Texas A&M baseball decimates McNeese; could we see the Aggies return to Omaha this season?
Beleaguered Aggie fans are breathing a sigh of relief now that Texas A&M baseball has returned. After a disappointing football season and what could very likely end up a similarly disappointing basketball season, most A&M fans have been looking forward to a productive year on the diamond. Schlossnagle’s team is a heralded group this year, coming in at preseason #8.
Unlike basketball, though, who started the season at 13th and quickly seemed unworthy of that lofty ranking, this baseball team looked every bit of a top-10 squad and Omaha contender. Yes, it’s just McNeese, but the domination that took place at Olsen Field this weekend was impressive, no matter which team you’re playing against.
Game one saw the Aggies completely blow the Cowboys off the field, winning 15-0. Highly-touted two-way transfer Braden Montgomery homered in his first at-bat in Maroon and White, in a sign of what was yet to come on Friday afternoon.
No. 10 #MLBDraft prospect Braden Montgomery goes yard in his first at-bat since transferring to Texas A&M!
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) February 17, 2024
More on the two-way player: https://t.co/3xC82ZEb87
(via @AggieBaseball) pic.twitter.com/ka0a6KrL67
Jace LaViolette, a thoroughbred prospect if there ever was one, added a couple of homers himself en route to the blowout win. Not only that, but SP Ryan Prager dominated the day, only allowing one hit in his five innings. Check out his full statline:
If this isn’t a beautiful line, I’ve got nothing for ya! @ryanprager10 fresh off Tommy John…one hit, no runs and no walks with 9 Ks and only needs 58 pitches (44 strikes) to get through 5 innings in the season opener. That’s a 75.9% strike rate, folks. Strong to quite strong! 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/DR8oNZqqja
— Gabe Bock (@GabeBock) February 17, 2024
The second day wasn’t as bombastic offensively, but the resiliency exhibited by the Aggies was almost more impressive. In a 0-0 slog through most of the game, they finally got a run across in the fifth. The Cowboys were able to answer back the next time up to tie things at 1 run, but the Aggies eventually added three in the seventh and two more in the eighth for good measure, triumphing 6-1.
The final game of the weekend saw the Ags run-rule the Cowboys, 10-0. It only took seven innings for this Texas A&M baseball team to build this double-digit lead, helped along by several more dingers throughout the lineup.
The performances this weekend from Montgomery, LaViolette, and freshman Gavin Grahovac in particular were outstanding. Add in Prager’s dominating performance and the improvement we saw out of Justin Lamkin and Shane Sdao, and this is a scary mix for SEC opponents to face.
It’s early. I get that. But if you look around the league at other highly-rated squads, it’s tough to find a team with as dominant a showing in the first series of the year as the Aggies. There’s a long way to go, but as of right now, the Aggies are showing a lot of promise.