Jace LaViolette discusses his game-saving play at the Men’s College World Series

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Around 1 a.m. on Sunday morning at Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha, Neb., Texas A&M pitcher Evan Aschenbeck threw the pitch. Florida leadoff man Cade Kurland hit it, and the ball sailed high and deep to right field.

Six-foot-six A&M rightfielder Jace LaViolette, already playing deep to prevent anything from sailing over his head, ran slightly off line to where he needed to be on the most important play of the game at the Men’s College World Series.

Admitting to making “the total wrong read” on the ball, LaViolette said later that he also thought his position might not matter because the ball might be a home run, anyway.

“My heart kind of dropped for a second,” he told reporters on site after the game.

Then something amazing happened. The ball that looked like it might land well beyond his reach for a go-ahead, two-run homer started to come back into LaViolette’s range.

He jumped up and snatched it out of the air, robbing Kurland of a homer and propelling A&M to a 3-2 victory over the Gators on Day Two of the MCWS.

“I think the wind knocked it down a little bit,” LaViolette said. “It was a really cool play.”

A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle, in his postgame remarks, deadpanned that he is glad that LaViolette is tall.

Schlossnagle said he thought when Kurland struck the ball that it would be a home run.

“You know, I know there’s been homers hit (here), but you never know until you see it go over the fence, because of how this place plays,” said Schlossnagle. “Really, there wasn’t that much wind going, but he just hit it to the wrong spot.

“Cade’s a great hitter. Stayed on a good pitch. We were playing no doubles (positioning),” Schlossnagle said. “So, Jace was already pretty far back there. But I thought it was a homer.”

It wasn’t a homer, and it gave LaViolette a thrill of his young life.

He told a television reporter from ESPN that he might be awake for a few more hours because of the adrenaline he was feeling.

Texas A&M will play against the Kentucky Wildcats on Monday at 6 p.m. in the winners bracket. Both teams are 1-0 in their half of the eight-team MCWS tournament.

The winner there will earn a ticket to the four-team bracket finals against either North Carolina State or Florida, who will play on Monday at 1 p.m. in an elimination game.

Records

Florida 34-29
Texas A&M 50-13

Pitching, defense shine as A&M wins its MCWS opener, 3-2, over Florida

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The Texas A&M Aggies executed a few clutch, highlight-worthy defensive plays in the last few innings to back a pitching staff that struck out 16 in a riveting 3-2 victory Saturday night over the Florida Gators at the Men’s College World Series.

In a game that started more than four hours late after a weather delay, the third-seeded Aggies scored two runs in the second inning and one in the third and made it stand up for their 50th win of the season. Florida rallied for two runs in the seventh to make it close.

But the Aggies closed the door, thanks to reliever Evan Aschenbeck and defensive gems authored by second baseman Kaeden Kent and rightfielder Jace LaViolette.

In the eighth inning, the Gators had loaded the bases with two outs when Dale Thomas poked a ball that rolled slowly out to the right side. Kent hustled in to pick it up but didn’t have time to throw over-handed or side-armed to first. Instead, he under-handed it, with the ball barely beating Thomas.

Florida asked for a review on the call, but it was upheld, ending the threat and the inning. In the ninth, more drama ensued. With one out, Michael Robertson reached on an infield single. Cade Kurland stepped up and drove a pitch high and deep to right.

LaViolette leaped and caught it as it was coming down, robbing Kurland of extra bases, if not a go-ahead two-run homer. Florida star Jac Caglianone, the next batter, worked a 3-2 count and Aschenbeck walked him to put runners at first and second.

Aschenbeck, regarded as perhaps the best reliever in the nation, immediately put Ashton Wilson on the defensive. He dropped a sharp-breaking curve into the zone for strike two. On a 1-2 count, he threw another ball way wide of the strike zone. Wilson swung and missed to end the game.

The Aggies surged into a 2-0 lead in the second inning against Gators starter Liam Peterson. Caden Sorrell led off with a single and Ali Camarillo drew a walk. Kent followed with a single of his own to load the bases.

At that point, Travis Chestnut chopped a high-bouncer to third for an RBI infield single. The play seemed to rattle Peterson, as he threw a wild pitch that allowed the second run to cross.

In the third inning, Hayden Schott led off with a walk and Sorrell, a freshman from Flower Mound Marcus, sent an RBI double soaring over the center fielder’s head.

