CWS Finals Preview: Tennessee and Texas A&M battle for national title
OMAHA, Neb. – Tennessee and Texas A&M are both seeking the first national championship in program history this weekend when the College World Series Finals commences from Charles Schwab Field.
The No. 1 overall seeded Volunteers (58-12) won ‘Bracket 1’ with a pair of wins over Florida State sandwiched around a triumph of North Carolina. The Aggies (52-13) were the No. 3 overall national seed and won ‘Bracket 2’ with a pair of victories over Florida and a win over Kentucky. Both teams are 3-0 thus far in Omaha.
Game 1 is set for Saturday at 7:30 pm eastern time on ESPN. Sunday afternoon’s Game 2 will be played at 2 o’clock eastern time on ABC, while Sunday evening’s ‘if necessary’ contest will be held at 7 o’clock on ESPN.
The two teams squared off back in the Southeastern Conference Tournament as Tennessee won the battle 7-4 to advance on in Hoover. UT’s Chris Stamos and AJ Causey combined to pitch 7.1 innings of three-run baseball in the victory.
TEXAS A&M SEASON STATSTENNESSEE SEASON STATS
Pitching Staff Comparisons (National Rankings)
Texas A&M
ERA: 3.86 (4th)WHIP: 1.25 (4th)K/BB: 3.28 (4th)H/9 inn: 7.87 (10th)K/9 inn: 10.8 (7th)BB/9 inn: 3.31 (12th)
Tennessee
ERA: 3.90 (6th)WHIP: 1.24 (3rd)K/BB: 3.29 (3rd)H/9 inn: 8.09 (16th)K/9 inn: 10.0 (23rd)BB/9 inn: 3.04 (5th)
Notable Arms
Texas A&M
LHP Ryan Prager: 9-1, 2.88 ERA, 18 APP, 18 GS, 93.2 IP, 118 SO, 20 BB, .216 OPPLHP Justin Lamkin: 3-2, 5.00 ERA, 18 APP, 15 GS, 63.0 IP, 86 SO, 20 BB, .245 OPPRHP Tanner Jones: 3-1, 6.33 ERA, 15 APP, 12 GS, 48.1 IP, 47 SO, 19 BB, .310 OPPLHP Evan Aschenbeck: 6-1, 1.54 ERA, 30 APP, 10 SV, 70.0 IP, 77 SO, 12 BB, .185 OPPRHP Chris Cortez: 10-3, 2.98 ERA, 24 APP, 3 GS, 60.1 IP, 95 SO, 32 BB, .192 OPPRHP Josh Stewart: 1-2, 4.33 ERA, 23 APP, 27 IP, 43 SO, 6 BB, .269 OPPLHP Shane Sdao: 5-1, 2.96 ERA, 20 APP, 5 GS, 48.2 IP, 55 SO, 9 BB, .235 OPPRHP Brad Rudis: 6-0, 2.29 ERA, 23 APP, 2 GS, 35.1 IP, 25 SO, 12 BB, .256 OPP
“We’ll have to go up against [Ryan] Prager. It will be the second time. And he’s given a lot of people fits, either a lot of strikes out of him, but also gets guys to chase out of the zone a little bit,” Tony Vitello said. “At this point in our league or the ACC, too, you’ve got about as much experience as you are going to have. He’s already thrown on the mound out there.
“It’s up to us to put our best foot forward or put ourselves forward and stay true to who we are. And he’ll be trying to do the same thing.”
