Author Archives: Jerry Briggs

Aggies claim the NCAA College Station Regional title

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The Texas A&M Aggies hit five home runs to smash through a 25-year-old record for homers in a season, building a big lead early and then rolling to a 9-4 victory over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Sunday for the title in the NCAA College Station Regional.

A&M (47-13) swept through three games undefeated to win the regional. The Aggies will advance to Super Regional round next week against the Oregon Ducks, who won the Santa Barbara Regional.

A&M, as the No. 3 national seed, is expected to host Oregon in a best-of-three series for a berth in the College World Series.

Caden Sorrell, Braden Montgomery, Hayden Schott, Ali Camarillo and Gavin Grahovac all belted homers for the Aggies, who boosted their season total to 130 in 60 games. The previous school record was 128 in 1999.

Louisiana (42-20) battled to the end, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth before A&M closed it out. The Aggies beat Grambling 8-0 on Friday, downed Texas 4-2 on Saturday night and then took down Louisiana, the region’s second seed.

Earlier in the day, the Cajuns won 10-2 to eliminate the Texas Longhorns from the tournament.

Records

Louisiana 42-20
Texas A&M 47-13

Coming up

Oregon vs. Texas A&M next week in the Super Regional round.

Aggies break a 25-year-old team season home run record

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The Texas A&M Aggies have hit five home runs on Sunday night to break the school’s 25-year-old team season record. The Aggies have hit 130 on the season, beating the previous mark of 128 set in 1999.

With the Aggies playing the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for the title in the NCAA College Station Regional at Blue Bell Park, Caden Sorrell, Braden Montgomery, Hayden Schott, Ali Camarillo and Gavin Grahovac have all belted homers.

Sorrell and Montgomery went deep in the fourth inning, Schott hit one in the fifth, Camarillo in the seventh and Grahovac in the ninth. Montgomery has 27 for the year and Grahovac 22, which is an A&M freshman record.

Coming into the regional round of the NCAA tournament, the Aggies had hit 124 home runs as a team.

They didn’t hit any in an 8-0 victory over the Grambling Tigers on opening day Friday. They hit one on Saturday, by Sorrell, in a 4-2 victory over Texas.

With five against Louisiana, A&M now has 130 homers in 60 games. The 1999 squad that hit 128 featured Daylan Holt, who belted 34 that year for the school’s individual season record.

A&M is leading Louisiana 9-1 in the ninth inning. If the Aggies win, they advance to the Super Regional round next week.

Louisiana explodes past Texas to reach regional title round

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The Texas A&M Aggies will enter the title round of the NCAA Bryan-College Station Regional Sunday night as a prohibitive favorite against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.

The Aggies are seeded third nationally and first in the region and will play for the third time this weekend in front of their boisterous home fans at Blue Bell Park.

A&M has won 34 and lost only three at home all year, so the paying customers will expect the Southeastern Conference powerhouse to beat the Sun Belt regular-season champions and complete a three-for-three sweep through the regional.

The regional’s second-seeded Cajuns, however, will not go home willingly.

Showing a determined resolve in playing through the losers bracket, Louisiana erupted for seven runs in the eighth inning Sunday afternoon en route to a 10-2 victory to eliminate the third-seeded Texas Longhorns.

The Cajuns lashed six hits during the outburst, including three-run homers by Jose Torres and Bryan Broussard.

Louisiana took a circuitous route to the regional finals. In Friday’s opener, the Longhorns beat the Cajuns 12-5. But on Saturday afternoon, they started their way back, knocking off the Grambling State (La.) Tigers, 12-5.

With the victory, they earned a rematch with the Longhorns, and they didn’t waste it. Louisiana produced 15 hits, including four for extra bases. When they needed a hit, they got it, driving in all 10 runs in two-out situations.

For the Longhorns, starting pitcher Ace Whitehead worked 6 and 2/3 innings and allowed only two runs. Texas had 10 hits, including two each by Will Gasparino, Rylan Galvan, Casey Borba and Max Schuessler.