The Gators, who scored 21 runs combined in two Super Regional wins last week, failed to score until the seventh inning. Justin Lamkin pitched the first three and Chris Cortez the next three. Both notched six strikeouts.

Cortez was charged with yielding two runs in the seventh before Aschenbeck entered to end the threat. Aschenbeck pitched the remainder of the seventh, the eighth and the ninth, yielding three hits and fanning four.

Records

Florida 34-29
Texas A&M 50-13

Coming up

Sunday: Virginia vs. Florida State, 1 p.m., elimination game. North Carolina vs. Tennessee, 6 p.m., winners bracket.

Monday: North Carolina State vs. Florida, 1 p.m., elimination game. Kentucky vs. Texas A&M, 6 p.m., winners bracket.

Remembering Mickey Lashley (1954-2024) and the boys of summer at V.J. Keefe Field

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

I’ll always remember the images of young ball players in the San Antonio Dodgers’ cramped clubhouse at V.J. Keefe Field in the late 1970s. I remember distinctly that some of them, at the time, would talk about a decade-old, country-rock song by John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

“Lodi” was a bluesy number written in the 1960s that told the tale of a down-on-his-luck musician. One who showed up in a small, Southern California town for a one-night stand, only to spend months there, broke, and lamenting elusive good fortune on the trail to stardom.

Some of those ball players, I suppose, really did suffer from the blues.

The players who dreamed of days and nights at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, who instead seemed forever tethered to a minor-league existence that ranged from Class A Lodi in the California League to Double-A San Antonio in the Texas League. They could get down on themselves, I suppose.

But I don’t really remember that about Mickey Lashley, a one-time, eighth-round draft pick of the Dodgers. No sir. My best memory of Mickey? I remember him as an upbeat guy who brought positive energy to a minor-league clubhouse on the West Side of San Antonio in 1979.

Years later, in the 1990s, he brought the same intangibles in helping to start a fledgling baseball program at UTSA.

Sadly, as UTSA announced Saturday morning, Mickey Lashley died on June 13 at the age of 70. I didn’t know Mickey well, by any means. So, why am I writing this? Why does his passing strike such a chord with me this morning? Well, part of it is that he and I were about the same age. Born in the same year. Lashley in rural Oklahoma. Me in Midland, in dusty West Texas.

We were only passing acquaintances, sure, but we both sort of grew up together in the game, in a sense. Lashley was born in in 1954 Muskogee, Okla. Grew up in Bartlesville. Played in the mid-1970s for the University of Oklahoma Sooners, who made seemingly annual treks to the College World Series in that era.

My family moved to San Antonio in the 1960s. I played here when I was a kid and always loved the game. When I first crossed paths with Mickey at V.J. Keefe in 1979, I was a 24-year-old sports writer and he had already become a big-time presence in the game.

Me? I was driving my dad’s old Volkswagen beetle in my second year out of journalism school. Working for the old San Antonio Light newspaper, I thought I was big time, but I wasn’t, really. Man, I did well just to make it through a summer day. From home to the ball park, to the office and then back home every night. I still wonder how my stories ever made the paper.

For me, a good day started with a pre-game dinner at Church’s Fried Chicken on Culebra. It continued into the evening at V.J. Keefe, off 36th street, where if reporters were lucky, we’d have rosters for both teams and the games would end in less than three hours.

That way, I’d have the time to A) call the office and dictate the box score; B) drive fast (and probably beyond the speed limit) eastbound on Culebra, toward downtown; and then C) write six or eight paragraphs at the office for the morning newspaper.

Next day, repeat the previous. Hey, I did well just to spell all the names correctly, much less develop relationships with the players. Consequently, I didn’t know any of the players all that well. Lashley, though, was an easy-going sort and made it look pretty easy doing his thing on the pitcher’s mound, as best as I can recall.

He made appearances in 42 games that summer — all in relief — for San Antonio Dodgers manager Don “Ducky” LeJohn, according to Baseball Reference’s online records. Lashley won six games and he lost eight. He fashioned a highly respectable 3.39 earned run average.

As for my inter-actions with him in the locker room? Man, that’s just too long ago. But I do seem to recall that Lashley, as well as most of the other young guys on that team, were on many levels just happy to know that they could report to the ball park every day and play a kids’ game.

