Michael Earley sees his A&M club beginning to play with confidence

Winners of three straight and four of five, Texas A&M aims to keep the good vibes rolling this weekend as South Carolina comes to Blue Bell Park. On Thursday morning's edition of TexAgs Live, Michael Earley spoke about the confidence that is beginning to brew in Aggieland.

Key notes from Michael Earley interview

• We're getting hits because we are putting good, controlled swings on the ball and having good approaches. They aren't just getting good hits to get good hits. The guys are doing what they're supposed to do. There's a confidence and a looseness that's brewing, and everyone's kind of brewing off of it.
   
• Bear Harrison has just made a massive jump. He's added the toe tap, and he has been consistently on time. He has found that timing mechanism that's allowed him to hit better. He completely changed our lineup with that right-handed bat in the middle.
   
• When you're missing pitches, it's because you're not on time for the fastball. Being on time with the right approach allows you to hit breaking pitches in the zone. When you're in between both pitches, you're in trouble. It's about being on time for the heater. They bought into the approach and are doing the right thing with it, which allows you to hit spin that stays up in the zone, to recognize spin earlier and leave it in the dirt.
   
• Blaike Binderup will play first base right now. He's a little stronger defensively, but Matt Bergevin's right there. You may see him. Left field, it’s about playing defense and getting on base. Sawyer Farr has been struggling a bit, but he did really good yesterday. I’m excited to see what he does. With Gavin Kash, it'll be right up until game time decision to see if he can pinch hit.
   
• They understand, and they are pretty rational. It's not always about what you're doing because maybe some are just doing it better. Bergevin is always engaged and always into the game. Jamal George got in the game against Tennessee and had a sac bunt that turned into a hit, and that was a massive play in the game. Jacob Galloway continues sot work hard and is an ultimate professional. It's tough not to play, but they are handling it the right way, and I know they will be ready to go at any moment.
   
• Like you said, if you have a lead, you get some guys on base. We have it all in place offensively, and when it's available, we've executed it well. As long as we can use it, we will bunt, we will hit and run, delay. It's easier, though, when you have lead and can put some pressure on them.
   
• Kaeden Kent is so competitive at times that he’ll hunt hits. When you do that, you're swinging at everything. It's just got to get back to him. He's doing really good at getting pitches he can drive, getting pitches middle-to-pull side in the count. As he has grown up, he has that ability to hit balls the other way when he's down in the count. It's getting him to not be front-sided and trying to push balls early in the count. He has power. We want him to try and leverage balls early in the count. And then you get in those positions, and you swing at better pitches. He's as good as anyone at fighting when he gets two strike. But I like where he's at. He's in a good headspace. But he's so fun to coach because the level of care and competitiveness is off the charts.
   
• Ben Royo is having a lot of success. It's not a surprise. It’s just something he has done in the past. If you're a scout or in professional baseball and watched a practice knowing nothing, they'd point out Royo as a prospect. We've tried to inject confidence in him. He had a tough year last year. The confidence aspect in baseball is really understated. What Roy has done is gain some confidence and this looseness. He's a real player when he does that. He's not some guy who wasn't playing who's a try-hard. He's got real skills, and I think it's showing.
   
• The pitchers have been really good. I was excited about the bullpen on Tuesday. We have to continue to pound the zone, and offensively, we're giving them support. Seeing it all come together as of late, we just have to keep doing it.
   
• The pop-up to Caden McCoy on Tuesday was 100 percent the pitcher's ball. Binderup called it because he thought he should, but that was the pitcher’s ball. The whole time he was waiting, I think he was waiting to get run over. It wasn't Binderup’s play, and the pitcher should've called, waved arms or something and caught the baseball. That would've shut it down right there. Binderup should not have called it.
   
• Ryan Prager has done what he has done in the past. He’s throwing strikes at a high rate, and I think it’s more of us figuring out what the approach is against him. Once teams have success, you can watch videos and talk to other coaches and see what approach they have. It’s trying to limit what they are trying to do by changing what we are doing a little bit. There won’t be a day in my life when I'm not confident with Prager on the mound.
   
• I love Max Kaufer to death. The last time I talked to him was before his commitment to South Carolina, and it was so positive. He left on such a high note. He spent the past two Easters at my house, but I'll talk to him after Saturday’s game and give him a hug. He's such an exceptional kid.
   
• Paul Mainieri is legendary in college baseball. He’s really nice, and I have nothing but respect for him.
   
• South Carolina will throw a couple of lefties to start, but I don't care how they are playing. If you don’t play well at any moment, you can get beat. It'll be about us playing our game and playing clean baseball, taking extra bases, taking advantage of situations and just playing.