College Station Super Regional Preview, Schedule & Anonymous Coach Scouting Reports
The College Station Super Regional pits Texas A&M against Oregon. The Aggies (47-13) are at home in Blue Bell Park, where they just swept regionals and are 35-3 this season. They were one of the best teams in the SEC all season long and earned the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. This is a team that has been targeting Omaha all year long.
Oregon (40-18) is back in super regionals after winning a road regional for the second straight year. The Ducks nearly broke through to Omaha in 2023 and were two outs away from beating Oral Roberts at home last season before the Golden Eagles came back to win the series. Oregon gets another crack at it this season but faces a big challenge in College Station.
Here’s a look at the series schedule:
- Saturday, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
- Sunday, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
- Monday, TBD (if necessary)
Oregon
Coach: Mark Wasikowski
Postseason history: Third super regional (second straight). Seeking second trip to the College World Series and first since 1954.
Postseason route: No. 3 seed in Santa Barbara. Went 3-0, defeating UC Santa Barbara in regional final.
Scouting report (anonymous coach breaks down the Ducks):
“They’re well coached, they’re going to be prepared. They’re going to be ready for anything, whatever comes their way as far as what A&M’s got. The pitching for them has been pretty good. They’re doing a good job navigating the pitching. The offense is momentum based. If you get the leadoff man out, you can keep their offense at bay. It’s an offense that relies on getting the leadoff man on. There’s always the threat with Jacob Walsh with the home run and Bryce Boettcher is kind of unique.
“When you go to postseason setting and the pitching starts clicking, that’s when everything comes together and the offense relaxes. I like their defense.
“They have a lot of experience on the mound. That’s something that you see. The defense behind them makes pitching easier. And it’s a momentum thing. Anytime your starting pitching gets going, it elevates your relievers. The starters set the tone for them. More often than not, if he’s giving five or six or six-plus innings, the bullpen feeds off that.
“Their offense does a good job of trying to take advantage of your weakness. If you don’t hold runners, they’ll run. If you don’t throw enough strikes, they’ll walk. It’s an unpredictable offense at times. When they get momentum, they’re going they try to step on your throat. They don’t back down, especially if they have a lead. Then they try to open the floodgates. It’s the tale of two different offenses, sometimes it’s pretty controlled and they wait to see what you’ll give them. The other is if they have momentum, they’ll try to get the game open as big as possible. They’re tough to game plan for.
“This is their first time on the road for a super. It’s a matter of which team can calm down first, which team is going to play carefree. It’s a real factor. I’ve been a part of super regionals where the crowd and the heat are a factor, and I’ve been through some where you’re more experienced and it doesn’t faze the team at all. You never know until you get there. It’s about being able to relax in that setting and play their game. That’s one series I’m most excited to watch to see how those guys go about it.
“I would want them to remember [last year’s ending], just remember the feeling you had. I’d say, ‘It’s not about trying to avoid [the feeling], but are we locked in every at-bat, every pitch? Are we locked in on defense? Are we playing and trusting our prep or are we playing up tight? If you play uptight, you’re going to have that same feeling again. Remember that feeling? You don’t want that feeling, and the way you do that is play loose.’ You’ve got to bring it up a little bit because it is a part of the reality. But how you do it could be the key to having them in the right mindset.”
Projected Lineup
C: Bennett Thompson
1B: Jacob Walsh
2B: Drew Smith
3B: Carter Garate
SS: Maddox Molony
LF: Justin Cassella
CF: Bryce Boettcher
RF: Mason Neville
DH: Chase Meggers
SP: RJ Gordon
SP: Grayson Grinsell
SP: Kevin Seitter
RP: Ryan Featherston
RP: Logan Mercado
Texas A&M
Coach: Jim Schlossnagle
Postseason history: 10th super regional (first since 2022). Seeking eighth trip to the College World Series and first since 2022.
