two of their three starters exhausted their eligibility. RHP Josh Katz is the lone returner, going 4-4 with a 7.42 ERA across 13 total appearances and 47.1 innings, but Katz isn’t even in the rotation this weekend. On Friday, Penn tabs senior RHP Jake Moss, who will be making his first career start. In 23 relief appearances, Moss owns a 5.97 ERA in 34.2 innings. Left-hander Marty Coyne made two starts and 14 bullpen appearances in 2025 while striking out 49 in 44.0 frames with a sub-4.00 ERA, and he will take the ball on Saturday. Top reliever Thomas Shurtleff is back for his senior season after accumulating a team-best four saves while posting a 3.04 ERA in 26.2 innings of work during his 17 games.

Penn is a ball club that A&M must respect and cannot be overlooked. Just ask the 2022 Aggies.

Texas A&M storylines to watch

Projected first-rounder Chris Hacopian has missed the last two ballgames as he deals with a “stiff back,” which was revealed by Michael Earley on Thursday’s edition of TexAgs Live. The junior infielder is hitting .444 with a .989 OPS in two starts as an Aggie, and having him available lengthens and strengthens a potent offensive attack. The back issue was described as “precautionary” by Earley, but all eyes will be on Hacopian and whether or not he can go on Friday night.

Will Huffman, TexAgs

Chris Hacopian is 4-for-9 with four RBI in two games as an Aggie.

Beyond Hacopian and veterans Gavin Grahovac, SEC Player of the Week Caden Sorrell and Wesley Jordan (who was other-worldly vs. Tennessee Tech), the offense has been led by a handful of youngsters. Shortstop Boston Kellner has five extra-base hits as his early-season OPS sits at 1.611, and third baseman Nico Partida has a pair of homers to his credit as the .200 batting average certainly doesn’t tell the full story for the Pearland product. Even Jorian Wilson homered in his first career start on Tuesday vs. Corpus Christi. With an important early-season tournament looming, the rookies carrying the confidence into Arlington will be key, but they can’t happen without continued success this week vs. Penn.

Cliff Pennington’s impact on the base running has been noticeable, but the Aggies have another level to reach as they aim to clean up a handful of mistakes not totally recognizable by the average viewer. Sure, A&M has been caught on two stolen base attempts (Sorrell both times), but Earley revealed on Thursday that Pennington spent part of the week showing the club clips of what went wrong and what must be corrected. That likely foreshadows more intelligent aggression from the Maroon & White on the basepaths against the Quakers as they iron out their philosophy.

Speaking of having another level to hit, all three of A&M’s starters were solid vs. Tennessee Tech, but none of them were particularly sharp. That includes Aiden Sims, who was the brightest of the three and fanned seven across six one-run, one-hit frames on Sunday. Shane Sdao and Weston Moss both allowed four runs in 5.1 and 5.0 innings, respectively, last weekend. Of course, the rotation remains the same entering Week 2, so we’ll see if the starting pitching is up to the challenge and can show signs of dominance vs. a veteran Penn lineup.

Will Huffman, TexAgs

Right-hander Aiden Sims impressed in his first start of 2026, striking out seven and walking two vs. Tennessee Tech on Feb. 15.

Which brings us to the bullpen. Blowout victories on Opening Weekend did not lend themselves to seeing too many leverage relievers. Ethan Darden has impressed in both of his outings, as has Clayton Freshcorn, as he picked up a three-inning save last Sunday. Juan Vargas tossed a scoreless frame on Tuesday, and 12th Man Josh Stewart — who is healthy — has yet to pitch. Only six arms have made relief appearances thus far, so it’s fair to expect Earley will be quicker to get arms in games this weekend.

What’s at stake this weekend

Penn is projected to finish third in the Ivy League, but the Quakers appear capable of pushing for the conference’s title. As was implied above, they’re far from a pushover.

That said, the theme of last week’s series preview remains true: Perception matters.

More clean baseball with better starting pitching will give A&M the opportunity to win this weekend’s series and even pick up a second consecutive sweep.

Doing so would put the Ags a midweek win away from going to Globe Life at 8-0. A year ago, they had already suffered two losses before their showcase weekend in a big league ballpark.

That would be a good start to changing the national perception, but making it a reality won’t be a cake walk.