Not only are the Aggies off to a 2-0 start in Omaha, but they’re in great shape as they look to Wednesday’s game against the winner of today’s game between Florida and Kentucky. Having Chris Cortez and Evan Aschenbeck fresh gives the Aggies an advantage no other team on their side of the bracket will have. Their established pitching, on the other hand, will be pretty much shot by tomorrow night.

Ryan Prager’s game last night was an absolute masterpiece. He knew that he had the advantage of the wind blowing in, and he came right after Kentucky’s hitters. Like coach Jim Schlossnagle said, he was throwing so many strikes that the Wildcats got jumpy and started swinging earlier in the count.

Josh Stewart’s performance last night shouldn’t be overlooked either. 1 run in 2 ⅓ innings in last night’s situation works just fine, thanks. I think Schlossnagle was hoping he’d get the pinch-hitter (he did, on 3 pitches) and maybe work an inning. To save the rest of the bullpen is a huge bonus.

A&M has not made a decision on who will start tomorrow. It’ll either be Justin Lamkin again or possibly Tanner Jones. This is purely a guess, but if it’s Kentucky, A&M will start Lamkin. If it’s Florida, they’ll start Jones, just to give them a different look

Schloss didn’t give an update on Jace LaViolette’s situation today, so we’ll have to see tomorrow what the deal is. But, considering what he did say today, they’re getting Hayden Schott ready to play in the field tomorrow.

The MVP of A&M’s stay in Omaha to this point is pretty clear, to me: catcher Jackson Appel. He not only had two hits last night, including a big double that really kicked the big sixth inning into high gear, but he’s been outstanding on defense. His gunning down a Kentucky hitter to end the second after he placed a nearly perfect bunt was the play of the game. That killed Kentucky’s best rally against Prager and clearly deflated them. His defense behind the plate has been superb. A&M probably isn’t 2-0 without him.

The guys who have been carrying this team for the past few weeks have been Appel, first baseman Ted Burton and Schott. All three are seniors who transferred in for this season. While it certainly helps to have that level of experience, the speed at which they adjusted to the A&M culture is remarkable.

The elimination game between Kentucky and Florida has already been postponed until tomorrow morning due to severe weather that’s expected to move through Omaha here in the next few hours. That’s an unquestioned plus for A&M, since Kentucky and Florida’s pitching staffs, which will be worn down anyway, will be even worse off.

When we talk about good hires, I don’t think Schloss gets enough credit. Ross Bjork may have done some incredibly foolish things late in his tenure (Stoops), but his hires for baseball and softball were outstanding. The Aggies had never made it to the final four in Omaha before Scholossnagle got here; since then, they’ve done it twice in three years.

In what would be a pleasant turn of events, I’m hearing Schott may return next season. He has the ability to do that, since the Ivy League was screwed out of two seasons due to Covid. He wants to prove he can hit with more power when he’s got both legs under him, and that would be a tremendous boost to the lineup. The Aggies would have LaViolette, Schott, Caden Sorrell, Gavin Grahovac, Penn transfer Wyatt Henseler (Ivy League Player of the Year; .371, 19 HR, 47 RBI, 1.265 OPS) and Fairfield slugger Matt Bergevin (.287, 18 HR, 45 RBI, 1.039 OPS) in the lineup. That is flat out nasty.