College Baseball NCAA Tournament

’50 people in the stands,’ Evan Aschenbeck gushes about 12th Man after Longhorns win

“Coming from Blinn where I had 50 people in the stands to having who knows how many we had. It was the best atmosphere and best fan base.”

Going from a junior college to an SEC university like Texas A&M is a massive difference as senior left-handed pitcher Evan Aschenbeck learned on Saturday night during a 4-2 win in extra frames against Texas during the Bryan-College Station Regional.

“It was probably the best atmosphere that I’ve ever been in pitching wise. I mean, coming from Blinn where I had 50 people in the stands to having who knows how many we had. It was the best atmosphere and the best fan base that I’ve ever been a part of,” Aschenbeck said. “I know that they’re going to pack it again (Sunday) night with whoever who we play. I know it’s just a game at the end of the day, we just try to go out there, execute pitches and play to the standard and not the scoreboard. Just trying to be the best version of ourselves.

“I just try to be myself, it doesn’t matter what the outing is going to be like because you don’t really know what the next pitch holds. So you have to worry about where your feet are and where your mind is at that point, going pitch by pitch.”

Aschenbeck (6-1) earned the win in relief of sophomore LHP Ryan Prager. He pitched 4.2 scoreless innings without allowing a hit, recording 1 walk with 1 K on 62 pitches.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

‘We’re not owed anything,’ Texas A&M sophomore LHP Ryan Prager previews NCAA Regional

“Just like 2022 when we did it, we had a great atmosphere. It was an awesome experience and super fun. We still have to fight and go win it.”

Redshirt sophomore left-handed pitcher Ryan Prager was a member of the last Texas A&M baseball team to reach the College World Series and he remincised in those memories on Monday.

“First off, I think it’s super special to get to play here. Getting to play at home in front of our fans is staying in our normal routine. We’ve worked all year up until this point for it. Now we start a new season and it’s the fun time of the year. We’re just really excited for it.” Prager explained. “It’s always exciting getting to play at home because there’s a comfort level with it, you get to play in front of your fans, you know it will be packed for your games and the energy will be there.

“Just like 2022 when we did it, we had a great atmosphere, a great crowd. It was an awesome experience and super fun. We’re just really excited for this year and super proud that we’ve earned a right to do this. Now going forward though, we just have to play and we’re not owed anything because we play at home.

“We still have to fight and go win it.”

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

‘Good to see Texas,’ Aggies sophomore OF Jace LaViolette looks ahead to NCAA Regional

“That was a really cool experience right there. I didn’t know who to expect in our regional but it was good to see Texas in there,” he said.

The No. 3 Texas A&M baseball team earned the third overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, which is the highest in program history.

After the seeding was released, sophomore outfielder Jace LaViolette shared his reaction to the Aggies hosting the Bryan-College Station Regional this weekend at Blue Bell Park.

“That was a really cool experience right there. I didn’t know who to expect in our regional but it was good to see Texas in there. It’s going to be a fun regional, especially with the other two teams. It’s going to be hard but it’s going to be a lot of fun,” LaViolette recalled Monday. “It’s speaks to the season that we had. Everything starts over again so it’s awesome, we can kind of let it sink it now but after today it doesn’t really mean anything. We’ve got to keep playing the baseball that we play and that’s about it.

“The 12th Man is real, it’s an unbelievable place to play at. It’s going to be a lot of fun to playing in front of the 12th Man. Especially because this is going to be my first time playing in a regional in front of the 12th Man so I’m really excited and I’m excited for what the 12th Man is going to bring for us.”

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

‘Doesn’t get us a trophy,’ Schlossnagle reacts to Texas A&M hosting NCAA Regional

“It’s been an outstanding regular season,” Schlossnagle said Monday afternoon. “It’s a great accomplishment but it doesn’t get us a trophy.”

The No. 3 Texas A&M baseball team will host the Bryan-College Station Regional of the NCAA Tournament beginning this weekend at Blue Bell Park.

Before postseason play against Grambling, Louisiana and Texas begins, Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle spoke to the media and reacted to the seeding.

“Excited to get back home. It seems like we’ve been on the road for a while. I’m excited to play at home for a regional and get the 12th Man involved. Hopefully the rain will stay away and I’m sure it will be great baseball all weekend,” Schlossnagle said Monday. “It’s been an outstanding regular season. If you had told us before the season that this is where we were going to end up, I think everybody would’ve signed up for it.

“Three of the last four weeks haven’t been great. But like I said earlier, they call it a season for a reason and that’s because we’ve earned the right to get to play at home on Friday. It doesn’t mean anything after that, you’ve got to play well.

“It’s a great accomplishment but it doesn’t get us a trophy. It’s a means to hopefully what is a positive end.”

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

Jim Schlossnagle, Gavin Grahovac speak after Texas A&M’s SEC Tournament loss to Tennessee

Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle is ready to return to College Station for the NCAA Regional round, that’s for sure.

Texas A&M’s (44-13) SEC Tournament run ended Thursday afternoon at the hands of No. 1-seed Tennessee, who defeated the Aggies 7-4 behind a late offensive onslaught.

However, the Volunteers only outhit A&M 10-9, so it wasn’t the Aggies’ performance at the plate that was the issue but rather head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s strategic approach to the pitching lineup in the last two days. Thursday’s combination of Brock Peery, Tanner Jones, Josh Stewart, and Weston Moss on the mound allowed six of the Volunteers’ seven runs on the day.

After the game, Schlossnagle met with the media to discuss what’s next for the Aggies ahead of Monday’s NCAA Tournament selection show. Unsurprisingly, the third-year head coach was eager to return to College Station and Blue Bell Park, where Texas A&M ended the regular season with an elite 32-2 record.

“Three of the last four weekends we’ve been on the road, and we haven’t played very well. We’ve earned the right to play at home, so maybe that will get us going.”

Schlossnagle is exactly right. The Aggies have earned a Top 8 seed heading into Monday, and they are guaranteed to host the Regional Round and look to return to the Super Regional for the first time since the 2022 season.

Representing the players, recently named SEC Freshman of the Year, Gavin Grahovic, who hit two home runs on the day to reach 20 on the year, provided a few words of encouragement after the loss:

“We’ve had a rough few weeks, but we’re still the Aggies, and we’re going to continue to play Aggie baseball.”

Here is everything Jim Schlossnagle and Gavin Grahovac had to say.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Cameron on Twitter: @CameronOhnysty.