But after losing 4-2 Saturday night to the Aggies, the Longhorns’ failed to generate much momentum against the Cajuns. Winners of 15 of their last 20 games, Texas couldn’t produce when it mattered, going 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

Records

Texas A&M 46-13
Louisiana 42-19
x-Texas 36-24
x-Grambling 26-28

Coming up

Louisiana at Texas A&M, Sunday, 7 p.m., in the regional title round. If Louisiana wins, a winner-take-all game between the two would be played on Monday. A Monday game time hasn’t been announced.

Texas A&M downs Texas 4-2 in 11 innings to cap an NCAA tournament thriller

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

First, Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle credited the Texas Longhorns. He also lauded his own players and then went into a discussion about how difficult it is to understand why certain things happen in a baseball game.

Finally, in remarks made at a news conference following his team’s dramatic NCAA tournament victory Saturday night, he tried to offer some perspective.

“We won a ballgame,” Schlossnagle said. “We didn’t win a championship. I mean, this team, as good a season as we’ve had, we haven’t won any championship. We didn’t win our league. We didn’t win our division. We didn’t win the conference tournament.

“So, we won a ballgame. It’s a big one. Any winners bracket game in a regional is a big one. But, we haven’t won anything yet.”

What Schlossnagle said was true.

At the same time, with a riveting 4-2 victory in 11 innings over the Longhorns, the Aggies took a big step toward their immediate goal of winning the NCAA Bryan-College Station Regional and advancing to the next round.

With the win, they are now one victory away from clinching a date in next week’s Super Regional.

A&M scored twice in the top of the 11th inning and then held on as reliever Evan Aschenbeck closed out the game in the bottom half. Maroon-clad fans at a jam-packed Blue Bell Park erupted in cheers and likely celebrated well into the night.

“There’s nothing like it,” Aschenbeck told an ESPN reporter, commenting on the fan support at A&M home games. “No words can even describe it. It’s awesome … I don’t think we could do it without the 12th Man.”

Kaeden Kent, facing UT reliever Andre Duplantier II, led off the 11th for A&M with a single up the middle. After Gavin Grahovac flied out, Jace LaViolette walked, putting runners at first and second base.

From there, UT coach David Pierce decided to make a change. He pulled Duplantier and replaced him with lefthander Chase Lummus. Braden Montgomery, one of the best hitters in NCAA baseball, faced Lummus first and popped up to the infield. But Lummus, at that stage, started to struggle with his command and walked Jackson Appel to load the bases.

The walk was costly as the next man up, Ted Burton, topped a soft grounder down the third base line. Texas third baseman Peyton Powell waited and waited, hoping it might go foul. But it didn’t, and at the last minute, he misplayed the ball allowing the go-ahead run to score.

Burton was credited with an RBI single. With Hayden Schott at the plate and the bases still loaded, Lummus threw a wild pitch, allowing another run to cross and make it 4-2.

In the bottom half of the 11th, the Longhorns couldn’t get anything going. Powell grounded out. Max Belyeu flied out and Kimble Schuessler ground out against Aschenbeck, who was credited with the win in 4 and 2/3 innings of shutout ball.

Texas took an early lead when Jared Thomas led off the bottom of the first with a solo homer. Thomas blasted the first pitch from A&M pitcher Ryan Prager over the left field wall. In the fifth, Caden Sorrell answered for the Aggies. In tying the score at 1-1, he hit a one-out, solo homer off UT starter Lebarron Johnson Jr.

In the sixth inning, the Longhorns retaliated when Schuessler made it 2-1 on another solo homer off Prager, this one coming in a dramatic moment with two outs.

After the run scored, fans in the stands fell silent. They stayed that way for a few innings until the Longhorns came unglued defensively in the eighth. Two infield errors led to a run for the Aggies, who tied the score again.

Aschenbeck started to get really tough at that juncture. He retired three straight in both the eighth and the ninth. In the 10th, he faced trouble when Will Gasparino led off with a walk and was sacrifice bunted to second.

Thomas grounded to the right side to move Gasparino over to third base. But that’s as far as he’d go as Flores, who hit a grand slam in UT’s 12-5 victory over Louisiana on Friday, popped up to end the inning.

In the head-to-head series between the teams, the Aggies have won six of the last seven meetings, including a 10-2 win in the 2022 College World Series, a 9-2 win earlier this season in Austin and now in a postseason game that keeps the Aggies on track to win the regional.

