2017 NCAA Super Regional Preview: Davidson-Texas A&M

DAVIDSON-TEXAS A&M

Hosted by Texas A&M • Blue Bell Park • College Station, Texas
Follow the action on Twitter: @AggiesBaseball | @dcbaseball_

Davidson (35-24) at Texas A&M (39-21)
Friday
3 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday
6 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sunday
6 p.m. (ESPN2 or ESPNU)

Texas A&M

Corbin Martin (Photo by Danny Parker)

Coach: Rob Childress
Postseason History: Eighth super regional appearance (third straight). Seeking sixth trip to Omaha and first since 2011.
Postseason Route: No. 3 seed in Houston Regional. Went 3-0 defeating No. 1 Houston 4-3 in the regional final.
Scouting Report
(anonymous coach breaks down the Aggies)

“I thought they were a really good team. In my opinion, they have really good starting pitching. They have pieces in the bullpen that can be tough, whether it’s (Kaylor) Chaffin or (John) Doxakis, they have two quality lefties. And then (Cason) Sherrod has a quality heater, it’s a real fastball, 94-97, and then Kilkenny, it’s good stuff with a good cutter. They have the arms to keep them in it, they have some athletic, scrappy dudes that are solid defenders.

“I think Shewmake is a star. He’s a really, really good player. For a guy his age, it’s impressive how advanced he is with the bat. Their pitching, their defense is always going to keep them in the game. And then their lineup is competitive enough and scrappy enough that they’re going to find ways to score runs.

“But with A&M it starts on the mound, they have quality starters, they have quality arms in the bullpen, and defensively they’re a solid club. The rest of it is find a way to some points on the board. (Hill) fits the mold of a Texas A&M pitcher, where they’re tough and they’re gritty and they’re competitive. From a stuff standpoint, he’s got feel for as fastball that has some life, but he’s got a really good changeup and he’s not afraid to throw it to right- or lefthanded hitters. He competes, he’s a competitor. That’s kind of what makes him tick. All three of their starters are different. You look at Corbin Martin and it’s premium stuff, maybe not the feel and command that Hill has, or even Kolek. Kolek is probably somewhere in between the both of them. He has good stuff, maybe not quite the command that Hill has, but pretty close to it, and maybe not quite the stuff Martin has. But the theme throughout, I think it goes hand-in-hand with Rob Childress, the guys are going to throw strikes, they’re going to throw two pitches into the strike zone and they’re going to be very, very competitive. That’s just their mentality. That’s what they do as a staff and, to me, what’s really made them grow.

“I think as a lineup they’ve grown over the year. They’ve played a lot of young guys. Offensively, when you play a lot of young players, it takes time for them to mature. That’s what’s so impressive about Shewmake. You go around the last few years in the Southeastern Conference, you don’t see guys as freshmen swing it as freshmen like he does. That’s what makes you go, ‘Man that guy’s different.’ But I think their offense, as the year has progressed, it’s matured, it’s gotten better. I think that’s what’s helped them out in regionals. I think if you talk to coaches around the league they’ll say they’re a good team, a talented team, they can pitch and now it’s just all starting to kind of click for them.”

Pos.	Name	Bats	Yr.	Avg.	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB
C	Cole Bedford	R	So	.306	.353	.452	3	27	10	34	3
1B	Hunter Coleman	R	Fr	.290	.399	.443	4	19	20	30	0
2B	Braden Shewmake	L	Fr	.333	.377	.545	11	67	14	28	11
3B	George Janca	R	So	.257	.305	.405	5	27	11	55	3
SS	Austin Homan	R	Sr	.227	.323	.286	0	28	25	54	5
OF	Blake Kopetsky	L	Sr	.300	.351	.406	2	17	11	48	4
OF	Nick Choruby	L	Sr	.317	.442	.410	3	29	47	46	11
OF	Walker Pennington	R	Sr	.200	.315	.336	3	29	18	42	7
DH	Jorge Gutierrez	S	Fr	.228	.347	.443	4	16	13	27	2
Pos.	Name	Throws	Yr.	W	L	SV	ERA	IP	BB	SO	AVG
SP	Brigham Hill	R	Jr	8	3	0	3.29	90.1	28	101	.240
SP	Stephen Kolek	R	So	4	4	0	3.59	87.2	22	80	.245
SP	Corbin Martin	R	Jr	7	3	0	2.99	81.1	36	87	.245
RP	Kaylor Chafin	L	Jr	7	2	2	2.38	68	16	61	.204