Postseason route: No. 1 seed in College Station. Went 3-0, defeating Louisiana in regional final.
Scouting report (anonymous coach breaks down the Aggies):
“It’s a balanced and complete team. They have a solid defense. They have quality arms and balance on the mound, a number of good lefthanders and they can match up into the bullpen, they’ve got righthanders with stuff and different looks. Offensively, they have three future big leaguers at the top of the lineup. The lineup has length. The guys at the bottom know who they are, what they’re trying to do. The first three are really good, three big leaguers. Jackson Appel has a good approach, good feel to hit, he’s tough out. He’s in a perfect spot behind them. I always thought after playing Arkansas and A&M and everyone else in our league, I always thought A&M was the better club just because of the balance they have.
“There’s some swing and miss in there in Gavin Grahovac and Jace LaViolette. You have to be careful though, if you make a mistake, they can hurt you and hurt you bad quick. They’re talented, physical, they have a patient approach at the plate, they work counts and they get deep into counts. Braden Montgomery to me in the three hole is a pretty complete hitter. You look at the splits and see he hasn’t had quite as good a year righthanded as lefthanded, but he’s still pretty stinking good. The fact they go right, left, switch at the top of the lineup? It’s tough. They all have tough approaches, and they don’t give away at-bats.
“[Their offensive approach is] especially tough if you’re a guy that shows a little sketchy command. What they do, it’s not just an absolute take approach. They’re comfortable getting deep in the count. After they see a pattern, especially after the second time through the order, they’ll get aggressive and they’ll swing. If you’re just cruising fastballs in there or flipping breaking balls in there, they’ll get after you. They’ll run a pitch count up on a starter. If they’re facing a quality No. 1, they’ll get his pitch count up and hope to get to the bullpen sooner than later. If they establish that you’re getting ahead early, they’ll cut it loose.
“They do a really good job offensively. They’re very strategic. They have a plan in the way they go about it, especially when it comes to the pitchers they’ll face. They have one of the lower swing rates in college baseball, but they have a lot of guys who hit a lot of homers, extra-base hits and so on.
“Ryan Prager, their No. 1, will match up with anybody. He’s a tough look. It’s a lefthanded carry heater pitch that works really well glove side, and he spins a breaking ball that gives everyone fits. He competes and throws a million strikes. Even when you say, he’s matching up with, Hagen Smith or Luke Holman or pick whoever, he can trade zeroes with anybody. He’s a really good arm. The guy who’s come on in the back half of the season in a starter role is Shane Sdao. It was 92-95 mph or something like that and lefthanded hitters had zero shot. It was a really good lefthanded slider. He competes, throws good strikes. It’s a good 1-2 punch.
“Evan Aschenbeck at the back of the bullpen can just really, really pitch. It’s a three-pitch mix and he makes pitches. Chris Cortez is the righthanded sinkerballer that’s 100 mph. Then it’s a lot of looks. They can match up with you. They’ve got guys with carry heaters, guys who can spin sweepers.
“[Blue Bell Park] plays offensive any time it’s warmer. When it’s warm, the ball jumps, especially to left field. You see lefthanded hitters hitting oppo homers there. It can be a very offensive park. But this of year and the weather’s warm, that’s just like a lot of ballparks in our league.
“I give them a lot of credit. They have a fanbase that’s been there for decades. The ‘Ball Five’ chant to an opposing pitcher can absolutely get in their head. They have a great fan base. They can move the needle when you get in there and start playing. I’ve seen that place absolutely dome some pitchers up.”
Projected Lineup
C: Jackson Appel
1B: Ted Burton
2B: Travis Chestnut
3B: Gavin Grahovac
SS: Ali Camarillo
LF: Caden Sorrell
CF: Jace LaViolette
RF: Braden Montgomery
DH: Hayden Schott
SP: Ryan Prager
SP: Shane Sdao
SP: Tanner Jones
RP: Evan Aschenbeck
RP: Chris Cortez
