Tag: Tennessee Volunteers Baseball

Star Braden Montgomery is ‘on cloud nine’ ahead of Texas A&M’s first CWS finals appearance

“This trip has meant a lot with how close this group is and how we’ve been able to pull it off. I’m just on cloud nine right now,” he said.

Despite suffering a season-ending injury in the first game of the Super Regionals, junior outfielder Braden Montgomery is elated ahead of Texas A&M‘s first College World Series finals appearance in program history.

“Just how happy I am for the guys on the field. They’ve embraced everything that coach has told us and man, they’ve been shining out there! It’s been awesome to see. I got all the confidence in the world in those guys. I’m happy to see what they’ve put together and the show they put on out there. I’m excited to see what we do going forward, it’s been awesome,” Montgomery told Tyler Shaw of KBTX on Wednesday. “I guess my role has changed into just being, I don’t really even know! I guess every day I just show up to the field and try to figure out how I can best impact the guys. I know that I play my best when I got high energy and I’m connected to my joy.

“No one puts out their best self when they’re not happy. I try my best to, no matter what, boost the guys, keep them going and ready to give themselves the best chance to be successful. Baseball is a tough game, so all you can do is give it yourself the best shot! That’s what I’m trying to do for these guys.

“It’s cool to actually win this time! All trips have been unbelievable and just the road to get here is tough enough. Sometimes I can lose sight of what came before the World Series when you’ve come and don’t perform as well as you expect. This trip has obviously meant a lot with how we’ve been doing, how close this group is and how we’ve been able to pull it off.

“I’m just on cloud nine right now.”

The No. 3 Aggies face SEC rival Tennessee in a best of three set. The top seed Volunteers haven’t reached the CWS finals since 1951. First pitch on Saturday is at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

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‘Self-confidence’ propelled Aggies LHP Justin Lamkin to set Texas A&M record for Ks at CWS

“The big part of it is just having self-confidence in myself, knowing that I can go out there, compete and play at this level,” Lamkin said.

Texas A&M sophomore left-handed pitcher Justin Lamkin tossed another gem on Wednesday evening at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.

He earned the win by pitching 5.0 scoreless innings and allowing 3 hits and 1 walk with 9 strikeouts on 70 pitches. Lamkin set a new franchise record with the most Ks ever in a College World Series contest.

“The big part of it is just having self-confidence in myself, knowing that I can go out there, compete and play at this level,” Lamkin said postgame. “I think getting ahead of hitters and having true confidence in all of my pitches really helped me out.”

The No. 3 Aggies face SEC rival Tennessee in a best of three set. The top seed Volunteers haven’t reached the CWS finals since 1951 while its the first appearance for Texas A&M. First pitch on Saturday is at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

The matchup is the eighth in championship history between two teams from the same conference and sixth from the SEC. For the fifth straight season, the baseball national champion is guaranteed to be from the SEC.

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How to watch Texas A&M vs. Tennessee in the College World Series finals

Texas A&M vs. Tennessee in the College World Series Finals will begin on Saturday night

The stage is set for the College World Series Finals, as Texas A&M will take on the top-seed Tennessee Volunteers for a chance to take home the trophy, which would be a first-time accomplishment for both programs.

On Wednesday, Tennessee showcased its dominance, overpowering Florida State with a 7-2 victory. Meanwhile, in a display of sheer skill, the Aggies defeated a red-hot Florida team 6-0, led by the exceptional performance of starting pitcher Justin Lamkin.

After scoring 15 runs in the earlier afternoon victory over Kentucky, Florida’s bats completely fizzled with just four hits on the night, as star hitter Jac Caglianone was the only player to record multiple hits on the night.

Using just five pitchers to close things out, Lamkin’s CWS record of nine strikeouts paved the way for 14 Ks on the night. Josh Stewart and Evan Aschenbeck closed things in the usual fashion with five strikeouts. The Aggies have lived first-year pitching coach Max Weiner’s “control the zone” manta throughout the postseason.

Offensively, sophomore Kaeden Kent, who is currently batting .450 with 10 RBI after star outfielder Braden Montgomery’s season-ending injury, recorded two hits, including an RBI single in the 9th. At the same time, SEC Freshman of the Year Gavin Grahovac notably got his groove back with two hits and an RBI single in the 5th.

However, nothing was bigger than Caden Sorrell’s two-run homer in the top of the 6th, as the freshman phenom destroyed a high fastball from Gators closer Brandon Neely to essentially end the game.

Texas A&M will play Tennessee in Game 1 of the College World Series Finals on Saturday, June 22, at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will air on ESPN and be available for streaming on ESPN+.