Even if, at times, their road trips on the team bus seemed endless. Or, that their pay check didn’t cover all their daily expenses. Or, that the close quarters in the dressing room at V.J. Keefe required them to be careful while putting on their jerseys, lest they accidentally back-hand a teammate at an adjacent cubicle.

When the media would come in, some players would bring up the “Lodi” song. I do remember that. I don’t remember any of them reciting the lyrics. It’s just that they knew of the song. For a refresher, I looked up the lyrics this morning. First verse goes like this:

Just about a year ago
I set out on the road
Seekin’ my fame and fortune
And lookin’ for a pot of gold
Things got bad, and things got worse
I guess you know the tune
Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again

Such a sad song. But that was hardly the vibe in the Dodgers’ clubhouse that I remember. It was just a song. The vibe that I recall was one of hope and optimism and camaraderie. In a players’ world, there was just no time to dwell on what they didn’t have. Players had to stay positive and lean on their teammates.

If things didn’t go their way, they had to make adjustments and move on.

Mickey Lashley did just that in his career. Even though he never played in the majors, he had a significant impact on the game in San Antonio. In 1981, UTSA started an NCAA Division I athletics program. By 1992, the school added baseball. Jimmy Shankle was hired as the head coach, and Mickey Lashley worked on his staff.

By 1994, the Roadrunners enjoyed their first big year. They won enough games to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Later, after Shankle stepped down, Mickey served as head coach from 1996-2000.

Today, the program operates under the direction of head coach Pat Hallmark, and UTSA has started to make noise as one of the best teams in the American Athletic Conference. Playing at the mid-major level in Division I, the Roadrunners have won 38, 38 and 32 games in the past three seasons, respectively.

They finished second in the American this season and won weekend series against a pair of NCAA tournament teams — the East Carolina Pirates and the Tulane Green Wave. The Roadrunners went on the road and swept the Green Wave, who later won the AAC tournament.

Even though the Roadrunners sputtered at the end, going two and out in the AAC tournament at Clearwater, Fla., eyes have been opened around San Antonio for a program that holds significant promise if more improvements can be made over the next few years at their home stadium.

I’ve had the pleasure of covering that up-and-coming program in each of the last three years. It’s been a veritable pot of gold for an old ball writer who still loves the game. So, many thanks to Mickey Lashley for all the baseball memories over the years and for helping to make the UTSA program happen for all of us.

Sincerest condolences to your family, Mickey, and RIP.

Daly’s walk-off homer lifts Kentucky past NC State, 5-4

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Editor’s note: The start of Saturday night’s game between Texas A&M and Florida has been delayed because of weather. – Jerry

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Another game at the Men’s College World Series. Another dramatic sequence of events in the final innings for the history books. The second-seeded Kentucky Wildcats emerged victorious Saturday afternoon, defeating the No. 10 North Carolina State Wolfpack, 5-4, scoring the winner in the bottom of the 10th on a walk-off solo homer by former University of Texas infielder Mitchell Daly.

It was the third time in two days that a game in the MCWS was decided by a walk-off winner. On opening day Friday, in another bracket, North Carolina’s Vance Honeycutt beat the Virginia Cavaliers 3-2 on a RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. In Friday’s second game, Dylan Dreiling drilled a two-out, RBI single, capping a four-run bottom of the ninth inning and lifting the top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers to a 12-11 victory over the Florida State Seminoles.

North Carolina State, which eliminated No. 7 seed Georgia in the Super Regional, battled Kentucky until the end in the opener of a two-game set Saturday. The Wolfpack tied the game in the top of the seventh inning on a two-run homer by Alec Makarewicz. In the top of the ninth, they scored a run on a wild pitch to take a 4-3 lead. Kentucky responded in the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run by Ryan Nicholson to tie.

In Kentucky’s MCWS opener, both in history and this weekend, Daly supplied the hit in the 10th that handed the victory to the Wildcats of the Southeastern Conference. Daly started at second base for Texas in the 2022 CWS. Kentucky will advance to play on Monday against either Texas A&M or Florida, who were set to play Saturday night. The tournament is being played at Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha, Neb.

Records

Kentucky 46-14
North Carolina State 38-22

Coming up

Saturday night: No. 3 Texas A&M vs. Florida.
Sunday: Virginia vs. Florida State, 1 p.m., elimination game. North Carolina vs. Tennessee, 6 p.m., winners bracket.
Monday: North Carolina State vs. Saturday night loser, 1 p.m., elimination game. Kentucky vs. Saturday night winner, 6 p.m., winners bracket.