Next season, the Longhorns will join the Aggies in the Southeastern Conference.

Records

Texas 36-23
Texas A&M 46-13

Notable

The region’s second-seeded Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns won 12-5 earlier in the day to eliminate the No. 4 seed Grambling State (La.) Tigers from the tournament.

With the win, the Cajuns (41-19) advance in the losers bracket to play Sunday afternoon at 2.

They’ll play against Texas in a matchup of teams that are 1-1 in the regional. The survivor of that game will play a 2-0 Texas A&M squad at 7 p.m.

Flores grand slam paces Texas, sets up Longhorns-Aggies NCAA tournament game

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Trailing early and feeling some pressure, the Texas Longhorns erupted for three runs in the fourth inning and seven in the fifth on Friday night en route to a 12-5 NCAA tournament victory over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns at Olsen Field.

Kimble Schuessler had three hits and Jalin Flores from San Antonio Brandeis High School smashed a grand slam, advancing the Longhorns in the winners bracket of the Bryan-College Station Regional to play their longtime rivals, the Texas A&M Aggies, on Saturday night.

In the beginning, the regional’s third-seeded Longhorns looked a bit sluggish. The second-seeded Cajuns were taking it to them. Lee Amedee ripped a solo home run in the second. Trey LaFleur added a long solo shot in the third, staking Louisiana to a 2-0 lead.

At that point, some in the crowd at A&M’s home field started to join in with the Louisiana fans to cheer the Cajuns. There might have been a jeer or two for the Longhorns, as well. In response, UT answered with fourth-inning outburst to take charge of the game.

During the rally, they strung together five straight hits. Rylan Galvan had an RBI double and Dee Kennedy added a two-run single, lifting the Longhorns into a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, Flores made two nice plays in the field to choke off a Louisiana rally. On the first one, the Cajuns had runners at first and second base, and he fielded a ground ball in the hole.

Flores flipped a short throw to third for the first out, keeping a base runner out of prime scoring position.

Next, he figured into an inning-ending double play. On the play, Kennedy fielded a ground ball on the right side and threw to the bag at second, where Flores came across to touch for the second out. He promptly rifled a throw to first that beat Amedee by a half step to end the inning.

But with the Longhorns coming to bat in the top of the fifth and leading by only a run, they needed another rally and some more runs for breathing room against the Sun Belt Conference champions. A rally is what they got.

UT had the first four batters reach base, with Galvan drawing a walk to drive in a run. After Will Gasparino struck out, disaster struck for Louisiana when Cajuns shortstop Kalen DeBarge failed to field cleanly a ground ball that could have been a double play.

Instead, a run scored and everyone was safe, loading the bases again.

From there, Jared Thomas delivered with an RBI single to make it 6-2. With the bases still jammed, Flores stepped up and cranked his third grand slam and his 18th homer of the season, a blast that landed well behind the left field fence.

Suddenly, UT was leading 10-2 and cruising. For Flores, a first-team All Big 12 performer, it was his second grand slam in NCAA tournament play. He also hit one in last year’s NCAA tournament to help the Longhorns win the Coral Gables Regional.

Records

Louisiana 40-19
Texas 36-22

Coming up

Bryan-College Station Regional

Saturday — Losers bracket game between Grambling and Louisiana at 2 p.m. Winners bracket game between Texas and regional top seed Texas A&M at 8 p.m. A&M is seeded third overall in the NCAA tournament.

Aggies roll past the Grambling Tigers, 8-0, in NCAA opener

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Ted Burton and Braden Montgomery had three hits apiece Friday afternoon as the Texas A&M Aggies overwhelmed the Grambling State Tigers 8-0 in the opening game of the NCAA Bryan-College Station Regional.

Grambling produced two hits in the first inning and two in the second off A&M starter Tanner Jones, who worked out of trouble both times. Missed opportunities doomed the Tigers, who went on to leave 14 runners on base in their first NCAA game since 2010.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Aggies broke the game open with seven runs. Burton came to bat twice in the inning and had two hits, a run scored and two RBI.

The Aggies, seeded third overall in the NCAA tournament and first in the regional, will advance to play Saturday against either the Texas Longhorns or the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns. The regional will run through Sunday and possibly Monday.

