Hayden Schott shares heartfelt reaction to being swept in final home series at Texas A&M

Texas A&M has had a turbulent past year, losing coach Jim Schlossnagle after reaching the College World Series championship series. This season has not gone according to plan.

The Aggies currently sit at 27-23 overall, 10-17 in SEC play. A postseason bid seems unlikely at this point, especially coming off a devastating series sweep at the hands of previously winless-in-conference-play Missouri.

“Right now I’m thinking about winning the SEC Tournament,” veteran Hayden Schott said. “But you can tell by the guys who stayed after and wanted to see the field and enjoy it, odds are this is probably our last time playing here.”

The experienced outfielder did his best to sum up the feeling of disappointment, noting he probably couldn’t quite do it justice. It’s been a hard fall for Texas A&M, after all.

“It’s hard to put into words. I just feel like, whenever you’re here you feel like you’re part of something bigger,” Schott said. “When you feel that you try to give your heart and soul every minute. And when you feel like you’ve failed, not fans obviously, obviously failed fans, but when you feel like you’ve failed people, whether it’s other players, the staff, no one will ever, ever be able to understand what that feels like. I really truly believe like 99.9% of humans won’t understand what that feels like other than players who care deeply for each other.”

There’s really only one way out for Texas A&M at this point. It needs a deep run in the SEC Tournament. Truthfully, it probably needs to win it to get into the postseason.

And that means there’s the very real possibility that veterans like Schott have played their last game at home. It’s a bittersweet feeling, and probably a little more bitter than sweet given the circumstances at Texas A&M.

“Just kind of indescribable, to be honest with you,” Schott said. “Yeah, it’s just you don’t know it unless you’ve felt it, to be honest with you. And a lot of people who have played college baseball don’t even feel this. We’ve been on the top and we’ve been on the bottom. So when you feel both sides of it, you know what I’m talking about. And I think the people that have felt it know what I’m talking about.”