MCWS: No. 1 Tennessee wins 12-11 on a four-run ninth inning against Florida State

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Dylan Dreiling laced a two-out, game-winning RBI single to left-center field Friday night, capping a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers stunned the Florida State Seminoles 12-11 on opening night in the Men’s College World Series.

Trailing 9-4 after the fourth inning and 11-7 after the seventh, the Volunteers didn’t quit. They scored one run in the eighth and four runs on five hits in the ninth to hand the eighth-seeded Seminoles their first loss in six NCAA tournament games.

In one of the school’s greatest nights in Omaha, Tennessee leadoff man Christian Moore made history with only the second cycle in CWS history. Moore went five for six and scored four runs. He tripled in the first inning, doubled in the second, singled in the fourth, homered in the sixth and doubled again in the ninth.

Sixty eight years have passed since the last time it happened, when Minnesota’s Jerry Kindall hit for the cycle in 1956 against Mississippi.

Oddly, Tennessee trailed most of the night when it produced 18 hits. That was mostly because of Florida State’s potent attack with 13 hits and also because of Tennessee pitching’s nine walks and the defense’s three errors. Through it all, the Vols were able to overcome it as Dreiling had four hits and Blake Burke three.

Controversy emerged in the ninth with with two out and Burke at the plate on a two-strike count. On a check swing, he was deemed to have held up, giving him another opportunity. If the umpire’s decision had gone the other way, the game would have been over and Florida State would have won, 11-9.

Instead, Burke took advantage of the situation, singling up the middle and bringing in two runs to tie the game.

Records

Florida State 47-16
Tennessee 56-12

Coming up

Saturday: Kentucky vs North Carolina State, 1 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Florida, 6 p.m.
Sunday: Virginia vs. Florida State in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Tennessee vs. North Carolina in the winners bracket at 6 p.m.

North Carolina beats Virginia in College World Series opener

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By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

The North Carolina Tar Heels edged past the Virginia Cavaliers 3-2 on Friday afternoon when Vance Honeycutt slapped an RBI single through the left side in ninth inning for a game-winning hit in the opener of the Men’s College World Series.

Pitchers Jason DeCaro, Matt Poston and Dalton Pence combined to lead Tar Heels pitching that limited the Cavaliers to five hits. Offensively, Casey Cook went three for four, scored a run and produced an RBI.

Jason Van De Brake led off the bottom of the ninth with a double for the Tar Heels and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt. With two out, Honeycutt came to the plate without a hit in four at bats.

He and produced the RBI single, handing the Cavaliers their first loss in the NCAA tournament.

Records

North Carolina 48-14
Virginia 46-16

Coming up

Tennessee vs. Florida State, Friday at 6 p.m. The loser will face Virginia in an elimination game on Sunday at 1 p.m., while the winner will take on North Carolina in the winners bracket Sunday at 6 p.m.

Notable

In Saturday’s games, Kentucky will take on North Carolina State at 1 p.m. Texas A&M will play Florida at 6 p.m. Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle has named Justin Lamkin as his starting pitcher against the Gators.

College World Series: Breaking down the 8-team field

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

With the Men’s College World Series opening today, here are the eight teams and how they stacked up in wins and losses, through the regular season and in the postseason.

We’ll also include head-to-head records against opponents in their respective CWS brackets.

Additionally, look for each team’s top players and CWS history:

Friday’s games

(4) North Carolina vs. (12) Virginia

North Carolina

Record: 47-14
Record in NCAA tournament: 5-1
Record v Virginia: 1-2
Record v Tennessee: 0-0
Record v Florida State: 0-0
Record v ACC (regular season): 22-8
Record ACC tournament: 1-1
Record v SEC: 2-1

The skinny: Outfielders Vance Honeycutt and Casey Cook hope to lead the fourth-seeded Tar Heels to their first national title. Honeycutt is a possible first-round pick in the MLB draft. This is North Carolina’s 12th CWS appearance and its first since 2018.