Both Burton (from the University of Michigan) and Montgomery (from Stanford) joined the Aggies in the offseason as transfers. Burton, a first baseman, finished three for four with three RBI. Montgomery, an outfielder, was three for five with one RBI.

Records

Grambling 26-27
Texas A&M 45-13

Notable

Georgia’s Clayton Chadwick, a graduate year outfielder from La Vernia High School, went 1 for 4 on Friday in an 8-7 victory over Army in the Athens Regional. Playing in his first NCAA game at Georgia after transferring from Sam Houston State, Chadwick also had an RBI. He was batting .264 entering the tournament. The Bulldogs, who are a No. 7 national seed, will play next against either UNC Wilmington or Georgia Tech.

The Evansville Purple Aces upset Greenville Regional host and No. 1 seed East Carolina, 4-1. The Pirates, seeded 16th nationally, were without ace righthander Trey Yesavage. East Carolina won the regular-season title in the American Athletic Conference and then got knocked out in the semifinals of the tournament by Wichita State. The Pirates are facing elimination Saturday. They’ll play either VCU or Wake Forest in the losers bracket.

Tulane wins American Baseball Championship title to claim an NCAA automatic bid

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The Tulane Green Wave will play in the NCAA baseball tournament once again.

Jackson Linn hit his second home run of the game with two out in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday, boosting the Green Wave to an 11-10 victory over the Wichita State Shockers for the American Baseball Championship title.

Powered by five home runs in the title game, the Green Wave clinched the postseason crown and an NCAA tournament automatic bid out of the American Athletic Conference for a second straight season.

In a game that went back and forth, third-seeded Tulane built a 3-2 lead after three innings. Undeterred, fourth-seeded Wichita State answered with five runs in the fifth to take charge, 7-3. In the end, though, the Green Wave had more pop in their bats.

They scored three runs in the fifth and fourth more in the sixth, building a 10-7 advantage. The Shockers had one more burst in them, crossing three runs in the seventh to tie the game.

In the top of the eighth, Tulane lefthander Luc Fladda relieved with one out and retired the next two Wichita State batters in order. Fladda would finish the ninth, as well, working around a two-out hit by pitch to shut down the Shockers again.

Wichita State lefty Hunter Holmes, throwing well in the bottom half, struck out Colin Tuft and retired Marcus Cline on a ground ball as the possibility of an extra-innings showdown loomed.

Linn had other ideas. He stepped to the plate, and on a 2-2 count, drilled a pitch that landed beyond the left field fence for the game winner. Flada (4-3) became the winning pitcher, while Holmes (1-4) took the loss.

Records

Wichita State 32-29
Tulane 35-24

Notable

The American is expected to send two of its teams into the NCAA tournament. Tulane will get the automatic bid, and East Carolina at 43-15 overall is expected to receive an at large. The 64-team bracket will be announced Monday.

The American’s tournament had a six-day run at the BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla. UTSA, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, lost its first two games and bowed out last Wednesday.

The Roadrunners won seven of their nine AAC weekend series, including one in New Orleans in which they swept all three games from the Green Wave.

UTSA finished 32-24 overall and 17-10 in conference.

Wichita State, Tulane set to play for the AAC’s postseason title

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The Wichita State Shockers will play the Tulane Green Wave today in the title game of the American Baseball Championship.

They’ll throw the first pitch momentarily in a game that will be staged in Clearwater, Fla., at the BayCare Ballpark.

Let’s take a look at the teams vying for the American Athletic Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament:

Wichita State

Overall record: 32-28

In the American championship tournament: 3-1 … Beat UAB 8-2 on May 21 … beat East Carolina 14-4 on May 23 … lost to East Carolina 4-5 on on May 25 … beat East Carolina 12-2 in eight innings (run rule) on May 25.

Last 10 games: 8-2

Record in the AAC regular season: 15-12

In nine games covering the last three AAC weekend series: 7-2

Record versus Tulane: 1-2 (at Wichita, Kan.)

Versus UTSA: 2-1 (at San Antonio)

Top hitters: Camden Johnson, .328, 2 HR, 28 RBI; Derek Williams, 14 HR, 44 RBI.

Today’s starting pitcher: Tommy LaPour, 6-3, 4.12 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, .226 batting average against.

