SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

May 24, 2023

Jim Schlossnagle

Austin Bost

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium

Texas A&M Aggies

Postgame Press Conference

Arkansas 6, Texas A&M 5

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: Yeah, really good ballgame. I thought two really sound teams, played well. I thought that Sdao for us and Morris for them did a great job, just kind of the middle innings felt like they were being played underwater. Everything was just kind of slow. Then obviously we set the table, and Wegner got the big hit.

Really proud of our team. McEntire has given us fits before. He's a good pitcher, and really excited for Austin to tie the ballgame for us and had another great at-bat there in the last inning. And you've got to credit. Diggs is a clutch guy. I've seen him do it on television.

Good ballgame. Stinks to lose it. But we'll be back tomorrow.

Q. Coach alluded to it a little bit there, but it felt like Morris coming in for Arkansas changed the game a little bit. Was there anything specific you could point to that you felt like he was doing that kept you guys off?

AUSTIN BOST: Honestly he was just keeping us off balance, mixing his fastball, slider changeup both sides of the plate. Obviously give credit to him because he just did a great job, went out there and shut us down, just filled up the zone, and that was about it.

Q. Austin, what did you hit the home run on, and if you could describe that? And then this is the fourth time y'all have played Arkansas. Just wonder what your thought is on them as an opponent?

AUSTIN BOST: Yeah, so I got a slider up in the zone and put a good swing on it, and then Arkansas is a team they've -- they're good every single year. National contenders every year. It's fun to play them because that's what you're here for. You're here to play the best competition. It was a great game. We just didn't come out on top today.

Q. What can you say about the guys on the mound today, Sdao in particular keeping you in there? You've been a team that's been able to out-slug teams and play that way. It's got to be nice to have that script flipped a little bit and the pitchers perform so well the last two days.

AUSTIN BOST: For sure, for sure. Sdao came out, very proud of him, freshman going out there in his first SEC tournament, doing his thing. You can bank -- guys yesterday, guys today, we went out there and showed, and they're improving every single day, and it's a good sign heading into the postseason.

Q. How was Arkansas kind of -- they got five of the runs (indiscernible). What did you see from them at the plate today?

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: I mean, we set the table for them a lot in the early innings, right. How many guys -- we had first and second or bases loaded, close to it, in the first two or three innings, and we were fortunate to get out of it. Dettmer made a few pitches, Targac made a nice catch in left field, and I thought Sdao was really good. Like Austin said, that's a good sign for us.

Arkansas, I've always -- I said this here the other day, and I'll continue to say it, I think Coach Van Horn, if he's not the best coach in the country, he's in the top one or two. They just play outstanding baseball. They don't screw the game up. And they hang around, there's enough pitching, play good defense, bring a guy in at third base, Jones makes a nice play there in the bottom of the 10th.

So they just played very sound baseball. They're balanced through the order. They can beat you in a lot of ways, and the job they've done this year with the injuries they've had and just the next-man-up kind of mentality, that's exactly what we're trying to get going in College Station.

Q. Wegner was out for a long time with that broken thumb. What did you see from him on that swing, and if he can get going, how big would that be for Arkansas?

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: I mean, he was obviously just sitting on a fastball and I think -- I don't know if we called it in or threw it in there, but he was all over it, and he's a good player. And Brandyn had the hitter before him down 0-2, I think, and couldn't execute a couple fastballs and ended up walking him. Wegner put a good swing on a 96-, 97-miles-an-hour fastball. He's a good player.

Q. Obviously McEntire gave up the tying home run, but he's been pitching a lot better for them lately, and I thought outside of the home run, and that's a big outside, but I thought he pitched pretty well. What did you think of McEntire?

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: He's pitched great against us before. He threw well against us when we were in Fayetteville earlier in the year. He's got the two different breaking balls, throws his fastball down. Matt Hobbs is a good pitching coach, and he's done a good job of giving him an identity, and they mix and match.

That's one thing we don't have a lot of, is the right-handed pitching. Sexton is kind of just a red-shirt freshman that we're trying to get out there a little bit, but we're predominantly left-handed. But McEntire is good. They have a good team.

Q. You alluded to Diggs a minute ago. He's batting around .500 with the bases loaded, hit a couple of slams this year. What do you think about him? He's leading them in RBIs, too.

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: Do I have an Arkansas jersey on? No, Diggs, I'm a big college baseball fan, so there's a lot of times in College Station -- Arkansas plays a lot of day games during the week, so we'll have the games on as we're getting ready to play or getting ready to practice, and Diggs is one of those guys that he's just a clutch player.

I don't know him. I'm assuming he's an awesome kid and competitive and just when you think you've got him, he shows up to play. He's gotten a lot of big hits for them. I've seen them rip his jersey off a few times this year.

Q. Season-high innings for Sdao in that outing. Is that something that you and Coach Yeskie evaluate as you look towards the regionals, a guy who could take a spot start for you?

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: For sure. I thought that obviously Wansing was outstanding yesterday, Lamkin was really good against Mississippi State. Will Johnston was really good against Mississippi State.

Garcia we've been asking a lot of lately, and I thought he continued to keep us in the ballgame. Give up a grand slam, emotionally, that can shut you down. But he kept us in the game.

But yes, Sdao, he's a strike thrower. He's now found a breaking ball that can keep people off his fastball. So yeah, those are good signs. And Sexton getting out there and getting out of a big jam and fielding his position really well, that's a good sign for us, too. We don't have a lot of pitching depth. I think our depth got better today, and that's kind of the silver lining of the loss.