Virginia

Record: 46-15
Record in NCAA tournament: 5-0
Record v North Carolina: 2-1
Record v Tennessee: 0-0
Record v Florida State: 0-1
Record v ACC (regular season): 18-12
Record ACC tournament: 1-1
Record v SEC: 3-0

The skinny: Virginia is making its third CWS appearance in the last three years and its seventh overall. The Cavaliers won their only title in 2015. Designated hitter Ethan Anderson and shortstop Griff O’Ferrall made all ACC first team.

(1) Tennessee vs. (8) Florida State

Tennessee

Record: 55-12
Record in NCAA tournament: 5-1
Record v Florida State:
Record v North Carolina: 0-0
Record v Virginia: 0-0
Record v SEC (regular season): 22-8
Record SEC tournament: 4-1
Record v ACC: 0-0

The skinny: Tennessee is in the CWS for the third time in four years and for the seventh time overall, with their best finish as runner up in 1951. The Vols are the No. 1 overall seed for the second time in three years. Second baseman Christian Moore has produced 101 hits, 32 home runs and 71 RBI. Blake Burke leads Tennessee in batting at .376. Moore is second at .375.

Florida State

Record: 47-15
Record in NCAA tournament: 5-0
Record v Tennessee: 0-0
Record v North Carolina: 0-0
Record v Virginia: 1-0
Record v ACC (regular season): 17-12
Record ACC tournament: 3-1
Record v SEC: 3-0

The skinny: Looking for their first national title, the Seminoles are in the CWS for the 24th time. They’ve been runner up in 1970, 1986 and 1999. James Tibbs III won ACC Player of the Year honors, and he joined pitcher Jamie Arnold on the all-conference first team. Tibbs has powered the Seminoles with 28 HR and 94 RBI. Cam Smith leads the team in batting with a .402 average, with Tibbs second at .374.

Saturday’s games

Kentucky v North Carolina State

Kentucky

Record: 45-14
Record in NCAA tournament: 5-0
Record v North Carolina State 0-0
Record v Florida: 2-1
Record v Texas A&M: 0-0
Record v SEC (regular season): 22-8
Record SEC tournament: 2-1
Record v ACC: 1-0

North Carolina State

Record: 38-21
Record in NCAA tournament: 5-1
Record v Kentucky 0-0
Record v Texas A&M 0-0
Record v Florida 0-0
Record vs. ACC (regular season): 18-11
Record ACC tournament: 1-1
Record vs. SEC: 3-1

Florida v Texas A&M

Texas A&M

Record: 49-13
Record in NCAA tournament: 5-0
Record v Florida 1-2
Record v Kentucky 0-0
Record v North Carolina State 0-0
Record v SEC (regular season): 19-11
Record SEC tournament: 0-2
Record v ACC: 0-0

Florida

Record: 34-28
Record in NCAA tournament: 6-1
Record v Texas A&M: 2-1
Record v Kentucky 1-2
Record v North Carolina State 0-0
Record v SEC (regular season): 13-17
Record SEC tournament: 0-1
Record v ACC: 4-4

Aggies will need to adjust without Shane Sdao in the College World Series

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Media outlets are reporting that injured Texas A&M pitcher Shane Sdao will not be available for the Aggies as they open their national-title quest this weekend at the Men’s College World Series.

Outlets at texags.com, the Bryan-College Station Eagle and the Houston Chronicle/San Antonio Express-News reported on the development regarding Sdao from A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle’s media availability Wednesday morning.

The coach told reporters that the Aggies will need to make adjustments to compensate for the absence of Sdao and Braden Montgomery in the lineup. The CWS starts on Friday, with third-seeded A&M (49-13) opening play on Saturday at Charles Schwab Stadium.

In the past two weeks, the Aggies have swept through the first two weekends of play in the NCAA tournament with a 5-0 record. They beat Grambling, Texas and Louisiana on the opening weekend.

Last weekend, the Aggies followed with a two-game sweep of Oregon at the Super Regional. Montgomery was lost in Game 1 on Saturday against Oregon with a lower leg injury. Sdao was lost in Sunday’s Game 2 with an apparent arm problem.

A&M acknowledged on Saturday that Montgomery, a highly-rated prospect for the MLB draft later this summer, would be lost to the team for the remaining days of his final college season.

Schlossnagle confirmed on Wednesday that Sdao won’t pitch again until next year.

“Braden’s having surgery this morning in North Carolina,” Schlossnagle told reporters. “He’s going to join us (in Omaha), probably in the next couple of days. Shane was evaluated. He won’t pitch again this year.”