Tennessee
LHP Chris Stamos: 3-0, 4.26 ERA, 21 APP, 10 GS, 31.2 IP, 35 SO, 16 BB, .198 OPPRHP AJ Causey: 13-3, 4.21 ERA, 18 APP, 6 GS, 87.2 IP, 120 SO, 21 BB, .254 OPPRHP Drew Beam: 9-2, 4.30 ERA, 18 GS, 98.1 IP, 92 SO, 25 BB, .260 OPPLHP Zander Sechrist: 5-1, 3.22 ERA, 19 APP, 18 GS, 72.2 IP, 69 SO, 15 BB, .251 OPPRHP Nate Snead: 10-2, 3.10 ERA, 27 APP, 1 GS, 5 SV, 72.2 IP, 60 SO, 25 BB, .253LHP Kirby Connell: 4-1, 3.78 ERA, 33 APP, 4 SV, 47.2 IP, 47 SO, 13 BB, .246 OPPRHP Aaron Combs: 2-1, 3.32 ERA, 22 APP, 2 GS, 5 SV, 40.2 IP, 58 SO, 21 BB, .192 OPP
College World Series Pitching Charts
Texas A&M
Saturday v. Florida (6/15)
LHP Justin Lamkin: 3 IP, 0R, 1H, 6SO, 0BB, 42 pitches
RHP Chris Cortez: 3 IP, 2R, 4H, 6SO, 1BB, 65 pitches
LHP Evan Aschenbeck: 3 IP, 0R, 3H, 4SO, 2BB, 51 pitches
Monday v. Kentucky (6/17)
LHP Ryan Prager: 6.2 IP, 0R, 2H, 4SO, 1BB, 95 pitches
RHP Josh Stewart: 2.1 IP, 1R, 2H, 3SO, 1BB, 37 pitches
Wednesday v. Florida (6/19)
LHP Justin Lampkin: 5 IP, 0R, 3H, 9SO, 1BB, 70 pitches
RHP Chris Cortez: 0.0 IP, 0R, 0H, 0SO, 2BB, 8 pitches
RHP Josh Stewart: 2 IP, 0R, 1H, 4SO, 0BB, 30 pitches
LHP Evan Aschenbeck: 2 IP, 0R, 0H, 1SO, 2BB, 29 pitches
Tennessee
Friday v. Florida State (6/14)
LHP Chris Stamos: 0.1 IP, 1R, 1H, 0SO, 1BB, 8 pitches
RHP AJ Causey: 1.2 IP, 5R, 5H, 3SO, 2BB, 45 pitches
LHP Kirby Connell: 1 IP, 1R, 1H, 2SO, 1BB, 17 pitches
RHP Aaron Combs: 3.1 IP, 4R, 4H, 4SO, 3BB, 60 pitches
LHP Andrew Behnke: 0.1 IP, 0R, 1H, 1SO, 7 pitches
RHP Nate Snead: 2.1 IP, 0R, 1H, 2SO, 2BB, 39 pitches
Sunday v. North Carolina (6/16)
RHP Drew Beam: 5 IP, 1R, 4H, 7SO, 2BB, 73 pitches
LHP Kirby Connell: 2 IP, 0R, 1H, 2SO, 0BB, 22 pitches
RHP Nate Snead: 2 IP, 0R, 0H, 0SO, 2BB, 27 pitches
Wednesday v. Florida State (6/19)
LHP Zander Sechrist: 6.1 IP, 2R, 5H, 3SO, 1BB, 76 pitches
LHP Kirby Connell: 1.2 IP, 0R, 1H, 1So, 0BB, 19 pitches
RHP Nate Snead: 1 IP, 0R, 1H, 1SO, 0BB, 27 pitches
Batting Lineup Comparisons (National Rankings)
Texas A&M
BA: .299 (49th)HR: 132 (5th)Runs: 554 (7th)Walks: 413 (1st)Doubles: 128 (T26th)Hits: 664 (13th)OBP: .418 (21st)SLG: .549 (11th)
Tennessee
BA: .311 (17th)HR: 177 (1st)Runs: 635 (1st)Walks: 377 (7th)Doubles: 155 (3rd)Hits: 732 (T3rd)OBP: .416 (23rd)SLG: .611 (2nd)
Notable Bats
Texas A&M
DH Hayden Schott: .333, 8 HR, 61 RBI, 43 R, 83 HRF Jace LaViolette: .306, 28 HR, 77 RBI, 85 R, 7 SBOF Braden Montgomery (INJ): .322, 27 HR, 85 RBI, 65 R, 76 HC Jackson Appel: .321, 10 HR, 40 RBI, 45 R, 72 H, 15 SB3B: Gavin Grahovac: .303, 22 HR, 64 RBI, 81 R
“You know, they have a lot of competitive at-bats. You mentioned a lot of walks, a lot of long at-bats,” reliever Kirby Connell answered to a reporter on Friday. “But I think our main thing is we’re going to do what we do. We’re going to throw strikes and pound the zone, like Coach A taught us. And we’re going to go out there and let our defense play behind us.”
Tennessee
2B Christian Moore: .385, 33 HR, 73 RBI, 81 R, 109 H1B Blake Burke: .382, 20 HR, 61 RBI, 104 H, 72 RLF Dylan Dreiling: .329, 20 HR, 60 RBI, 77 H, 68 HRF: Kavares Tears: .329, 20 HR, 61 RBI, 73 R, 76 H3B Billy Amick: .313, 23 HR, 65 RBI, 65 R, 76 HCF Hunter Ensley: .286, 11 HR, 46 RBI, 42 R, 58 HSS Dean Curley: .273, 12 HR, 48 RBI, 50 R, 57 HC Cal Stark: .213, 10 HR, 28 RBI
The post CWS Finals Preview: Tennessee and Texas A&M battle for national title appeared first on On3.
Welcome to Billionaire Club Co LLC, your gateway to a brand-new social media experience! Sign up today and dive into over 10,000 fresh daily articles and videos curated just for your enjoyment. Enjoy the ad free experience, unlimited content interactions, and get that coveted blue check verification—all for just $1 a month!
Account Frozen
Your account is frozen. You can still view content but cannot interact with it.
Please go to your settings to update your account status.
Open Profile Settings