Arkansas faces most experienced rotation yet in Texas A&M

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas is catching the Texas A&M Aggies on the upswing.

The Aggies are winners of seven straight and once again on the right side of the bubble to make an NCAA Regional according to the latest projections from Baseball America.

"It’s when you catch people," coach Dave Van Horn said when previewing Georgia. "Is their No. 1 pitcher pitching? Is somebody got two of their guys sick? Are they just in a little bit of a funk offensively? It helps you. Are they on fire when you get there? Then you’ve just gotta try to slow ‘em down, you gotta try to survive and get out of there. So you never know what you’re going to run into."

Despite the early struggles (1-9 start in SEC play), many of the pieces remain the same from the 2024 team that had the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning in a winner-take-all game in the College World Series. Arkansas will face two of those players on the mound as the Hogs look to avoid losing their second straight SEC series after winning the first four.

Both of the returning starters in Texas A&M's rotation pitched against Arkansas last year when the two teams met as top five teams last year in College Station. Friday night starter Ryan Prager outdueled former Arkansas ace Hagen Smith, throwing seven shutout innings and nine strikeouts.

Texas A&M Aggies starting pitcher Ryan Prager (18) throws against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

In a wild rain-delayed start game, Ted Burton drew a bases-loaded walk off Will McEntire in the bottom of the 11th to win the game. It was the first time in 14 starts the Arkansas had lost a game that featured Smith.

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— Texas A&M Baseball (@AggieBaseball) May 17, 2024

Smith left as the No. 5 overall pick with the Chicago White Sox and a signing bonus of $8 million.

Prager could have joined Smith in pro ball when the Los Angeles Angels picked him with the No. 81 pick in the third round. The pick had a slot value of $948,500, but Prager opted to return for his redshirt junior season at as an Aggie.

"He's a pitcher," first baseman Cam Kozeal said. "You have a lot of guys in this league ... Everyone here is a good pitcher in this league, but you have guys who can pitch and you have guys who can throw gas. He's a guy that can pitch, and he knows how to pitch."

Even though Prager's ERA is up from last year (3.93 vs. 2.95) and his K/9 in down from 11.5 to under nine, Prager's pitchability is still respected by the Razorbacks.

"It's all about when he makes mistakes [to] make them pay for it," Kozeal said. "Keeping things simple. You don't need to overthink it."

Saturday starter Justin Lamkin also had success against the Hogs, striking out eight in just 3 2/3 innings of work behind an opener in a 6-3 loss, but Lamkin left the game in the sixth in a 3-3 tie.

Texas A&M Aggies starting pitcher Justin Lamkin (33) throws against the Florida Gators during the first inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

Lamkin is also rounding into form, allowing just two run in his last 12 innings of work, including back-to-back quality starts against Tennessee and South Carolina. He held a potent Volunteers offense to just two runs across six innings before backing it up with six shutout frames against the Gamecocks.

Prager and Arkansas ace Zach Root will square off on national television on SEC Network 7 p.m. Thursday.

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