No. 3 Aggies battle with Florida in the College World Series opener
OMAHA – The No. 3 Texas A&M baseball team squares off against a familiar foe in Florida in its opening game of the College World Series starting tomorrow night at 6 p.m. at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.
Texas A&M Athletic Communications
15/06/2024
The game on Saturday will be broadcast on ESPN and can streamed locally via SportsRadio 1150AM/93.7 The Zone. Fans can follow along by following the game on the website X, @AggieBaseball.
The Aggies (49-13) are going to their eighth appearance at the College World Series and their second appearance in the past three seasons after winning the Bryan College Station Regional and Super Regional. This year’s Super Regional title marked the fifth time in the history of the program and fourth in the history of Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
In the last time it played the Greatest Show on Dirt, the Aggies had two wins and reached semi-finals, for the very first time in the history of the program. Four players are returning from the team of 2022 comprising Brad Rudis, Chris Cortez, Ryan Prager and Ryan Targac. Four of them made appearances during the 2022 College World Series.
In 38 NCAA Tournament appearances, the Maroon & White have compiled an overall record of 100-83. Under head coach Jim Schlossnagle, Texas A&M is 14-4 during the postseason and the team is 2-2 in Omaha.
Saturday’s game will be the 31st all-time meeting and the fourth of this campaign between Aggies against the Gators. Despite losing the three-game set earlier in March and April, they are the Maroon & White lead the overall series 16-14. In neutral venues, Texas A&M is 1-1 against Florida. The match on Saturday is the first meeting between both teams in the College World Series.
The Maroon & White have been prominently represented on three All-America teams which have been announced thus far. Infielder Braden Montgomery, as well as relief pitcher Evan Aschenbeck have garnered first team honours by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), Perfect Game and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings. Senior Jace LaViolette earned first team recognition from the NCBWA as well as a second-team spot at the ABCA/Rawlings.
The catcher Jackson Appel (NCBWA – First Team), Prager (NCBWA – Second Team) and third baseman Gavin Grahovac (ABCA/Rawlings – Third Team) made up all of the All-Americans from the Aggies to date. Gavin Grahovac was also awarded Freshman All-America honors from the NCBWA and Perfect Game, while fellow rookie Caden Sorrell also earned a place in the Perfect Game Freshman All-America Team.
Alongside his All-America award, Aschenbeck was named the 2024 NCBWA Stopper of The Year, which is a recognition of the top relief pitchers for NCAA Division I Baseball. The lefty who is the top player in the country by a wide margin in ERA (1.66) as well as WHIP (0.80) and WHIP (0.80), was the only player in team history to earn the distinction.
Under the guidance of first-year coaching director Max Weiner, the Aggie pitching staff has reduced its ERA by almost two runs. Its Maroon & White rank first in shutouts (11) 1st in strike percentage 1-1 (69 percent) and fourth in strikeout-to walk ratio (3.25) 6th on ERA (3.94) 6th for WHIP (1.26) 10th in strike rate 0-0 (62 percent) 12th in the number of walks allowed in nine innings (3.31) while 15th with the number of hits permitted per 9 (8.0). The team’s 11 shutouts are the second highest in the history of the team.
On the national level, Texas A&M ranks first in walks (396) 4th for homers (132) and fourth for homers per match (2.13) 7th for runs (546) 8th in the percentage of slugging (.557) thirteenth for scoring (8.8) while 18th on the percentage of hits (.420).
Copyright 2024 KBTX. The copyright owner has all the rights to use it.
