Jim Schlossnagle shares first impressions of Cal State Fullerton

Jim Schlossnagle and Texas A&M is heading to the West Coast to face a traditional power for its first game of the NCAA Tournament in Cal State Fullerton. The Aggies are the No. 2 seed in the Stanford Regional with hosting Stanford serving as the No. 1 seed in the four-team regional and the eighth overall seed in the tournament.

“I think everybody gets stereotyped a little bit but I think Cal State Fullerton is is a team that is going to play this classic Cal State Fullerton way, which is really good fundamental baseball,” Schlossnagle said Monday after the Selection Show. “They’re going to put pressure on you with the bunting short game and run. I’ve seen a few of their games. They played a three game series at TCU this year. So I watched a few of those games.”

The Titans finished the season with a 31-22 record and 20-10 mark in Big West Conference play. A four-time NCAA Tournament champion, Cal State Fullerton is making its first appearance in the Field of 64 since the 2018 season.

The Cardinal will play San Jose State in their first game. If the Aggies defeat the Titans, they will play the winner of the Stanford-San Jose State Game.

If they lose, they will face the loser of the game.

“Stanford is actually more of an SEC-type Team,” Schlossnagle said. “Big power. Big arms, big power. So that’s something that’s going to be a huge challenge should we get the opportunity to play them. I know San Jose is really hot. They just won their tournament.”

Texas A&M enters the NCAA Tournament coming off a run to the SEC Tournament final this past weekend in Hoover, Ala.

The Aggies have been a great postseason team in the nearly two seasons since Schlossnagle took over as head coach. They went 9-3 across the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament last season as Texas A&M made its way to the College World Series.

The team already has a 4-2 record this postseason so far after the SEC Tournament and the Aggies are hopeful they can continue this run that they are on.

“I think the thing about our league is it prepares you for everything,” Schlossnagle said. “We have teams like Vandy and Kentucky that put pressure on you with the bunting game so we’ve seen that amongst some non-conference teams we’ve played. We’re prepared. We just need rest. Flipping around and traveling again on Wednesday, changing time zones, we all need a lot of rest this week to get ready for that trip.”