Series Preview: Earley's Aggies set for vital road series with Mizzou

Also included above is a TexAgs Live segment with Ryan Brauninger, Richard Zane and Scott Clendenin from Friday morning, previewing this weekend’s series at Missouri.

Who: Missouri Tigers (17-9, 1-5 in SEC)
Where: Taylor Stadium - Columbia, MO
When:

Friday: 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
Saturday: 4 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
Sunday: 1 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)

Pitching matchups

Friday: LHP Shane Sdao (3-1, 4.15 ERA) vs. RHP Josh McDevitt (3-1, 3.19 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Weston Moss (3-2, 6.35 ERA) vs. LHP Brady Kehlenbrink (3-2, 4.91 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Aiden Sims (4-0, 3.77 ERA) vs. TBA

Scouting Missouri

A look at Mizzou’s schedule suggests a Jekyll-and-Hyde Tiger club in 2026. They lost to Mount St. Mary’s on Opening Day and Lindenwood as recently as Wednesday, but they took a top-10 Auburn team to extras and even took last Friday’s opener from Tennessee in Knoxville. Just by looking at their record, it’s difficult to get a read on Kerrick Jackson’s third team in Columbia. After all, Mizzou was picked to finish last (again) in the SEC, and they don’t have a single preseason all-conference player. However, by all accounts, they appear more dangerous than a year ago.

Not to intentionally bring up bad memories, but the arm that begins this weekend’s proceedings is the same one that closed last year’s sweep at Blue Bell Park. In a 10-1 thrashing of the Aggies on Sunday, May 11, right-hander Josh McDevitt allowed just one hit and fanned five during a scoreless four-inning save. Now a weekend starter, the junior has struck out 40 against 20 walks in 31.0 innings pitched. However, McDevitt has typically started Saturday ballgames with left-hander Javyn Pimental taking the ball on Fridays. According to Thursday’s initial SEC Student-Athlete Availability report, Pimental is “doubtful” (translation: “unlikely to play due to significant concerns”) with an undisclosed injury.

Of the three starters, McDevitt leads in ERA, while Brady Kehlenbrink owns a club-best 1.09 WHIP and a team-leading 47 strikes in 33.0 innings pitched. Among non-qualifiers, there are four relief arms with sub-2.00 ERAs in freshman southpaw Isaiah Salas (from The Woodlands), Cuban right-hander Keyler Gonzalez, graduate lefty Kadden Drew and Tennessee transfer left-hander Dane Bjorn. By comparison, A&M has two sub-2.00 relievers in Clayton Freshcorn (1.65) and Juan Vargas (1.93). Further, left-hander Ian Lohse leads the club with four saves in just 7.1 innings of action, and right-hander Sam Rosand has a pair in nine appearances.

Offensively, left-handed hitting DH Jase Woita has the best numbers with team-leading marks in average (.376), OPS (1.076), home runs (4) and RBI (29). Outfielders Pierre Seals and Kaden Peer tormented the Aggies a year ago. Seals is hitting .321 in 23 games, while Peer has been hobbled by an injury but has a .354 average in 14 games. First baseman Tyler Macon, who hit ninth last Friday in Knoxville, has a .365 average with 25 RBI as the Tigers appear, on paper, to have a more complete offense this season despite being without shortstop Jackson Lovich, who has already started his professional career in the Yankees organization.

Callie Garner, TexAgs

Kerrick Jackson is 56-80 at Mizzou. He is 3-0 vs. Texas A&M.

The numbers below will tell you that the Aggies are the better team. However, no matter how long you’ve been following the game, baseball should have taught you by now that it’s never the best team that wins. It’s about the team that plays the best.

Texas A&M storylines to watch

If you’re hoping for the “revenge” factor to be part of A&M’s mentality this weekend, you’re going to be let down. While Michael Earley said this trip will be somewhat personal for him during Thursday’s edition of TexAgs Live, the Aggie skipper offered a reminder that this is a different Aggie team. All-American Gavin Grahovac wasn’t in the lineup last May, and neither were newcomers Chris Hacopian, Jake Duer, Wesley Jordan, Nico Partida and Boston Kellner, who might not be aware of what transpired on that fateful, catastrophic weekend at Blue Bell Park.

