Texas A&M will open Big 12 baseball play at home against Texas Tech, which was picked to finish last in the conference and currently has the worst pitching statistics among league teams.
It sounds like an easy assignment for A&M, but easy has proved problematic at times for the 23rd-ranked Aggies on defense.
A&M has been one of the better pitching and hitting teams in the conference during a 13-3 start. But the Aggies are last in the Big 12 with a .955 fielding percentage, too often failing to make routine defensive plays. Those struggles resulted in some major lineup switches going into the series against Tech, which will start at 6:35 p.m. Friday at Olsen Field.
Attempting to patch a leaky infield, A&M coaches will move two players from positions where they have started in all 16 games. Brodie Greene will switch from center field to shortstop. Caleb Shofner will move from first base to third base.
Scott Arthur will take over in center field.
"It's kind of like shooting free throws: You can not talk about it, or you can address it," A&M head coach Rob Childress said. "When the big pink elephant's in the room, you've gotta talk about it. We know we need to be better defensively. Hopefully those changes will work for us."
Shofner returns to what was his primary position last season, but Greene and Arthur will be moving into somewhat unfamiliar territory. Greene started seven games at shortstop last year, when he was the regular second baseman. Arthur, a sophomore, has never started in center for the Aggies.
The Aggies lead the Big 12 in errors with 28. Last weekend, A&M made five errors that resulted in four unearned runs, and a few more good plays on defense could've saved four more runs. Still, A&M won two of three games against Washington State.
"As you get into conference play, mistakes are going to be magnified," Childress said. "We made two mistakes defensively in the sixth inning Friday against Washington State. More often than not, you're not going to be talking about how you overcame that. You're going to be talking about that being why you lost the game."
A&M's pitching has overcome many of the defensive failings. Barret Loux, Ross Stripling and Nick Fleece have established themselves as dependable weekend starters, while sophomore transfer John Stilson is a star-in-the-making as the closer.
The Aggies rank second in the league with a 2.20 earned run average, not far behind the 2.10 ERA of sixth-ranked Texas. Stilson leads the conference in batting average against, limiting opponents to .087.
"We've pitched better than I anticipated coming into the season with so many new faces," Childress said. "John Stilson was a guy we really hoped we could keep at the back end of the bullpen, and the three starters have allowed us to keep John there. That's been a big, big part of what we've been able to do."
Friday's starting pitchers reflect the success and struggles of the A&M and Tech mound corps. The Aggies will start junior right-hander Loux (2-1, 0.81 ERA), who has not allowed an earned run in his last two outings. Tech will counter with a first-time starter in sophomore righty John Neeley (0-0, 6.00 ERA), whose parents both graduated from A&M.
Overall, the Red Raiders have a 6.82 earned run average. Tech pitchers have allowed 146 runs, more than twice as many as five teams in the league.
"We've got to take advantage of that offensively throughout the weekend," Childress said.
The Aggies are 11-2 this season at Olsen Field. They will play their first two conference series at Olsen Field, taking on Missouri next weekend.
"We've got to get off to a fast start," Childress said. "You've got to take care of business at home."
Tech is 0-6 away from its home field.
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