Stanford Bound: Aggies Baseball Off to Palo Alto Regional
West Coast, best coast? That's what Texas A&M baseball is hoping for this week in California.
A&M will travel to Stanford University to play in the Palo Alto Regional as the No. 2 seed. A&M will open the round-robin tournament facing Cal State Fullerton, with the winner advancing to face host and No. 8 national team Stanford or San Jose State.
The Aggies (36-25) punched their ticket to postseason play after an improbable run through the SEC Tournament last week in Hoover, Ala. A&M, which entered the tournament as the No. 10 seed, rattled off four wins in six days to become the first double-digit seed to make it to the conference title game.
Fourth-seeded Vanderbilt's high-tempo offense prevailed late Sunday afternoon, scoring five runs in the eighth inning to nab its fourth SEC Tournament title. Tim Corbin's roster will now play host to four teams in Nashville as one of the 16 regional locations.
While the Aggies just missed out on a chance for history, they should feel proud of the program's upside heading into the Round of 64. During the regular season, A&M ranked 125th nationally in team earned run average of 5.73. Starting pitching struggled to remain on the diamond longer than four innings.
Leaving Hoover, A&M finished with an overall team ERA of 2.35, with starters posting an ERA of 0.99. Both Troy Wansing and Justin Lampkin pitched one-hit performances against seventh-seeded Tennessee and sixth-seeded South Carolina. Will Johnston, the Aggies' regular season closer, lasted six innings in a 5-4 win over three-seeded LSU.
Timely hitting will remain a factor for the Aggies entering Palo Alto. A&M struggled to deliver hits prior to Saturday's 10-hit outing against second-seeded Arkansas. Jack Moss, Brett Minnich, Austin Bost and Jordan Thompson each finished with multi-hit games. Freshman sensation Jace LaViolette picked up his 19th home run of the season in a series-opening win over Tennessee.
The SEC once again dominated the competition, earning half of the regional host locations. They include: Alabama (40-19), Arkansas (41-16), Auburn (34-21-1), Florida (44-14), Kentucky (36-18), LSU (43-15), South Carolina (39-19) and Vanderbilt (41-18).
The Palo Alto Regional winner will face the winner of the Coral Gables Regional. As a top-eight seed, Stanford has the opportunity to host a super regional if it advances from the regional. The four teams A&M could meet in a best-of-three series include top-seeded Miami, second-seeded Texas, third-seeded Louisiana or fourth-seeded Maine.
While the Aggies won't play host at Blue Bell Park for a second consecutive season under Jim Schlossnalge, they're scorching at the right time. This time last year, A&M found its rhythm just before the national tournament.
The momentum carried over into the College Station Regional as A&M swept through Oral Roberts, Louisiana-Lafayette and TCU. The Aggies would later outlast Louisville in a best-of-three series in the super regional to advance to their first College World Series appearance since 2017.
Cal State Fullerton (32-21) won the Big West Conference to earn an automatic bid, since 2018. The Titans posted an offense with a .274 batting average and 34 home runs. Their pitching staff ranks 64th nationally in team ERA (4.96).
Stanford (38-16) was the only Pac-12 team to be offered a regional after winning the Pac-12 Conference's regular-season title. The Cardinal have hosted a regional in each of the previous five seasons and advanced to the College World Series in 2021 and 2022.
San Jose State (31-25) kickstarted its chance of making the national tournament by winning seven of its last 10 games. The Spartans clinched an automatic bid to the tournament after winning Mountain West Tournament Sunday over Air Force.
First pitch from Klein Field at Sunken Diamond Friday between the Aggies and Titans is scheduled for 9 p.m. CT.
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