During the next two weekends, the Kansas baseball team will play two of its most critical series of the Big 12 season.

Kansas will take on No. 16 Texas A&M, which has won 17 of its last 18 games, starting tonight, and No. 14 Oklahoma State, which has won nine of its past 10 games, next weekend.

While the Aggies and Cowboys are two of the most complete teams in the Big 12, two seniors in particular have guided their respective teams to impressive starts.

Texas A&M has been led by a stellar starting pitching so far this season. Leading the pack is senior right-hander Kyle Nicholson.

As Nicholson posts a conference-best 1.02 ERA and 4-1 record, the Aggies are off to their best start since 2004, the last year they reached the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments.

This season has been redemptive for Nicholson and the Aggies, especially considering how last season ended. Texas A&M was swept by Kansas in its last series of the season, finishing the year with a 25-30-1 record.

“Everybody went into the offseason with a terrible taste in our mouth,” Nicholson said. “There’s no doubt that we worked harder than anyone in the country over the summer.”

The dedication the Aggies exhibited has paid off as they enter Big 12 play with an 18-2 record.

“We’ve just got a really good team with some guys who stick together, are in it to win and hate losing more than anything in the world,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson has experienced a 180-degree turnaround in his own performance. Leading the Aggies in starts last season, he also had the highest team ERA among starters at 4.35 and a pedestrian 4-5 record.

“It’s hard to explain because I didn’t really change anything mechanically or pitch-wise,” Nicholson said. “I’m throwing everything the same, but I guess I’ve matured into a better pitcher.”

Nicholson and the Aggies know that their impressive start will be meaningless if they don’t get back to the postseason. Texas A&M’s ultimate goal is to reach the College World Series in Omaha.

“We’re not satisfied. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be and that’s Big 12 Champions,” Nicholson said. “There’s no doubt that everybody on this team believes that we can get into the postseason and do what we need to do to get to Omaha.”

One preseason candidate to reach the College World Series was Oklahoma State, led by senior second baseman Tyler Mach.

Coming off a junior campaign in which he won Big 12 Co-Player of the Year and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors as a third baseman, Mach had the opportunity to join the professional ranks.

However, he inexplicably slid to the 40th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft before being selected by the St. Louis Cardinals. After that, there was little doubt he’d return to Oklahoma State.

“It just depended on where I went in the draft,” Mach said. “It made my decision pretty easy when I got drafted in the 40th round.”

When Mach got back to Stillwater, Okla., in August, though, he found out that he’d need to move to second base to make room for transfer Matt Mangini at third base. Mach said he was more than willing to make the move. He now prefers the free reign of playing at second where he can be involved in relays and turning double plays.

The move has also paid dividends for the Oklahoma State offense. Mach is on a scorching pace, leading the Big 12 with a .500 batting average with five home runs, 29 RBI, 66 total bases and a .825 slugging percentage, while Mangini is batting .427 with four home runs and 26 RBI.

However, the Cowboys (14-4) have shown a tendency to go only as far as Mach will carry them. In their last three losses, Mach has gone a combined 1-for-12 with only one RBI.

Mach said that lately some teammates have kidded him about that, but he’s poised to bear the burden of leading the Cowboys to victory.

“I hope every time I have a bad game we don’t lose, but right now that’s the situation, so I guess I’ve just got to have a good game every day. No pressure,” Mach said.

While Mach is on pace to surpass the incredible numbers he put up last season, he realizes Oklahoma State’s success will be measured by whether it can go deeper into the postseason than the opening round of the NCAA tournament, where it was eliminated last season.

Mach said that with the offense the Cowboys have, all they need is to stay healthy and get some help from the pitching staff to reach Omaha.

“There’s no doubt that we can go all the way in my mind.”

Kansan sportswriter Shawn Shroyer can be contacted at sshroyer@kansan.com.

— Edited by Kelly Lanigan