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The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Baseballers are once again participating in the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic down in H-Town (hol’ it diiiine) this weekend. Their slate is comprised of some very familiar faces, starting with No. 15 Baylor, followed by No. 18 TCU (eye roll emoji), and ending with Houston.
This year marks A&M’s tenth appearance in the Houston College Classic; their first since 2017, after attending the Frisco College Baseball Classic last season. All told, A&M has had decent, but not great success in this tournament. The only time they’ve swept all three games came as part of the Ags’ eye-catching 24-0 start in 2015.
The last time the Aggies made the trip down to Minute Maid Park didn’t go so well. They started off extremely well, throttling eventual-national seed Texas Tech in the first game, and followed that up by slapping a five-spot on the board in the first inning against then-No. 1 TCU in game two. A&M then blew a 10-5 lead in the bottom of the ninth, eventually losing in the 15th inning, and lost to Baylor the next night on a walk-off grand slam. Ah, memories.
This season, the Aggies face some important and concerning questions heading into the 2019 Shriners College Classic. Perhaps what’s most concerning is the (lack of) offense. Aside from a 19-run output fueled by seven(!) Fordham errors in the second game of the season, a nine-run output fueled by three Prairie View errors the following Wednesday, and a 12-run output fueled by four HBU errors this past Tuesday, A&M has scored a maximum of five runs. It’s no secret that Rob Childress teams pride themselves on pitching and defense, and while that’s especially true this season, that kind of offensive production just won’t cut it. This weekend would be a great time for the Ags to turn that around.
Probable Starters
- Friday vs Baylor: John Doxakis (2-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBA
- Saturday vs TCU: Asa Lacy (2-0, 0.82 ERA) vs. Brandon Williamson (1-0, 2.08 ERA)
- Sunday vs Houston: Jonathan Childress (0-1, 2.79 ERA) vs Lael Lockhart Jr. (0-1, 6.75 ERA)
How to Watch
- Times: Friday, 7:00 pm | Saturday, 7:00 pm | Sunday, 3:00 pm
- Radio: SportsRadio 1150 AM/The Zone 102.7 FM
- TV: AT&T SportsNet Southwest
- Live Video: MLB.com, AT&T SportsNet app, or MLB At Bat app
- Live Stats: tamu.statbroadcast.com (desktop); tamustats.com (mobile)