Texas A&M Dominates, Run-Rules No. 6 Vanderbilt 15-0

The Texas A&M Aggies prove to be the team to beat following a 15-0 thrashing against No. 6 Vanderbilt.

Over his two-decade-long tenure as a manager, Texas A&M coach Jim Scholssnagle has seen ballparks packed to the brim. He's been a part of games that reside in must-see moments in college baseball history.

Consider Friday's showcase one of those mighty moments.

The No. 3 Aggies needed seven innings to run-rule No. 6 Vanderbilt 15-0 in front of 7,351 fans packed into Blue Bell Park. A&M is viewed as a contender to return to Omaha for the second time in three years.

Right now, the Aggies feel like the team to beat in the SEC.

"I don't know that I've ever been a part of a game like that that we ran away with, and it only lasted two hours and four minutes," Schlossnagle said. "Obviously, a great night for us at the plate. Everything went our way."

Ryan Prager (7-0), A&M's ace, was pretty much perfect on the mound, fanning 10 Commodores (26-8, 8-5 SEC) while issuing one walk. He held a perfect game entering the fifth and forced those at the plate to swing-and-miss at his changeup, slider combo.

Four singles were the difference in history being made at Blue Bell Park behind the redshirt sophomore left-hander. Prager, who owns the third-best ERA among SEC pitchers (1.98) became the first pitcher since Asa Lacy blanked No. 7 Mississippi State in 2019 to throw a complete game shutout.

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"Our job as starting pitchers is to keep our team in the game and give us a chance," Prager said. "When you have a great night like that, it just helps set up the rest of the weekend."

A pitcher only benefits from a surging offense. The Aggies (30-4, 9-4) totaled 17 hits and five homers, four of which came from team leaders Braden Montgomery and Jace LaViolette.

LaViolette kicked off the scoring with a two-run blast in the first. Two pitches later, Montgomery sent a solo shot over the right field wall to extend the lead 3-0.

Montgomery, a favorite to win the Golden Spikes Award, sent another towering home run to center field, scoring Gavin Grahovac and Travis Chesnut to make it 6-0. LaViolette waited until his third at-bat to plate three more on a missile over the left-field wall to extend the lead to 13.

"Those are two future major league players," Schlossnagle said. "When the rest of the lineup gets going and you have to deal with those two, that's what it was like last year when you were playing Tommy White and Dylan Crews."

Eight Aggies finished with multi-hit games and came around to score. Grahovac, who drew a 10-pitch walk to lead off the night, finished 1-for-2 with a single and two walks. Hayden Schott, who finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, never reached home.

Fans won't complain. The Aggies are averaging 8.6 runs per game and continue to show discipline at the plate, but the team internally knows there's still work to be done before the start of the conference tournament in Hoover, Ala.

"We still have a long way to come, and I don't think we're anywhere near our best potential, which is really fun to say after a night like this," said LaViolette.

Montgomery and LaViolette serve as the backbone of the offensive spark. Montgomery, a potential first-round pick in the upcoming MLB draft, leads the team in homers with 19. LaViolette is close behind with 16 long balls attached to his stat line.

Both will try to go for Dylan Holt's single-season record of 34 dingers, but they'll need to pick up the swings. Montgomery is on pace to finish with 29 while LaViolette should break his freshman record of 21 before the start of the NCAA tournament.

"It's a fun little thing me and B-Mont have going on here," LaViolette said. "It's exciting to come to the park every single day — even when I don't have my best days — and watching that dude play. It's unbelievable to watch him play."

A&M returns to Blue Bell Park Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for Game 2. Right-hander Tanner Jones (2-1, 5.09 ERA) will take the mound for the Aggies, but he'll face one of the SEC's best in left-hander Carter Holton (5-0, 3.27 ERA).