The past is in the past, and the 2026 Aggies still have all of their goals out in front of them. Handling business at Taylor Stadium would represent a road series victory in the nation’s best college baseball league, and the best-case scenario would put A&M above .500 in conference play. This weekend matters way more for the present and future than as possible retribution for what happened 10 months ago.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

Caden Sorrell was 3-for-12 with a home run, two runs scored and an RBI vs. Mizzou last season. He’s hitting .386 with 12 home runs and 39 RBI in 2026.

Speaking of the present, A&M’s offense has lived up to the preseason hype. Averaging 9.42 runs per game, that figure remains an impressive 8.5 in conference games. Of course, the 18-run bludgeoning last Sunday helps that average, but the point remains that the Aggies are a force to be reckoned with at the plate. Further, the Maroon & White are capable of even higher slugging numbers than we’ve seen. In six SEC contests, A&M has hit only five home runs. On the season, Grahovac has only left the yard twice, and we know what that right-handed bat can produce.

When it comes to maximizing A&M’s offensive potential, there are a handful of decisions to be made. First, what does Earley do at DH? Jordan started 2026 with a bang, but has cooled significantly since returning from a groin injury. He is just 2-for-20 vs. SEC pitching with a home run and five RBI, but Jordan appeared on yesterday’s availability report as “probable.” Meanwhile, Blake Binderup appears to have the hot bat right now. In just 27 at-bats this season, the College Station kid is hitting .407 with a 1.395 OPS, four home runs and 17 RBI, but only four of those ABs have come in an SEC ballgame. Further, with Terrence Kiel II’s conference OBP dipping below .400, is it possible that Jorian Wilson gets more opportunities? The high-ceiling freshman showed what he can do offensively and defensively in the midweek, but does that lead to more starts? Earley alluded to seeing more of Wilson on Thursday, and inserting the Hallettsville Hammer into the lineup would give A&M another left-handed bat along with significantly more thump. In all likelihood, the Aggies can platoon the DH spot, allowing Binderup to start vs. left-handers and inserting Duer in that spot against right-handers, which gives Wilson the chance to play defensively alongside Kiel.

Danny Grant, TexAgs

Jorian Wilson is averaging a home run every 11.5 at-bats. He is 1-for-1 in conference with a double vs. Georgia on Sunday.

While offense has ruled the first two weeks across the conference, the game still begins and ends on the mound, with starting pitching in particular. The importance of quality (perhaps not by the statistical definition) starts has increased in significance for the Aggies as the bullpen — which was already without Caden McCoy and David Ramirez to begin the year — now that Josh Stewart has been lost for the year. With only a few reliable options back there in Freshcorn, Gavin Lyons and an emerging Grant Cunningham, along with need-to-be-better guys in Ethan Darden and Vargas, the pressure on A&M’s rotation gets turned up a notch each weekend and within each game. Shane Sdao had a curiously up-and-down start vs. Georgia, in which he struck out 11. Weston Moss’ Saturday win at Oklahoma was his best of the year vs. power competition. Aiden Sims dazzled vs. an SEC offense just last Sunday. Can the three of them put it together on the same weekend? They’ll need to more often than not, beginning with this road trip to Columbia.

Speaking of CoMo, the environment at Taylor Stadium is unlike anything the SEC has to offer in that there is none. Sometimes, going into a hostile Alex Box or Dudy Noble can help get the competitive juices flowing, but the crowd likely won’t be a factor this weekend. For the first (and potentially last) time this season, A&M will have to create its own energy on the road. Sure, that element can’t be quantified, but succeeding in this space could be vital to succeeding overall in this three-game set.

What’s at stake this weekend

This weekend is vital for Earley’s Aggies.

But not because of what happened last year.

Sitting at 2-4 in the league, a series victory gets A&M within striking distance of .500 ahead of another vital weekend back at home vs. a scuffling Vanderbilt club.

Wins and losses are the only thing that matters at this point. At a minimum, the Aggies need two of the former in Columbia. A trio of victories provides them with some (not much) cushion with a trio of top-10 opponents still ahead, not to mention road trips to SEC blue bloods like LSU and Florida.

Anything less than a road series win would fan the flames of an entirely different conversation that some are all too eager to keep lit.