Schlossnagle said the long-term prognosis on Sdao is good.

“I think they’re going to wait two weeks and let some swelling go down and re-evaluate him one more time just to be sure,” the coach said. “But it looks a lot better than expected for Shane, for next year.”

Ryan Prager is expected to start for A&M against Florida on Saturday. But without Sdao, the starter for the Aggies’ Game 2 has yet to be announced. The coach said that not having Sdao changes “a lot” of the team’s plan for the pitching rotation.

“He had been as effective as any starting pitcher on our team,” Schlossnagle said. “So, we’ll have to adjust a little bit. We’re not ready to announce that yet. Justin (Lamkin) threw the one inning in the regional and didn’t pitch in the Super Regional. So, he’s ready to go.

“He had a couple of good side sessions this week. But the goal obviously is to stay in the winners bracket so you don’t have to play as much. That would help. But, we’ll have to have some other guys step to the forefront.”

The Aggies shuffled Sunday’s lineup, inserting Kaeden Kent at second base and moving things around to compensate for the loss of Montgomery, one of the best players in NCAA baseball this year.

Kent, the son of former major league star Jeff Kent, responded with a grand slam in the Aggies’ 15-9 Super Regional clincher against the Ducks.

“That’s one of the things I challenged the pitching staff about,” Schlossnagle said. “You know, who’s going to be the Kaeden Kent — or more — of the pitching staff? Somebody that hasn’t pitched a lot is going to have to pitch well for us to stay up there (in Omaha) for a long time.”

Winning the CWS will require the Aggies to play and prepare and play again and again over an 11-day period. The title round is scheduled for June 22-24. Here’s a look at the CWS schedule for the first two days:

Friday’s games

North Carolina vs. Virginia, 1 p.m.
Tennessee vs. Florida State, 6 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Kentucky vs. North Carolina State, 1 p.m.
Texas A&M vs. Florida, 6 p.m.

UTSA’s Campos receives contract extension through 2029

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The University of Texas System on Wednesday approved a contract extension for UTSA’s Lisa Campos through Nov. 30, 2029. Campos is UTSA’s Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics.

Named to lead UTSA’s athletic department on Nov. 17, 2017, Campos has worked at the helm of a program in transition.

In her tenure, the department has opened the Roadrunner Athletics Center for Excellence, has announced plans for a basketball and volleyball training center and has moved the entire program from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference.

UTSA recently completed its first season in the AAC.

The contract extension, approved by the Executive Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, marks the second contract extension for Campos during her tenure at UTSA, according to a news release from the UTSA athletic department.

Campos’ base salary in FY25 will be $550,000, increasing annually by $25,000 throughout the life of the contract and reaching $650,000 by FY29.

Former Boerne Greyhounds pitcher Zane Badmaev gets his day in the sun for the Omaha-bound Texas A&M Aggies

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Whether former Boerne High School pitcher Zane Badmaev will get a chance to take the mound for the Texas A&M Aggies in the College World Series remains, at the moment, as a question without an answer.

In his first season with the Aggies, the redshirt senior transfer from Tarleton State University appeared in only 16 games and pitched 23 and 1/3 innings.

He pitched all of seven innings in three games in Southeastern Conference play and didn’t get on the field in the NCAA playoffs until Sunday night at home against the Oregon Ducks.

Against Oregon, Badmaev stated his case to be considered as a CWS bullpen option, entering Game 2 of the Bryan-College Station Super Regional in the bottom of the sixth. He retired three of four batters without yielding a hit or a run.

When he walked back to the dugout with the rest of his teammates, the Aggies trailed 8-4. By the time the Aggies had finished batting in the top of the seventh, they had exploded for nine runs and were leading 13-8.

Thus, Badmaev became the pitcher of record.

By the end of the night, with the Aggies eventually celebrating a 15-9 victory, the one and only player from the San Antonio area on the Texas A&M roster became the winning pitcher in a game that vaulted the program to its eighth College World Series.

“We did not play well at all early,” Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle said in postgame interviews. “Could not (find) a pitcher to throw strikes and (we) threw the ball around the field a little bit. But, Zane Badmaev was the winning pitcher today, right?

“Pretty awesome for him.”

Notable

Officials announced that Texas A&M will open in the College World Series on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Florida.