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The SEC historically dominates the NCAA Baseball Tournament field

The SEC has once again dominated the NCAA Tournament field with record numbers

On Monday, 64 college baseball teams heard their names called. The NCAA Tournament field is now set, and 16 regional hosts are granted home-field advantage for the first round of play. A record 11 SEC programs earned a bid to compete for the title.

For those who are die-hard college baseball fans, the fact that the SEC will hose five of the 16 regional sites isn’t too surprising after the season the conference produced led Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas A&M, who earned the first three overall seeds in that order. This is the first time in the tournament that the first three seeds are from the same conference!

Following their conference counterparts, Arkansas and Georgia earned the five and seven seeds. Bulldogs power hitter Charlie Condon led the country in batting average (.443) and home runs with 35 on the year. In contrast, Razorbacks star pitcher Hagen Smith led the nation in ERA with a highly impressive 1.48 mark.

Outside of the five conference hosts, LSU will compete in the Chapel Hill Regional after almost winning the SEC Tournament in a close loss to the Volunteers. The Tigers are still riding the momentum train after almost missing the tournament just a year after winning the whole thing in 2023.

Here are where the remaining SEC programs will face off this week:

  • Vanderbilt vs. Coastal Carolina (Clemson Regional)
  • Alabama vs. UCF (Tallahassee Regional)
  • South Carolina vs. James Madison (Raleigh Regional)
  • Florida vs. Nebraska (Stillwater Regional)
  • Mississippi State vs. St. Johns (Charlottesville Regional)

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Texas A&M baseball eliminated by Tennessee in the SEC Tournament

Texas A&M’s SEC Tournament has come to a close after falling to Tennessee 7-4 in the elimination round

Texas A&M’s (44-13) stay in the SEC Tournament this week has ended after just two days in Hoover after falling 7-4 to No.1-seed Tennessee in the elimination round on Thursday afternoon.

After leading 1-0 in the early inning, the Volunteer’s potent offense awoke to put things away late. While Aggies ace pitcher Ryan Prager started the game, allowing just one earned run, as head coach Jim Schlossnagle opted to save most of his starting and reliable relief arms for the NCAA Tournament, which will hopefully be a successful strategic move.

With a mix of Brock Peery, Tanner Jones, Josh Stewart, and Weston Moss at the mound, the four combined for six earned runs and five strikeouts, while the lone bright spot offensively for the Aggies was SEC Freshman of the Year Gavin Grahovac’s two-home run afternoon to finish with 21 before the regional round.

While most Aggie fans have a right to be worried about the team’s lack of consistent firepower at the plate in the last month, A&M registered nine hits and three home runs on the day, so blaming inexperience on the mound is probably a better direction to go after today’s result.

Conversely, Tennesee slightly outplayed the Aggies offensively with ten hits and two homers on the afternoon.

Texas A&M will return to College Station to await Monday’s selection show results. The program has locked up a Top 8 seed and is guaranteed to host a regional. In D1Baseball’s recent update, A&M was projected as a 3-seed.

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Game Recap – Baseball: No. 10 Texas A&M vs No 7. Tennessee (SEC Tournament)

Troy Wansing is him! The Southpaw put together a near-perfect game as Texas A&M fended off Tennessee 3-0 in the SEC Tournament.

As the kids these days say, Texas A&M pitcher Troy Wansing is indeed “him!” The No. 10 Aggies baseball team defeated No. 7 Tennessee 3-0 in the opening of the SEC Tournament on Tuesday afternoon.

The Aggies staved off elimination and extended their season for another day, mainly due to the heroics of Wansing, who pitched an absolute gem on the mound. In 8.0 innings of work, the Southpaw put together a near-perfect game, striking out seven batters while allowing just one hit.

The one base runner Wansing surrendered came on a single to right from Volunteer right fielder Christian Scott with one out in the sixth.

Not even a rain delay could thwart an Aggies’ win, as Evan Aschenbeck relieved Wansing in the ninth inning to secure the final three outs, leaving no doubt that the Maroon and White would advance onward.

Alongside Wansing’s gem of a performance, the Aggies’ bats also put together a solid day, putting three runs on the board on five hits and five walks.

Their first run came in the third inning on a fielder’s choice, which allowed shortstop Hunter Haas to score. Austin Bost extended the lead in the fourth inning by bringing Jordan Thompson home on a single. Jace LaViolette continued his hot streak, hitting a solo home run in the sixth to put A&M ahead 3-0 and give them a lead they would never surrender.

The freshman and reigning SEC Player of the Week now has 19 homers on the season.

The Maroon and White now advance to the double-elimination portion of the bracket and face No. 2 seed Arkansas at 1 p.m. C.T. on Wednesday.

Final Score: Aggies 3, Volunteers 0 – W: Wansing, Troy (3-3) L: Seth Halvorsen (2-3) S: Aschenbeck, Evan (3)

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