Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle breaks down Aggies' pitching situation in CWS
Jim Schlossnagle knows destiny awaits Texas A&M, as the Aggies kept their season alive with a victory over Notre Dame on Tuesday.
Now, the Aggies will be taking on Oklahoma, who they’ll have to defeat twice to get to the Championship Series. Ahead of the showdown with the Sooners, the Texas A&M skipper broke down the Aggies’ pitching situation moving forward.
“Obviously a ton. We’ve got to play three games in three days, correct, I think that’s the tournament. So anybody that saves every possible pitch,” began Schlossnagle, speaking of the brilliant performance by Nathan Dettmer against Notre Dame. “[Jacob] Palisch ran to the bullpen. I think he threw a couple. Hopefully we didn’t use him too much. Now we’re at the point where [Micah] Dallas has pitched. He’s not obviously going to be able to pitch anytime soon. [Nathan] Dettmer is obviously done for a while.
“This is that point that every college coach talks about all year long where now you need something from somebody that you haven’t gotten, whether it be a [Ryan] Prager or a Wyatt Tucker. Some other guys down there, Will Johnston will have to give us extended length to have a chance. And we’re going to have to score against a great team.”
Nevertheless, Schlossnagle believes the Aggies are built for their predicament, as they’ve shown tremendous fight all season long.
“All I know is our guys, we’ve been back in the corner all year long, especially with our pitching situation and we just keep fighting,” explained Schlossnagle. “So I know it sounds cliche, but Nathan definitely gave us some breathing room by going seven innings.”
Jim Schlossnagle and Texas A&M may have their backs up against the wall when they face Oklahoma on Wednesday afternoon, but the Aggies skipper isn’t sweating the situation.
Jim Schlossnagle opens up on what it means to continue advancing in CWS in first year at Texas A&M
Moreover, Jim Schlossnagle took a risk leaving TCU to become the head coach of Texas A&M. He spent 13 seasons with the Horned Frogs, making five College World Series, and is still the winningest coach in their program’s history. The move to College Station was a bold one but thus far, has paid off for Schlossnagle.
Texas A&M is now in the Final Four in Omaha after Wednesday’s win against Notre Dame. While a daunting task against Oklahoma is ahead of the Aggies, Schlossnagle knows how special it is to be this far at the College World Series
The head coach opened up about what it meant to be one of the last four teams in. Schlossnagle is responsible for half the CWS wins in Texas A&M history but reflecting on how far they have come since last season was the head coach’s main focus.
“Super proud of the kids, how far they’ve come from not just the beginning of the season, but I mean this last time last year we didn’t even have a coaching staff,” Schlossnagle said. “A third of this team wasn’t even a Texas A&M Aggie yet. We were still recruiting out of the transfer portal. You look up a year later and you’re playing, like you said we’re in the Final Four of college baseball. Great tribute to the kids. The coaching staff, administration, everybody committed to having a great program. And everybody has given themselves up for the common good.
“And this team, whether we win or lose the rest of this thing, they’re going to be remembered for a really long time and brought a lot of excitement back to Texas A&M baseball, and people are fired up.”