Texas A&M Falls Short In Midweek Loss To UTSA
Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle knew that UTSA was playing its best baseball entering a Tuesday night showdown at Blue Bell Park and there would be little room for error.
Errors occurred, and so did a loss for the Aggies.
After scoring 30 runs in a three-game road series against Auburn, the Aggies' bats went cold in a 5-1 loss to the Roadrunners. A&M managed to tally just four hits against the Roadrunners' pitching staff, with no hurler issuing more than one while on the hill.
“I warned our team of this yesterday, which maybe that was too much for them,” A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Probably shouldn't have said a word. I don't know if today’s college player pays attention to the value of every game, and I tried to warn them of it.”
Troy Wansing might have moved from the weekend rotation to the starting role on Tuesday, but problems on the rubber still are evident. After a shutout first inning, Wansing allowed two runs to cross in 1.2 innings of work. And while he struck out four, he also gave five hits before being pulled.
Wansing, the left-handed transfer from Purdue, remains the last A&M (22-11) starter to pick up a win this season, coming back in early March against Northern Kentucky.
Evan Aschenbeck, A&M's reliable reliever, was anything but once taking over for Wansing. Roadrunners first baseman Sammy Diaz took him yard on a solo shot in the third to make it 3-0. Six batters later, Tye Odom knocked in a pair of runs on an RBI double.
“Aschenbeck’s allowed to have a bad day,” Schlossnagle said. “The guy’s saved us nine million times. I’m not worried about that guy.”
The Roadrunners (25-8) went with a more unconventional route on the mound, giving each pitcher just two innings or less to keep arms warm for their weekend series against Middle Tennessee. Ulises Quiroga (5-1) picked up the win after allowing a hit against two strikeouts. Daniel Shafer, Ruger Riojas, and Luke Malone combined to allow two hits and three strikeouts over the next seven frames.
Simon Miller, one of the nation's top closers, struck out the side in the ninth, but did allow a run to score thanks to an RBI groundout from Hunter Haas.
A&M finished with two walks against six strikeouts and a team average of .133.
“We were just trying to play our brand of baseball, and obviously we didn't have that early on,” Trevor Werner said. “Kinda pulled the guys aside and said, ‘This is not like Aggie baseball.’ At that point, they had scored five runs, so we just kinda told ourselves we were going to play to our standard and do all we can do.
Still in the running to make the NCAA Tournament next month, A&M can't afford to fall in the warning traps during midweek outings. Series wins against conference foes might be the only grace of salvaging a higher seed in the SEC Tournament.
Schlossnalge said the attention must turn to the weekend series against Missouri, but there's a message in the clubhouse; urgency. Any regression only leads to an early exit from the national tournament.
Or perhaps even worse.
“They just beat us in every phase,” Schlossnagle said. “Way more concerned about how we respond and play on Thursday. This is over with.”
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