Tulane

Record overall: 34-24

In the American championship tournament: 3-0 … Beat FAU 14-2 in 7 innings (run rule) on May 21 … beat Charlotte 7-5 on May 23 … beat FAU 13-1 in 7 innings (run rule) on May 25.

Last 10 games: 8-2

Record in the AAC regular season: 15-12

In nine games covering the last three AAC weekend series: 6-3

Record versus Wichita State: 2-1 (at Wichita, Kan.)

Versus UTSA: 0-3 (at New Orleans)

Top hitters: Brady Marget, .335, 9 HR, 53 RBI; Connor Rasmussen, .324, 7 HR, 48 RBI

Today’s starting pitcher: Chandler Welch, 7-3, 4.41 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, .296 batting average against.

American conference expected to send two teams to the NCAA baseball tournament

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The American Athletic Conference is expected to send two teams to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

The Tulane Green Wave and the Wichita State Shockers will play one game for the title in the American Baseball Championship on Sunday in Clearwater, Fla. The winner will claim the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA’s 64-team field.

The East Carolina Pirates are expected to be an NCAA at-large selection based on their strong showing in the regular season.

Tulane and Wichita State emerged from the semifinals to claim spots in the American title game.

The Green Wave advanced in only one game in the semifinal round, dispatching the Florida Atlantic University Owls, 13-1, in seven innings on the run rule. It took two games for the Shockers to eliminate the Pirates.

East Carolina claimed a 5-4 victory in a wild one, when Dixon Williams stole home with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a three-run rally. The win forced a second game between the teams, in which the Shockers rebounded to win 12-2 in eight innings on the run rule.

American Baseball Championship semifinals are underway in Clearwater

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The field in the American Baseball Championship has been trimmed to four, with the tournament semifinals set to commence today in Clearwater, Fla.

The Wichita State Shockers will play the top-seeded and regular-season champion East Carolina Pirates at 9 a.m. Central, followed by the Tulane Green Wave and the Florida Atlantic Owls 47 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

As many as four games could be contested today because the Pirates and the Owls will need to win twice to knock out their opponents.

East Carolina coach Cliff Godwin will be serving the second of a two-game suspension. If the Pirates win, he will be able to come back in the re-match.

The title game in the six-game conference tournament is set for Sunday at 11 a.m. at the BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater.

Today’s matchups

East Carolina (42-14) vs. Wichita State (31-27) – The Shockers enter the semifinals with tournament victories over the UAB Blazers (8-2) and the Pirates (14-4). Wichita State caught fire with a regular-season series win at UTSA has now won nine of its last 10 overall. The Shockers will need to win Saturday and again Sunday in the American title game to secure an NCAA tournament bid. The Pirates, based on their strong regular season, are likely a lock to make the national field. East Carolina coach Cliff Godwin will be serving the second game of a conference-mandated suspension.

Florida Atlantic (28-28) vs. Tulane (33-24) – The Tulane Green Wave look to be in good shape coming into the semis with four straight victories and a day’s rest. On top of that, the Tulane pitching hasn’t had to work quite as hard as some others this week after beating FAU 14-2 in seven innings on the run rule Tuesday. The Green Wave downed Charlotte 7-5 on Thursday. Both the Owls and the Green Wave will need to win the tournament in Clearwater to secure an NCAA automatic bid.

Notable

Both once-beaten East Carolina and Florida Atlantic stayed alive with victories on Friday.

Playing without All-American Trey Yesavage (injury) and Dixon Williams (one-game suspension), and also without coach Cliff Godwin (suspension), the Pirates beat Rice 8-7 Friday to stay alive. They opened the tournament by beating Rice, 12-4, on Tuesday and then losing to Wichita State, 14-4, on Thursday. Godwin was suspended for his actions in the 14-4 loss.

Florida Atlantic’s season has also been on the brink all week.

Sixth-seeded FAU took a 14-2 loss to Wichita State on opening day on Tuesday before bouncing back the next day to down the UTSA Roadrunners, 12-5. With new life, the Owls surged into a seven-run lead on the Charlotte 49ers Friday and then held on as Danny Trehey pitched shutout innings in the eighth and ninth to secure a 10-8 victory.