College Station Regional preview

Friday's opening game (noon, ESPN+) will feature the top-seeded Aggies against four-seed Grambling. Here's how both teams shake out:

Projected lineup

1) 3B Gavin Grahovac; .319, 21 HR, 61 RBI, 1.061 OPS

2) CF Jace LaViolette; .321, 28 HR, 73 RBI, 1.246 OPS

3) RF Braden Montgomery; .317, 26 HR, 80 RBI, 1.193 OPS

4) C Jackson Appel; .330, 10 HR, 38 RBI, .977 OPS

5) 1B Ted Burton; .287, 9 HR, 38 RBI, .961 OPS

6) DH Hayden Schott; .323, 6 HR, 51 RBI, .893 OPS'

7) SS Ali Camarillo; .298, 6 HR, 31 RBI, 833 OPS

8) LF Caden Sorrell; .286, 8 HR, 33 RBI, .957 OPS

9) 2B Travis Chestnut; .288, 3 HR, 12 RBI, .942 OPS

Friday stater: RHP Tanner Jones; 3-1, 6.70 ERA, 43 IP, 17 BB, 42 K

Other likely starters:

LHP Ryan Prager; 8-1, 2.51 ERA, 79 IP, 15 BB, 109 K

LHP Shane Sdao; 4-1, 2.72 ERA, 43 IP, 9 BB, 49 K

LHP Justin Lamkin; 2-2, 5.43 ERA, 54.2 IP, 18 BB, 71 K

In the bullpen:

LHP Evan Aschenbeck; 5-1, 1.78 ERA, 7 saves, 55.2 IP, 7 BB, 64 K

RHP Chris Cortez; 8-3, 3.31 ERA, 49 IP, 25 BB, 73 K

RHP Zane Badmaev; 2-0, 2.82 ERA, 22.1 IP, 5 BB, 27 K

RHP Brad Rudis; 5-0, 1.67 ERA, 32.1 IP, 10 BB, 32 K

RHP Brock Peery; 2-1, 3.60 ERA, 20 IP, 15 BB, 22 K

RHP Josh Stewart; 1-2, 4.76 ERA, 22.2 IP, 5 BB, 27 K

A&M by the numbers

Batting average: .302 (43rd nationally)

Home runs: 124 (5th nationally)

Runs: 500 (13th nationally)

Walks: 355 (8th nationally)

Scoring: 8.8 runs per game (16th nationally)

Shutouts: 10 (1st)

Strikeout to walk percentage: 3.31 (4th nationally)

Strikeouts per 9 innings: 10.8 (9th nationally)

Walks allowed per 9 innings: 3.26 (11th nationally)

ERA: 3.97 (7th nationally)

There’s not much subtlety to the 2024 Aggies; they’re looking to bash you into submission. No other team in college baseball has a top three in its lineup like A&M has, and they like to jump on you early. Honestly, there are few teams that are as good offensively top to bottom as A&M is when they’re on.

The pitching staff isn't shabby, either, though it's been up and down behind Prager and Aschenbeck. Prager, who will likely get the ball tomorrow, has been as consistent and ace as there is in college baseball. Aschenbeck can work multiple innings behind him. Cortez, while inconsistent, may have the most overpowering fastball-slider mix in college baseball when he's on.

Jones will likely go as long as he can and then hand it over to the bullpen, while Prager and Aschenbeck are saved for the winner of the Texas-Louisiana game.

Projected lineup

1) LF Tiger Borom; .337, 4 HR, 45 RBI, .992 OPS

2) 2B Kyle Walker; .394, 11 HR, 41 RBI, 1.143 OPS

3) 3B Cameron Bufford; .349, 9 HR, 56 RBI, 1.016 OPS

4) DH Julian Murphy; .345, 4 HR, 42 RBI, .933 OPS

5) 1B Ashton Inman; .330, 5 HR, 49 RBI, .879 OPS

6) RF Trevor Hatton; .283, 4 HR, 35 RBI, .875 OPS

7) SS Jose Vargas; .316, 0 HR, 22 RBI, .773 OPS

8) C Chris Marcellus; .212, 2 HR, 20 RBI, 668 OPS

9) CF Martavius Thomas; .280, 3 HR, 18 RBI, .887 OPS

Friday starter: RHP Mason Martinez; 12-2, 4.33 ERA, 112.1 IP, 35 BB, 85 K

Other likely starters:

