Homer-happy Aggies rattle Ragin' Cajuns to secure supers spot, 9-4

Game #60: #1 Texas A&M 9, #2 Louisiana 4
Records: Texas A&M (47-13, 19-11), Louisiana (42-20, 23-7)
WP: Shane Sdao (5-1)
LP: David Christie (2-2)
Box Score

A night ago, Jim Schlossnagle evoked taxation.

On Sunday, his Texas A&M offense taxed an already-spent Louisiana pitching staff at a record-breaking clip en route to a 9-4 victory to clinch the Bryan-College Station Regional title.

Along with sweeping the regional, the No. 3 national seed Aggies set a program record for round-trippers in a year by launching five into the Aggieland night.

The new highwater mark sits at 130... and counting.

"We had a hitters' meeting before BP today," Schlossnagle said. "I thought our guys executed the plan awesome. I'm really, really proud of our hitters tonight. Excited to win the regional and move on."

Whatever the message was, clearly, it was well-received.

Caden Sorrell reached double digits in the fourth on a solo shot that put A&M ahead for good.

A few batters later, regional MVP Braden Montgomery's 27th plated three.

He finished the weekend 6-for-15 with five RBIs.

"It's super cool," Montgomery said of the home run record. "I was glad to just see, like what (Schlossnagle) was saying, our guys bounce back from playing a little bit out of who we are as hitters.

"It was good to see us bounce back and get back to executing the plan that we do, which is swing at strikes, take balls. I thought we did a great job. It was awesome."

In the fifth, Hayden Schott smashed a schneid-ending leadoff blast off the batter's eye.

In the seventh, Ali Camarillo put the 2024 club ahead of the 1999 squad with an opposite-field bomb.

Gavin Grahovac's two-run long ball rounded out the scoring to build an insurmountable 9-1 advantage.

His 22nd surpassed Jace LaViolette's 21 from last season to set the A&M rookie record.

"Excited to see Jace feel good about it for Gavin," Schlossnagle said. "These guys truly love each other. What Jace did last year was incredible. What Gavin did this year is also incredible, but it's also helped by the fact that the guys hit behind him."

In fact, A&M's lone manufactured run of the night came in the third via Montgomery's two-out single scored Travis Chestnut.

The offensive outburst alleviated some of Saturday’s consternation.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

With Sunday’s win, Texas A&M now improves to 81-52 all-time in regional play.

"You saw it in Braden's body language and Schott's body language when those guys got those homers," Schlossnagle said. "These guys care. They really care about each other.

"There was a lot of frustration that came off those guys, and hopefully, we can really build on that this week leading into the super regional."

Perhaps relieving the stress of Saturday’s rivalry showdown allowed the Aggies to revert back to their dominant ways.

And dominate they did.

Starter David Christie and reliever Carson Fluno both allowed three runs as head coach Matt Deggs required eight arms to get through the Cajuns' second game of the day.

Conversely, Shane Sdao and Chris Cortez dazzled.

"It means a lot, especially when I can give some innings to the team and have some rest in the bullpen and not have to use everybody," the left-hander said. "Every time I go out there, I try to give as much as I can."

The former allowed one run on six hits across 5.1 innings.

The latter tossed 2.2 scoreless, hitless innings.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

Finishing 2-for-6 with four RBIs, Braden Montgomery recorded his team-leading 25th multi-hit performance on Sunday.

Both Sdao and Cortez each racked up a half-dozen punchouts.

"Man, goodness gracious, the Cortez kid," the Louisiana head man said. "That was big-league stuff.

"I would assume I'd be seeing him on TV in a little bit here in the next year."

In the first 28 innings of the regional, the Aggie staff allowed just three total runs.

By the time Louisiana plated three in a sloppy ninth, there was no doubt that Oregon would be coming to Blue Bell Park.

Now 8-0 at home in the NCAA Tournament under Schlossnagle's leadership, the Ags aim to keep this streak alive with a Duck hunt next week.

A certain Stanford transfer will be looking forward to it.

"I've actually not been a part of a team that has been able to beat Oregon in a series," Montgomery said. "I'm excited to get a third chance at that.

"It'll be awesome to face the West Coast again, and we'll see what they have for us, but I always like our odds."

A successful weekend would clinch his third trip to Omaha.