SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

May 28, 2023

Jim Schlossnagle

Jack Moss

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium

Texas A&M Aggies

Postgame Press Conference

Vanderbilt 10, Texas A&M 4

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the 2023 SEC Tournament championship game post-game press conference. Joined by runners-up Texas A&M, Jim Schlossnagle and SEC Tournament All-First Baseman Jack Moss.

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: Congratulations to Vandy, awesome tournament for them. Awesome season, and best wishes for the postseason. Super proud of our team, the way we played over the course of the last 11 days. Been on the road for 11 days and played nine games. Proud of the way we played during that stretch. Just super disappointed. It's hard to get in this position when you have an opportunity to win a championship, and then you know, we thought we were right in the fight obviously until just couldn't get the last out in the 8th inning.

So credit Vandy, and hopefully we'll have more baseball to play.

Q. Jack, given does what you have ahead of you still coming next week, does that make this loss easier to flush or is it still too raw right now?

JACK MOSS: Any time you lose a championship, it's always tough, man. I'm so proud of this team, though, just from being on the road this last week and a half, just to block out all the negativity and criticism that we may have faced, and just to compete and show that we belong on the field with anybody.

The one thing is that this isn't the end of our story. That's the good part. We still have a lot of baseball to play hopefully from us, and if I'm getting on anybody, it the Aggies. Love these guys. It obviously sucks to come up short today but like Coached said, you have to credit Vanderbilt. They played great. We just didn't get it done.

Q. The run you guys made last season, where you started playing your best baseball in the postseason, to end the year in Omaha, does it feel somewhat similar in that regard?

JACK MOSS: A little bit. I mean, every season is its own story, though, and this team has its own story. I definitely feel like in the regular season, we were a little more comfortable last year at the end of the year in terms of knowing that we were going to be a national seed at this time.

But just to have kind of our backs against the wall this last week and a half and to get on a run and hopefully take it into next week, that's special. I'm super proud of these guys. I know how hard we work as a team and collective unit. Just proud to be an Aggie and got to keep it going next week.

Q. Can y'all talk about how grueling of a task it was to play every single day of this tournament this week?

JACK MOSS: Some people can say it's a grind, but it's baseball, man, it's the thing we all love.

I feel like studying for an economics test is more of a grind than playing all these baseball games. This is fun. This is what professional baseball is.

This is what, you know, when Coach Schloss and Coach Yeskie said, when you're in high school and you watch this on TV, this is what you look forward to. This is what all those 6:00 AMs are for, to play all these games and to play against the best competition on ESPN.

So it can be tough on the body sometimes but you're with your best friends, the best coaches. Wouldn't want to be any where else.

Q. In a week full of positives, what do you take away as the big positive from your run here?

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: Obviously, I mean, Wansing has had a complete career change, hopefully in a great direction. Lamkin will, Johnson as a starter, we know what Aschenbeck can give us. We know what Sdao can give us. Garcia we've asked a lot of. Asked a lot of Wansing the last two days.

We need to find a right-handed pitcher. That's kind of been the story the whole season for us. In a regional, you know, you're pitching depth, getting tested. In a Super Regional, it's not tested as much. If we can get in a regional and stay in a winner's bracket, that won't be as big of a deal for us. It's been an issue for us the whole season.

Proud of the way our guys played. Proud of Max, caught 20-some games in a row. He's supposed to be in high school. He's done a super job back there, super competitive guy. I think Bost is swinging the bat as good as he has all year. Targac showed some signs today, as did Minnich. But we can't give up the bases especially on the right-handed side. I like the direction we are headed overall, it just tastes really bad right now. It's tough to get in this spot, and you want to be the team celebrating.

Q. You alluded to it a little bit there but given some of the starting efforts you've had this week, guys step up, do you and coach go into next week and reevaluate how you use Dettmer moving forward?

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: Obviously, yeah. We are going to have to reevaluate in everything. We really need to get some rest, especially for Wansing and Garcia and Aschenbeck, need to get those guys some rest. Those guys really need some rest. And Dettmer, he's proven, you know, last year and years before that he's capable of doing it. He's just in, really, a season-long funk. Hasn't come out of it. Whenever he's called upon, we'll believe that it's going to be his first good game.

Let me just say thanks to the City of Hoover and Birmingham and everybody here. Everybody's been awesome. It's such a first-class tournament, and you know, to answer your question, to play so many games in a row at the SEC tournament, that's a get-to, that's not a have-to. You get to do that. It's not like we're digging ditches, man. It's just baseball. It's an awesome experience. Feels like a mini-version of the College World Series, and it really is an honor to be here, so thanks to the SEC staff everything and they do for us, and the policemen for the rides back and forth to the ballpark.