RHP Phillip Bryant; 5-3, 8.74 ERA, 57.2 IP, 50 BB, 43 K

RHP Carlos Peguero; 1-9, 12.27 ERA, 40.1 IP, 44 BB, 27 K

In the bullpen:

RHP Brett Washington; 0-0, 8.80 ERA, 30.2 IP, 20 BB, 12 K

RHP Miguel Baez; 0-1, 9.97 ERA, 1 save, 37 IP, 30 BB, 22 K

RHP Charles Jackson; 1-3, 12.13 ERA, 1 save, 29.2 IP, 43 BB, 32 K

RHP Javier Martinez; 4-1, 5.05 ERA, 2 saves, 35.2 IP, 14 BB, 35 K

Grambling by the numbers

Batting average: .312 (17th nationally)

Home runs: 48 (196th nationally)

Runs: 436 (58th nationally)

Walks: 273 (95th nationally)

Scoring: 8.4 runs per game (29th nationally)

Shutouts: 3 (51st)

Strikeout to walk percentage: 1.02 (285th nationally)

Strikeouts per 9 innings: 6.9 (262nd nationally)

Walks allowed per 9 innings: 6.76 (281st nationally)

ERA: 8.30 (274th nationally)

Grambling can hit, but their pitching staff is atrocious. Their team ERA is 8.30 and only two pitchers have ERAs under 5 — and one of them hasn’t pitched since March 29 due to injuries. They’re 274th out of 295 teams in ERA, and 285 in strikeout to walk ratio. They’re 281st in walks per 9 innings. The Tigers are going to have to hit, work their way base to base, and get help (walks or errors) to beat the Aggies.

The second game of the day pits second seed Louisiana against third-seeded Texas. Here's a look at those two teams:

Projected lineup

1) 1B Trey LaFleur; .361, 11 HR, 39 RBI, 1.104 OPS

2) LF Conor Higgs; .269, 11 HR, 29 RBI, .942 OPS

3) SS Kyle DeBarge; .361, 21 HR, 67 RBI, 1.152 OPS

4) 2B John Taylor; .300, 9 HR, 37 RBI, .909 OPS

5) DH Duncan Pastore; .321, 4 HR, 35 RBI, .829 OPS

6) CF Caleb Stelly; .290, 1 HR, 31 RBI, .781 OPS

7) C Jose Torres; .306, 2 HR, 31 RBI, .758 OPS

8) 3B Lee Amedee; .273, 3 HR, 31 RBI, .775 OPS

9) RF Luke Yuhasz; .300, 6 HR, 20 RBI, .933

Friday starter: RHP Carson Fluno; 4-0, 2.94 ERA, 52 IP, 35 H, 20 R, 17 ER, 19 BB, 47 K

Other starters:

LHP Andrew Herrman; 5-3, 2.90 ERA, 62 IP, 24 BB, 58 K

LHP Chase Morgan; 4-3, 3.29 ERA, 68.1 IP, 18 BB, 66 K

In the bullpen:

RHP David Christie; 2-1, 3.71 ERA, 4 saves, 51 IP, 21 BB 47 K

RHP LP Langevin; 6-1, 3.75 ERA, 60 IP, 32 BB, 100 K

RHP Matthew Holtzhammer; 3-1, 4.97 ERA, 4 saves, 25.1 IP, 13 BB, 28 K

RHP Jack Martinez; 4-3, 4.71 ERA, 2 saves, 42 IP, 27 BB, 45 K

RHP JT Etheridge; 3-2, 4.94 ERA, 1 save, 31 IP, 18 BB, 49 K

Louisiana by the numbers:

Batting average: .299 (53rd nationally)

