College World Series Game 1 preview
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Texas A&M's run at the College World Series begins Saturday night as they take on the Florida Gators at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha (6 p.m., ESPN). Here's a look at both teams:
Florida (34-28)
How they got here:
Went 4-1 in the Stillwater Regional, beating Nebraska and Oklahoma State twice; swept No. 4 Clemson in the Clemson Super Regional
Projected lineup:
2B Cade Kurland; .251, 14 HR, 41 RBI, .824 OPS
1B Jac Caglianone; .411, 33 HR, 68 RBI, 1.392 OPS; first team All-SEC; All-American
RF Ashton Wilson; .327, 2 HR, 14 RBI, .988 OPS
SS Colby Shelton; .257, 20 HR, 55 RBI, .943 OPS
C Luke Heyman; .247, 16 HR, 49 RBI, .834 OPS
LF Tyler Shelnut; .264, 15 HR, 50 RBI, .892 OPS
3B Dale Thomas; .228, 3 HR, 20 RBI, .706 OPS
DH Brody Donay; .250, 12 HR, 27 RBI, .849 OPS
CF Michael Robertson; .255, 2 HR, 25 RBI, .689 OPS
Getting the start:
RHP Liam Peterson; 3-4, 5.97 ERA, 60.1 IP, 60 H, 36 BB, 72 K
In the bullpen:
RHP Brandon Neely; 3-4, 5.45 ERA, 4 saves, 71 IP, 67 H, 27 BB, 93 K
RHP Fisher Jameson; 5-0, 4.35 ERA, 3 saves, 60 IP, 56 H, 15 BB, 71 K
LHP Cade Fisher; 3-3, 7.24 ERA, 1 save, 54.2 IP, 63 H, 28 BB, 73 K
RHP Luke McNeillie; 4-6, 7.20 ERA, 35 IP, 33 H, 21 BB, 43 K
RHP Blake Purnell; no record, 7.78 ERA, 19.2 IP, 28 H, 6 BB, 21 K
Florida by the numbers:
Batting average: .272 (182nd nationally)
Home runs: 131 (5th nationally)
Runs: 436 (67th nationally)
Walks: 266 (120th nationally)
Scoring: 7 runs per game (126th nationally)
Shutouts: 2 (87th)
Strikeout to walk percentage: 2.26 (48th nationally)
Strikeouts per 9 innings: 10.6 (8th nationally)
Walks allowed per 9 innings: 4.69 (144th nationally)
ERA: 6.16 (158th nationally)
"Death, taxes, and Florida in Omaha," A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle said of the Aggies' opening opponent. "Those are three things you can pretty much count on."
The Gators were a questionable inclusion to the field of 64, but they've clearly shown themselves to be worthy of a spot. There is no subtlety to their game; they hit one fewer home run than the Aggies did this season and look to bash opponents into submission.
It starts with Caglianone, who hit a ridiculous .411 with 33 homers and an OPS of nearly 1.400 this year. The Aggies know what he's capable of, and their goal is to minimize the damage he can do by keeping the other guys off base.
"Just make sure there's nobody on base. That's the key, is to make sure there's nobody on base," Schlossnagle said. "You can only control so much, so just try to have him hit with nobody on."
Florida beat the Aggies two out of three in Gainesville at the start of SEC play, something Schlossnagle remembers ruefully.
"It was the other guys that beat us," he said. "I went into it thinking about Cags and Colby Shelton and those guys, and then it was Heyman and the other dudes, the right-handed hitters that were smoking the ball all over the field."
One thing the Aggies did do in Gainesville is bash Florida's starter, Liam Peterson. He lasted just 2 innings and threw 35 pitches, but gave up 6 runs on 5 hits -- including 3 homers.
No. 3 Texas A&M (49-13)
How they got here:
Swept Grambling, Texas and Louisiana in the Bryan-College Station Regional; swept Oregon in the Bryan-College Station Regional
Projected lineup:
C Jackson Appel; .330, 10 HR, 40 RBI, .971 OPS; First team All-SEC, All-American
RF Jace LaViolette; .314, 28 HR, 77 RBI, 1.210 OPS; first team All-SEC, All-American
3B Gavin Grahovac; .306, 22 HR, 63 RBI, 1.019 OPS; SEC Freshman of the Year
DH Hayden Schott; .331, 8 HR, 59 RBI, .922 OPS
1B Ted Burton; .295, 9 HR, 43 RBI, .965 OPS
SS Ali Camarillo; .297, 7 HR, 35 RBI, .831 OPS
LF Caden Sorrell; .264, 10 HR, 36 RBI, .923 OPS
2B Kaeden Kent; .302, 3 HR, 21 RBI, .873 OPS
CF Travis Chestnut; .272, 3 HR, 12 RBI, .903 OPS
Getting the start:
LHP Justin Lamkin; 2-2, 5.73 ERA, 55 IP, 55 H, 19 BB, 71 K
In the bullpen:
LHP Evan Aschenbeck; 6-1, 1.66 ERA, 9 saves; first team All-SEC, All-American, Stopper of the Year
RHP Chris Cortez; 9-3, 2.83 ERA, 57.1 IP, 37 H, 29 BB, 89 K
RHP Brad Rudis; 6-0, 2.29 ERA, 35.1 IP, 34 H, 12 BB, 35 K
RHP Brock Peery; 2-1, 3.60 ERA, 20 IP, 6 H, 17 BB, 22 K
RHP Zane Badmaev; 3-0, 2.70 ERA, 23.1 IP, 16 H, 5 BB, 27 K
LHP Kaiden Wilson; 0-1, 8.31 ERA, 8.2 IP, 14 H, 6 BB, 13 K
A&M by the numbers:
Batting average: .300 (47th nationally)
Home runs: 132 (4th nationally)
Runs: 546 (7th nationally)
Walks: 396 (1st nationally)
Scoring: 8.8 runs per game (13th nationally)
Shutouts: 11 (1st)
Strikeout to walk percentage: 3.25 (4th nationally)
Strikeouts per 9 innings: 10.7 (8th nationally)
Walks allowed per 9 innings: 3.31 (12th nationally)
ERA: 3.94 (6th nationally)
Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan made it pretty clear how much impact he thought Florida's series win over A&M in March would have in the College World Series: zilch.
"That series is so long ago. It has no bearing on Saturday night," he said.
The Aggies hit 132 home runs this past season, the most in program history and making them one of the few teams to hit more homers than the Gators. But A&M did it with a lineup that hit 28 points higher and drove in 110 more runs.
"They've got an outstanding lineup, and it's split right left, right left all the way down. They have a switch hitter (Jackson Appel)," O'Sullivan said. "In my opinion -- I said this when we played him, (Appel) is one of those unsung heroes. It's easy to -- they have a third baseman (Grahovac), LaViolette, and Montgomery, and a bunch of those guys. But Appel for me, he was one of the most difficult outs in their lineup."
Lamkin started one of the games in Gainesville against the Gators and had more success than Peterson, giving up 2 runs in 4 2/3 innings while striking out 5. Power arm Chris Cortez is likely to follow Lamkin Saturday night.
"They pitch really good. They have plenty of left-handed arms that really spin the ball, and they get to the back foot of the right-handed hitters," O'Sullivan said. "Cortez now is one of the hottest pitchers in the country. They have a closer they really like that is extremely dependable. I mean, yeah, they're well-rounded."