7th Inning Stretch: A Trip to Aggieland (Week 17)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville baseball program's Road to Omaha has just one more stop.

After clinching their ninth regional title in program history, No. 12 nationally seeded Cardinals (42-19-1) now head to the Lone Star State, where they will take on No. 5 Texas A&M (40-18) in the College Station Super Regional. The winner of the best-of-three series punches their ticket to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

Taking the Louisville Regional wasn't an easy endeavor for the Cards. They did take their NCAA Tournament opener against SEMO, but fell the next day to Michigan. After sweeping Oregon and Michigan again in the loser's bracket, Louisville took down the Wolverines again in a thrilling come-from-behind win.

From here, it doesn't get any easier for Louisville. Not only is Texas A&M a well-balanced team, but Blue Bell Park is traditionally one of the toughest places to play in all of college baseball. But if the Cards can make it out of College Station still alive, they will have very real hopes and dreams of capturing the school's first national championship.

Last Week's Recaps:

Game 58: Louisville Defeats SEMO in NCAA Tournament Opener
Game 59: Louisville Falls to Michigan in NCAA Tournament
Game 60, 61: Louisville Defeats Oregon, Blasts Michigan to Force Regional Winner-Take-All
Game 62: Louisville Mounts Late Rally vs. Michigan to Clinch NCAA Regional

News & Notes

Eight Cardinals were named to the All-NCAA Louisville Regional Team, with outfielder Cam Masterman being named Most Outstanding Player.
In head coach Dan McDonnell's eight previous trips to the Super Regionals round, he holds an 11-7 record, including 2-2 on the road. Louisville was swept by Cal State Fullerton in 2009, and swept Vanderbilt in 2013.
Louisville and Texas A&M have one previous meeting, squaring off in the 2017 College World Series with the Cardinals winning 8-4.
Catcher Dalton Rushing was named a Second-Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, becoming the 33rd player in Louisville history to be named an All-American.
Second baseman Logan Beard was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, becoming the 15th player to earn Freshman All-America honors under Dan McDonnell.
The weekend in College Station calls for partly cloudy skies on all three days of the Super Regional, with highs soaring over 100 degrees all weekend, peaking at 104 on Sunday.

The Week Ahead

Away (Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park - College Station, Tex.)

Friday, June 10 at 8:30 p.m. EST vs. Texas A&M

ESPNU
93.9 The Ville

Saturday, June 11 at 3:00 p.m. EST vs. Texas A&M

ESPN2
93.9 The Ville

Sunday, June 12 at TBD vs. Texas A&M*

TV TBD
93.9 The Ville

*If Necessary

Know The Foe

School: Texas A&M University
Nickname: Aggies
Location: College Station, Tex.
Total Enrollment: 55,568
Head Coach (career record): Jim Schlossnagle (810-392)
2022 Record (conference record): 40-18 (19-11 SEC)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 1-0

Top Performers (Hitters):

OF Dylan Rock (57 GP, 53 GS): .340/.483/.680, 18 HR, 59 RBI, 13 2B, 47 BB, 16 SB
INF Ryan Targac (56 GP, 53 GS): .305/.441/.595, 14 HR, 56 RBI, 9 2B, 2 3B, 38 BB, 11 SB
OF/INF Austin Bost (57 GP, 57 GS): .368/.462/.575, 9 HR, 42 RBI, 11 2B, 3 3B, 31 BB, 6 SB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

RHP Nathan Dettmer (16 APP, 16 GS): 4.67 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 79.0 IP, 71 K, 21 BB, .270 B/AVG
RHP Micah Dallas (16 APP, 14 GS): 5.38 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 72.0 IP, 79 K, 19 BB, .291 B/AVG
LHP Jacob Palisch (25 APP, 0 GS): 2.76 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 49.0 IP, 57 K, 8 BB, .249 B/AVG

Opponent Breakdown

Rankings:

Louisville	Texas A-M
National Seed	12th	5th
RPI	15th	14th
SOS	21st	22nd
Home Record	33-7	25-9
Away Record	8-9-1	12-6
Neutral Record	1-3	3-3

Hitting:

Louisville	Texas A-M
Base on Balls	9th (336)	16th (321)
Batting Average	14th (.309)	63rd (.293)
Home Runs	28th (94)	53rd (78)
On Base Percentage	9th (.417)	24th (.402)
Scoring Average	10th (8.8)	46th (7.6)
Slugging Percentage	17th (.516)	60th (.478)

Pitching:

Louisville	Texas A-M
Earned Run Average	113th (5.23)	65th (4.74)
Hits Allowed/9 Innings	80th (9.04)	102nd (9.28)
Strikeouts/9 Innings	24th (10.1)	66th (9.3)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio	84th (2.20)	28th (2.70)
WHIP	106th (1.51)	57th (1.41)
Walks Allowed/9 Innings	169th (4.58)	29th (3.44)

Texas A&M is a team that very much earned the right to be a top-eight national seed. They did have some early struggles, opening up the season at 7-4 with losses to Washington State, Wichita State and a series loss at home to Penn. But after that rocky start, the Aggies went 28-13 over the rest of the regular season, including winning their final seven weekend series.

A&M went 2-1 in the SEC Tournament, beating Alabama and splitting a pair of games with Florida. In the College Station Regional, the Aggies took off with wins over Oral Roberts, Louisiana and TCU for a clean sweep. The latter was the most impressive, as Texas A&M plated seven run in the ninth to come from behind and win 15-9 against the Horned Frogs - Jim Schlossnagle's old team, who he coached for from 2004 to 2021.

The Aggies are a very well-rounded squad, but their strength is arguably at the plate. Their offense is a healthy balance between contact and power, and isn't overly reliant on just a couple players, with five players sporting a batting average of .300 or more with 100+ total bases.

Dylan Rock (.340, 18 HR, 59 RBI) is A&M's offensive MVP, leading the team in home runs, RBI and total bases (138), while sporting the third-best batting average. Him and Ryan Targac (.305, 14 HR, 56 RBI) are an elite one-two power punch, with Austin Bost (.368, 9 HR, 42 RBI) and Jack Moss (.388, 6 HR, 47 RBI) providing a fantastic contact compliment.

That's not to say that A&M doesn't have good pitching, but it does have clear strengths and weaknesses. The pitching staff as a whole does a phenomenal job of not issues a ton of walks and does strike out a fair amount of batters, but was among the worst in the SEC at limiting hits and runs.

The Aggies' starting rotation has two really solid options. While Nathan Dettmer (4.67 ERA, 71 K, 21 BB) and Micah Dallas (5.38 ERA, 79 K, 19 BB) do sport ERAs that hover around the five mark, they combine for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 150-40. Sunday starter Ryan Prager (4.92 ERA, 49 K, 24 BB) is about equal in run support, but doesn't have as good of command for the strike zone.

Out of the bullpen, Jacob Palisch (2.76 ERA, 57 K, 8 BB) is the Aggies' bonafide star. Khristian Curtis (1.42 ERA, 15 K, 8 BB) and Will Johnston (3.51 ERA, 46 K, 16 BB) are both solid options as well, with most of the rest of the staff arms not particularly standing out.

(Photo of Louisville Dugout: Jared Anderson - State of Louisville)

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