How Texas A&M's Game 1 Win Backed Up Jim Schlossnagle's Confidence, Minus 1 Thing

"It kind of unfolded like I thought," Texas A&M Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle said following his team's victory over the Grambling State Tigers. Fair statement, right? Well, almost.

Jun 11, 2022; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle calls a play in the 2nd inning against Louisville at Blue Bell Park. / Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports

Jim Schlossnagle scratched his nose with his right hand before clearing his throat and addressing the media for the first time at the Texas A&M Aggies-hosted Bryan-College Station Regional.

His squad had just done exactly what he'd been preaching for the last week: perform. After struggling to take down the highly-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks at home to finish the regular season and later being bounced from the SEC Tournament in two straight games, the Aggies needed a boost — one that being at home was sure to provide.

"We play better at home," Schlossnagle said prior to taking on the Tigers. "We need to be at home."

Well, the Aggies were. They took to Olsen Field with minimal weather interference — something that they'd also had to deal with in games toward the end of the season — and scored eight runs to shut out Grambling State, 8-0 without so much as breaking a sweat.

If only that latter statement was as true as it seemed.

The first pitch of the game for Tanner Jones resulted in a base hit. Jones, who was named the starter Thursday evening, hit on the mound hoping to put to bed his cold streak made up by two preceding losses against Arkansas and Tennessee, but that wasn't the case.

Instead, Schlossnagle called his team "lucky" for getting out of the first inning without letting up any runs.

"Tanner, like any pitcher, had to be able to throw his off-speed pitches for strikes," the Aggies' coach explained. "He didn't really do a good job of that today. Grambling was on him. On his fastball."

While that was an overwhelmingly good thing for the Tigers, it was the opposite for the Aggies. Jones was responsible for seven of Grambling State's nine hits on the afternoon and didn't make it through the fourth inning, only throwing four strikeouts in the process.

It wasn't the start he had hoped for. Him nor his coach.

"I thought (he) was pretty mediocre, to be honest with you," Schlossnagle concluded.

Harsh words, yet, for the position that these Aggies are in, they're warranted. Texas A&M boasted the No. 1 ranking for a good string of months throughout the regular season because of their promising offense. Since that's taken a dive, the responsibility of winning falls heavier on pitchers.

Jones' start was not indicative of that. But that doesn't mean the rest of the team didn't execute their game plan well. In fact, Schlossnagle commended his team with a statement of confidence in his first words of the press conference.

"It kind of unfolded about like I thought," he said. "I thought base-running was going to play a huge role in the game for our team. There were some things we could exploit — they'd given up over 100 stolen bases on the season — so I thought running bases was going to be (important)."

The Aggies' base-running stats on the day? 6-1 on stolen bases. Is their pitching record beyond Jones' shaky start? Only two hits were allowed between three pitchers and zero runs.

"Each guy we brought in did a nice job of doing their part," Schlossnagle said. "Armstrong in particular, to save us some pitching for the rest of the tournament."

Texas A&M, for the most part, took Game 1 of its regional in expected fashion. It found a groove on offense — and worth noting, behind Braden Montgomery's long-overdue three-hit game — and was able to salvage all nine innings without the Tigers scoring.

On to the winner's bracket!#GigEm pic.twitter.com/W9a4QrAcfy

— Texas A&M Baseball (@AggieBaseball) May 31, 2024

In other words, the Aggies put substance behind their coach's confidence when it mattered.

Now, they're ready to do so again as they await either Louisiana or Texas in Game 2 — the winner's bracket.

"We talked to the team all week about (checking) egos at the door," Schlossnagle said. "In this particular game, (we knew) we were going to have to be disciplined. Every single out matters in this thing.

"(Whether) you're winning by a bunch, losing by a bunch or if it's a close game."