(Photo by Tim Cowie/davdisonphotos.com)

Davidson

Coach: Dick Cooke
Postseason History: First super regional appearance.
Postseason Route: No. 4 seed in Chapel Hill. Went 3-0, twice defeating No. 1 North Carolina, including a 2-1 win in the regional final.

Scouting Report
(anonymous coach breaks down the Wildcats)

“I think they’re a team that feeds off their No. 1 pitcher (O’Linger). As he goes, they go. He’s got the heart of a lion. He’s as good of a competitor as I’ve seen. Their lineup is pretty solid 1 through 9, as far as they’ve got a different guy that beats you every time. They really do. The bottom of that order is sneaky. I know how to pitch them, it’s just a matter of if you can execute and get ahead of them. They live and die with the long ball, throughout the year they hit a lot of home runs. Their park is a part of it. They play in a home run park for sure. But they’ve got some bigger, stronger guys that get it going. They feed off that No. 1 arm. I don’t think they have a real deep staff. That’s why I didn’t think they would come back and go all the way through, but they proved everyone wrong. I thought (North) Carolina would score (Sunday). Not surprised by opening day (of regionals), but I am (Sunday). There’s such a big drop off in stuff and competiveness and grit after O’Linger.

“(O’Linger) throws a lot of strikes, he’s never behind, he commands the bottom of the zone and commands the outer half really good. He’s got a slider that’s tight and hard to pick up. His velo’s not overpowering at all. (Texas A&M) is going to have seen infinitely harder velocities, not even close. Deception and pinpoint command I think are his two big things. He’s a good athlete, he fields his position well, works fast and, like I said, they feed off him, he is their energy guy. When he takes the ball in relief after starting, it really says, ‘Get on my back and let’s go,’ and that’s what happened in the (A-10) Tourney, too.

“Their cleanup hitter is a big presence. To me he’s a draft, Brian Fortier, the big, 6-5 first baseman. Will Robertson is a good player. They’ve got a good lineup, they really do. Alec Acosta woke up the last three weeks. Good pitching will shut them down, it always does at every level. If you make mistakes in the lineup, they’ve got pop, they really do.

“I think they had a comfort level at North Carolina by playing them earlier in the year and not being far from home. They had a lot of fans there. That can’t be overlooked. I think Texas is going to be a different animal.”

Pos.	Name	Bats	Yr.	Avg.	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB
C	Jake Sidwell	L	Sr	.207	.318	.257	2	17	26	33	0
1B	Brian Fortier	R	Sr	.313	.377	.580	15	53	22	57	0
2B	Alec Acosta	R	Jr	.311	.381	.416	5	30	21	28	0
3B	Eric Jones	R	So	.316	.392	.460	9	36	24	44	2
SS	Max Bazin	R	So	.213	.341	.250	1	20	35	47	4
OF	Justin Lebek	R	So	.288	.389	.458	7	43	21	69	2
OF	Cam Johnson	L	Jr	.265	.381	.445	9	34	43	41	5
OF	Will Robertson	R	Sr	.336	.405	.644	18	46	20	30	4
DH	Brett Centracchio	L	Fr	.244	.344	.402	3	19	11	23	0
Pos.	Name	Throws	Yr.	W	L	SV	ERA	IP	BB	SO	AVG
SP	Durin O’Linger	R	Sr	9	3	1	2.89	109	29	90	.274
SP	Evan Roberts	L	Jr	4	1	0	4.11	76.2	17	46	.264
SP	Josh Smutzer	R	Jr	5	3	0	4.68	75	31	35	.297
RP	Allen Barry	R	So	3	2	1	3.71	34	11	26	.250