Blue Bell regional sees Ags welcome Louisiana, Texas & Grambling State
What: Bryan-College Station Regional
Who: #1 Texas A&M, #2 Louisiana, #3 Texas, #4 Grambling State
Where: Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park – Bryan-College Station, Texas
When:
- Friday: 12 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. CT (ESPN+ & ESPNU)
- Saturday: 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. CT (TV TBD)
- Sunday: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. CT (TV TBD)
- Monday (if necessary): TBD (TV TBD)
The Texas Aggie baseball team begins postseason play on Friday at 12:00 p.m. in the NCAA Regionals against SWAC tournament champion Grambling State. The Tigers enter NCAA Regional action with a 26-26 record after winning the SWAC automatic NCAA bid last week. The Tigers are coming to College Station on a high but running on fumes after playing six games in five days. The No. 2 seed Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns and former Texas A&M assistant coach Matt Deggs will battle with the No. 3 seed Texas Longhorns in Friday’s nightcap at 5:00 p.m.
The two losers from Friday will play Saturday at 2:00 p.m., while the two winners will face off at 8 p.m. The winner of the night contest moves to the regional championship game Sunday evening at 7:00 p.m. game, while the remaining one-loss teams play an elimination game Sunday at 2:00 p.m. to determine who advances to the championship game. The winner of the elimination game will then need to beat the undefeated 2-0 team twice to win the regional. If that team wins the first championship game Sunday evening, the two teams will play again on Monday at a time to be announced at a later date in a winner-take-all finale.
Major Regional Storylines
While No. 4 seed Grambling State went on a run to win the SWAC tournament title, the other three participants in the Bryan/College Station Regional are coming to town on a losing streak. Texas A&M, Texas and Louisiana all went “two-and-barbeque” in their respective conference tournaments. On one hand, nobody is riding into the NCAA Tournament on a wave of momentum. On the other hand, the three teams likely to win this regional are all rested and ready to go this weekend. So, who knows how that will affect the outcome of the regional? What we do know is that Texas A&M has the most productive offense, the most efficient pitching staff and the best team defense.
The Aggies are the best team on paper, but postseason games aren’t won on paper. A&M thrives on the long ball offensively, and the pitching staff walks fewer batters than the other three teams by a wide margin. Louisiana has a solid group of three starting pitchers and the deepest pitching staff of any squad in the Bryan-College Station Regional but lacks dynamic run producers at the plate outside of Kyle DeBarge. Texas’ big bats can match Texas A&M’s big bashers, but the Longhorns have struggled all season with quality starting pitching.
The Aggies are the prohibitive favorite to advance to the super regional round, but this will be a very competitive regional. Matt Deggs has molded the Ragin’ Cajun baseball program into a perennial NCAA Tournament participant and one of the top teams in the south. Louisiana is a dangerous team. While Texas has struggled on the mound this season, this is a program under David Pierce that has been to the College World Series in two of the last three seasons. With their offense, if the Longhorns can get a couple of quality starts on the mound, they will pose a legitimate threat to win the regional.
Here’s a summary breakdown of all four teams in the Bryan/College Station Regional:
#1 Texas A&M Aggies
- RPI: 2
- Record: 44-13 (19-11 SEC)
- Team Average: .302
- Team ERA: 3.97
- Fielding percentage: .978
- Offense: 8.77 runs/game
- Defense: 4.33 runs/game
Top Pitchers
- Ryan Prager (8-1, 2.51 ERA, 106 K’s)
- Evan Aschenbeck (5-1, 1.78 ERA, 7 saves)
- Shane Sdao (4-1, 2.72 ERA, .98 WHIP)
Top Hitters
- Braden Montgomery (.317 avg, 26 HRs, 80 RBI)
- Jace LaViolette (.321 avg, 28 HRs, 73 RBI)
- Gavin Grahovac (.319 avg, 21 HRs, 61 RBI)
#2 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
- RPI: 38
- Record: 40-18 (23-7 Sun Belt)
- Team Average: .299
- Team ERA: 4.32
- Fielding percentage: .972
- Offense: 7.0 runs/game
- Defense: 4.84 runs/game
Top Pitchers
- Andrew Herrmann (5-3, 2.90, 12 starts)
- Carson Fluno (4-0, 2.94 ERA, .186 opp. batting average)
- Chase Morgan (4-3, 3.29 ERA, 12 starts)
Top Hitters
- Kyle DeBarge (.361 avg, 21 HRs, 67 RBI)
- Trey LaFleur (.361 avg. 11 HRs, 39 RBI)
#3 Texas Longhorns
- RPI: 47
- Record: 35-22 (20-10 Big 12)
- Team Average: .290
- Team ERA: 4.87
- Fielding percentage: .973
- Offense: 7.23 runs/game
- Defense: 5.42 runs/game
Top Pitchers
- Gage Boehm (5-3, 2.74 ERA, 8 saves)
- Max Grubbs (5-4, 3.41 ERA, 11 starts)
Top Hitters
- Jared Thomas (.355 avg, 15 HRs, 45 RBI)
- Max Belyeu (.349 avg, 18 HRs, 53 RBI)
- Jalin Flores (.345 avg, 17 HRs, 52 RBI)
#4 Grambling State Tigers
- RPI: 235
- Record: 26-26 (18-8 SWAC)
- Team Average: .313
- Team ERA: 8.30
- Fielding percentage: .965
- Offense: 8.38 runs/game
- Defense: 8.17 runs/game
Top Pitchers
- Mason Martinez (12-2, 4.33 ERA, 5 complete games)
Top Hitters
- Kyle Walker (.394 avg, 11 HRs, 41 RBI, 70 runs)
- Cameron Bufford (.349 avg, 9 HRs, 56 RBI)
- Julian Murphy (.345 avg, .503 slug %)
Statistical Comparisons – Bryan/College Station Regional
RPI
- 1. Texas A&M - 2
- 2. Louisiana - 38
- 3. Texas - 47
- 4. Grambling State - 235
Team Batting Average
- 1. Grambling State - .313
- 2. Texas A&M - .302
- 3. Louisiana - .299
- 4. Texas - .290
Slugging Percentage
- 1. Texas A&M - .567
- 2. Texas - .531
- 3. Louisiana - .493
- 4. Gambling State - .470
Home Runs
- 1. Texas A&M - 124
- 2. Texas - 109
- 3. Louisiana - 75
- 4. Grambling State - 48
Team ERA
- 1. Texas A&M - 3.97
- 2. Louisiana - 4.15
- 3. Texas - 4.87
- 4. Grambling State - 8.30
Walks Allowed
- 1. Texas A&M - 178
- 2. Texas - 242
- 3. Louisiana - 245
- 4. Grambling State - 320
Fielding
- 1. Texas A&M - .978
- 2. Texas - .973
- 3. Louisiana - .972
- 4. Grambling State - .965