Home runs: 75 (89th nationally)

Runs: 406 (102nd nationally)

Walks: 198 (283rd nationally)

Scoring: 7 runs per game (128th nationally)

Shutouts: 7 (2nd nationally)

Strikeout to walk percentage: 2.3 (45th nationally)

Strikeouts per 9 innings: 10.1 (25th nationally)

Walks allowed per 9 innings: 4.38 (101st nationally)

ERA: 4.32 (18th nationally)

Louisiana has some solid bats in its order, but it’s only middling overall when it comes to average and power as a team. They don’t walk at all; they’re 263rd nationally. They’re up there to hack, and LaFleur and DeBarge can do it with the best of them.

Former A&M coach Matt Deggs has a team that is built around its pitching staff. The Ragin’ Cajuns were second in the nation (to the Aggies) with seven shutouts and are 18th in the nation in team ERA. Fluno is their ace, and he’ll go tonight. But should A&M advance, they’ll see some good arms as well. Louisiana has several relievers who can throw multiple innings and Langevin is a guy they can turn to when they need a quick strikeout. He throws in the 92-94 mph range, but has movement on his fastball and a four pitch mix that can leave hitters guessing.

Projected lineup

1) 1B Jared Thomas; .355, 15 HR, 45 RBI, 1.089 OPS

2) SS Jalin Flores; .345, 17 HR, 52 RBI, 1.070 OPS

3) 3B Peyton Powell; .330, 9 HR, 44 RBI, .928 OPS

4) RF Max Belyeu; .349, 18 HR, 53 RBI, 1.159 OPS

5) DH Kimble Schuessler; .327, 9 HR, 29 RBI, .975 OPS

6) LF Porter Brown; .213, 8 HR, 24 RBI, .750 OPS

7) C Rylan Galvan; .285, 8 HR, 34 RBI, .885 OPS

8) CF Will Gasparino; .245, 12 HR, 44 RBI, .792 OPS

9) 2B Jack O’Dowd; .211, 5 HR, 19 RBI, .683 OPS

Friday starter: RHP Max Grubbs; 5-4, 3.41 ERA, 68.2 IP 15 BB, 46 K

Other starters:

RHP Lebarron Johnson Jr.; 3-4, 5.88 ERA, 67.1 IP, 41 BB, 76 K

LHP Ace Whitehead; 4-1, 4.33 ERA, 60.1 IP, 23 BB, 42 K

In the bullpen:

RHP Gage Boehm; 5-3, 2.74 ERA, 8 saves, 49.1 IP, 14 BB, 55 K

RHP Andre Duplantier II; 2-1, 2.95 ERA, 3 saves, 39.2 IP, 15 BB, 48 K

RHP Easton Tumis; 3-1, 4.88 ERA, 27.2 IP, 14 BB, 27 K

LHP David Shaw; 1-1, 7.79 ERA, 17.1 IP, 14 BB, 23 K

Texas by the numbers

Batting average: .290 (93rd nationally)

Home runs: 109 (17th nationally)

Runs: 412 (93rd nationally)

Walks: 232 (189th nationally)

Scoring: 7.2 runs per game (104th nationally)

Shutouts: 5 (11th nationally)

Strikeout to walk percentage: 1.92 (107th nationally)

Strikeouts per 9 innings: 8.2 (150th nationally)

Walks allowed per 9 innings: 4.29 (87th nationally)

ERA: 4.87 (47th nationally)

Texas has been consistently inconsistent all season. They started off ranked in the top 10, began poorly (including getting hammered 9-2 at home by A&M March 5), then found their traction in winning nine of 10 conference series. And then completely flopped in the Big 12 Tournament, going two and barbecue.

The top five in their order, while not as strong as A&M’s, is very good. Their pitching staff combined to throw five shutouts this season, but they tend to rely on the same bunch of guys to get them through a game. Grubbs is the ace and he’ll get the ball against Louisiana.

Texas has talent, but what team you’re going to get is anyone’s guess. And that’s why they’re a 3 seed.