Texas A&M To Host Two Rounds NCAA Tournament, Schlossnagle Meets Old Friend
Jim Schlossnagle has transformed Texas A&M baseball around in one season. In his quest to helping the Aggies return to Omaha for the first time since 2017, he'll be facing familiar faces in College Station.
The No. 5 Aggies (37-18) will host both rounds of the College Station Regional and Super Regional as one of the top eight seeds in the country. In the regional, A&M will face Oral Roberts, Louisiana-Lafayette and TCU.
The first round of the regional is a double elimination process. The Super Regionals are a best-of-three matchup. The Aggies will open the tournament against the Golden Eagles (38-18) on Friday. First pitch has yet to be announced.
The Aggies return to Olsen Field as one of the hottest teams at the plate, winning seven of their last nine games by averaging 9.9 runs per outing. The Aggies began the SEC Tournament hot by run-ruling seventh-seed Florida 10-0 and taking down Alabama in a 12-8 win Friday evening.
A&M had its work cut out for itself in the rematch against the Gators. Florida sophomore left-hander Timmy Manning and freshman right-hander Fisher Jameson combined to allow six hits while striking out 10 in a 9-0 win to advance to the tournament finals against top-ranked Tennessee.
“We looked like the team that had played the extra game, not them,” Schlossnagle said of the Gators.
Due to rainouts on Tuesday and Wednesday at the start of the tournament, the Aggies were eliminated instead of facing Florida a second time Sunday morning. Tennessee continued its dominance both on the mound and at the plate in an 8-5 win to pick up its first conference championship since 1995.
The Golden Eagles impressed down the stretch, winning the Summit League Championship over both South Dakota State and Omaha. In the three games, Oral Roberts has averaged 14 runs per game, including scoring 21 in the Summit League Finals against Omaha.
The Ragin Cajuns (36-21) took care of their business in Montgomery, Ala. at the Sun Belt Championship. Louisiana pulled off the upset against No. 16 Georgia Southern in a 7-6 victory to claim the conference title. The Ragin’ Cajuns are coached by former A&M assistant and Sam Houston head coach Matt Deggs.
The Horned Frogs (36-20) finished the regular season as Big 12 champions behind a strong pitching performance from its rotation. TCU was eliminated from the Big 12 Tournament in the second round after suffering an upset to Oklahoma State in the semifinals.
The series will mean a tad more to Schlossnagle, who could face his former program to make it to the Super Regionals. Prior to his arrival in Aggieland, Schlossnagle served as the Horned Frogs' coach for 18 seasons, leading the program to five College World Series, including four consecutive trips from 2014-17.
The Horned Frogs know College Station well, having won a Super Regional at Blue Bell Park to advance to the 2016 College World Series. In 2012, TCU won the College Station Regional to advance to the Super Regional against UCLA.
Texas A&M is one of nine programs from the conference to make the national tournament. The Aggies are joined by top-ranked Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Arkansas.
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