For Texas A&M, the start of the new season is already looking a bit like 1999. Coach Rob Childress is more concerned about a similar ending.
For the first time in 10 years, the Aggies enter the season as the favorite to win the Big 12 Conference. They are also the No. 1 team in the Baseball America poll, a preseason first for the Aggies, who last topped that poll in middle of the 1999 season. That season they won the conference title and made their last trip to the College World Series.
“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” fourth-year coach Childress said Tuesday, responding classic coachspeak when asked about the lofty rankings. “The 2009 team, we haven’t done anything yet.”
Still, there are high expectations for the Aggies, the back-to-back Big 12 champions, and several other league teams for the season that begins Friday.
Texas A&M, which finished 46-19 last year, is joined by No. 4 Texas, No. 8 Baylor and No. 10 Missouri in the top 10 of the Baseball America poll. Texas A&M and Texas, the 2008 Big 12 tournament champ, are fifth and ninth, respectively, in the preseason USA Today/ESPN coaches poll.
“We are optimistic and excited about our chances and the opportunities we have before us,” Baylor coach Steve Smith said during the Big 12 coaches preseason conference call. “But there’s no getting around the fact that the league is very, very strong this year, especially on the pitching side.”
Big 12 coaches tabbed Texas A&M as the preseason league favorite, and picked Texas second. Baylor and Oklahoma State tied for third, followed by Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Kansas State and Kansas.
The Bears (32-26), who missed the NCAA tournament, return junior right-hander Kendal Volz (3-6, 4.20), their Friday night starter last season. Volz averaged a school record 10.83 strikeouts per nine innings and last summer for Team USA converted all eight save opportunities and didn’t allow an earned run. Also back is junior right-hander Shawn Tolleson (6-4, 5.06).
But Texas A&M has maybe the deepest pitching staff in the nation with four potential front-line starters and key relievers. Back are pitchers who accounted for 84 percent of the innings pitched last season and 41 of the Aggies’ 46 victories.
Left-hander Brooks Raley (7-2, 4.76) and right-hander Barret Loux (6-2, 4.18) were two of the nation’s top freshmen last season. The Aggies also have right-hander Clayton Ehlert (6-2, 3.41) and junior right-hander Alex Wilson, who missed last season after transferring from Winthrop and Tommy John surgery. He was 6-4, 2.51 at Winthrop in 2007. Back in the bullpen are Kyle Theabeau (6-4, 2.12) and Travis Starling (8-2, 3.70, nine saves).
The senior duo of first baseman Luke Anders (.349, 16 home runs 58 RBIs) and outfielder Kyle Colligan (.317, 14, 39) are back, but the Aggies have to replace five hitters who combined for 284 RBIs last season.
“The offense will have a different dynamic,” Childress said. “We definitely have a couple of stabilizers back and we’ve got quite a bit of pitching back. The biggest concern is replacing five hitters who were not only in the lineup every day, but big producers for us.”
Missouri has to replace Aaron Crown, who tied for the national lead with 13 wins last season, and slugger Jacob Priday. But the Tigers do have junior right-hander Kyle Gibson (17-7, 3.97 the past two seasons) fronting the rotation and several key hitters back.
The Tigers are no longer affected by the preseason predictions. They have gotten used to positive expectations.
“The first one, for sure, we were probably overly excited about it and didn’t handle it particularly well. We didn’t have any perspective how to handle it,” coach Tim Jamieson said. “This year, we are pretty indifferent. That is the progression you have when you get some recognition.”
Texas sophomore right-hander Chance Ruffin was 8-3 with a Big 12-best 1.96 ERA last season. Ruffin is part of a pitching staff that includes four sophomores, four freshmen and two seniors in the bullpen.
“With that, we become less experienced than some of the staffs that are around,” Longhorns coach Augie Garrido said. “Every day will be filled with the unexpected because of our lack of experience.”
The Longhorns also have an all-sophomore outfield, though they return three of four infielders and a catcher.
Oklahoma returns seven position starters and 10 pitchers from a team that went 36-26-1 and made it to the NCAA tournament a year after losing seven seniors along with six juniors to the draft.
“I feel good about our club. We return basically the whole team that made a big run in the Big 12 and NCAA tournament,” coach Sunny Golloway said. “We took last year and grew up. The experience and depth of our pitching staff should be our strength.”
