Jim Schlossnagle was visibly upset as his Longhorns fell in Game 1 of the series in College Station.
There was one moment during the SEC Network broadcast of Game 1 of the series between Texas and Texas A&M at Blue Bell Park that perfectly encapsulated the Longhorns' night.
It featured head coach Jim Schlossnagle, the former Aggies coach who jumped to his former team's archrival nearly two seasons ago. Texas A&M had skyed a ball down the right field line, and as Schlossnagle was being interviewed live on air, the Texas outfielder lost the ball in the lights, and it resulted in a leadoff triple for the Aggies in the third inning to kickstart their offense.
The coach's frustrations were obvious. Schloss is already not a fan of in-game interviews with the commentators, and this miscue didn't help the cause.
"Just add this to the list boys," Schlossnagle sighed after the play.
Those feelings carried throughout into the game, and despite a Longhorns rally in the top of the ninth, the Aggies held on for a 9-8 win in the series opener.
The back-and-forth affair between No. 2 Texas and No. 18 Texas A&M saw six lead changes. A scoreless game after two innings, both teams came alive to tally at least one run in the next four frames.
Texas trailed 9-6 entering the final inning, and with one out the Horns hit two solo home runs to draw within a run and stir up buzz, hoping to steal a victory. The Aggies induced a ground out and pop out to end it.
The Texas pitching, even into the bullpen, was what told the story of how A&M was able to stay consistent offensively.
"You're not going to win games that way," Schlossnagle said. "I was real proud of the way that the guys competed at home plate, but A&M did a much better job of controlling the strike zone as an offense. So, kudos to them."
The Texas coach, as you might've expected, was loudly booed as he made his first appearance at home plate for the meeting with umpires and his coaching counterpart, Michael Early, now the skipper at A&M after he assisted Schlossnagle in years prior.
The chirping continued throughout the game, but Schlossnagle shrugged off the reception.
"This is just baseball to me," he said. "The fans are going to be fans. The fans here are great, they cheer for their team, and they certainly have their opinion on Texas and me. And that's OK, it's going to be that way for as long as I'm coaching, I'm sure. That doesn't affect me. I don't think about it, I don't hear it [while] coaching the team."
Texas will look to bounce back in the second game of the three-game set on Saturday afternoon.
"We just kind of came to an agreement that we just got to keep playing," said Texas outfielder Aiden Robbins. "I ride or die with these guys, and that was [Schlossnagle's] message. I don't think there's anything more to it. We got to play our style of baseball, and at the end of the day, we'll come out as winners."
