Tag Archives: Men’s College World Series

Schlossnagle leaves Texas A&M baseball to coach at the University of Texas

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Less than 24 hours after Jim Schlossnagle implied that he would continue to coach a Texas A&M Aggies program that reached the Men’s College World Series championship game, he was announced on Tuesday night as baseball coach of the University of Texas Longhorns, the Aggies’ traditional in-state rival.

“What a home run hire,” Texas president Jay Hartzell said in a statement. “Coach Schlossnagle is the best in the business, his long list of accomplishments is incredible, and his track record of building great programs is well documented.

“We are the premier baseball program in the country with legendary coaches, our six national championships and record 38 College World Series appearances, so it’s certainly fitting that we hired a coach of his caliber to lead us.”

Schlossnagle has spent the last three seasons coaching the Aggies, taking them to unprecedented heights. The former longtime coach of the TCU Horned Frogs led A&M to the MCWS in 2022 and again last week. The 2022 team went 2-2 in Omaha.

This time, the Aggies were loaded with talent, and even with injuries to a couple of key players, they made a spirited run to the finals against the top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers. No. 3 A&M finished 53-15 on the season, 9-2 in the NCAA tournament and 4-2 in the MCWS.

On Monday, in Austin, as the MCWS in Omaha was preparing for the championship showdown, Texas officials acknowledged that they had parted ways with eight-year coach David Pierce. By Monday night, Tennessee held off A&M 6-5 in an emotional winner-take-all contest.

In postgame interviews, a question to Schlossnagle about his “future in Aggieland” sparked an emotional response.

The question went like this: “With respect to the difficult outcome tonight, with the rumors circulating today about a specific job opening, what do you have to say about your future in Aggieland?”

“Yeah, I mean, I think it’s pretty selfish of you to ask that question, to be honest with you,” Schlossnagle responded. “But … I left my family to be the coach at Texas A&M. I took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job again, and that hasn’t changed in my mind. That’s unfair to talk about something like that.

“That’d be like you asking (Braden) Montgomery if he’s going to sign in the (Major League Baseball) draft. But, I understand you got to ask the question. But, I gave up a big part of my life to come take this job, and I’ve poured every ounce of my soul in this job. And I’ve given this job every single ounce I could possibly give it. So, write that.”

In a statement from Schlossnagle published Tuesday night by ESPN reporter Dave Wilson, he thanked Texas A&M administrators and the fans “for an incredible experience during my time at Texas A&M.”

“Although I know many will be upset with my decision, I chose to make a change to join a longtime friend to continue my career as a college baseball coach,” the coach said. “The run to the (national title) game was truly a remarkable one this year, and I will savor the memories and true friendships I have made there for a lifetime.”

In Austin, Schlossnagle will be reunited with Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte, who was athletic director at TCU when Schlossnagle coached the Horned Frogs.

Schlossnagle’s key staffers at A&M will follow him to Texas, including assistants Nolan Cain, Michael Earley and Max Weiner.

Tennessee rallies past Texas A&M, 4-1, to even the MCWS at one win apiece

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Two-run homers by Dylan Dreiling in the seventh inning and Cal Stark in the eighth propelled the top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers past the No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies 4-1 on Sunday at the Men’s College World Series.

With the win, Tennessee evened the best-of-three MCWS title round at one win apiece, with the third and deciding game scheduled for Monday.

Coming into Sunday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb., the Aggies were 9-0 in the NCAA tournament and 4-0 in the MCWS and needed to win only once to clinch their first national championship in baseball.

They got off to a good start with Jace LaViolette hitting a solo home run in the first inning for a 1-0 lead. But that was it for the Aggies, who were limited to seven hits on the day.

In the wake of the game, the Volunteers were talking about how it feels to come within one game of the school’s first championship.

“It feels pretty dang good,” Stark told ESPN reporter Kris Budden. “You know, we got a lot of work left to do. We got to play nine innings tomorrow against a really good team. I mean, Game 3, final game of the year. What else could you want?”

With Tennessee’s season on the line, Dreiling continued to swing a hot bat in clutch situations. On Saturday, in Game 1 of the series, he hit a two-run homer in a three-run seventh. The Vols ultimately fell short, losing 9-5. On Sunday, he connected again, this time in a difficult lefty-on-lefty situation.

He clubbed a pitch from freshman Kaiden Wilson over the right field wall, giving the Vols a 2-1 lead.

In the eighth, the Vols struck again, this time with Stark doing the honors. He came to the plate with one on base and in an 0 for 16 skid in the MCWS, but he re-directed a Wilson pitch over the wall for his 11th homer of the season and his first since June 9. With one swing, Tennessee opened a 4-1 advantage.

“I was glad I could come through for my teammates,” Stark said. “I obviously haven’t had the best series. So, just trying to keep grinding, keep grinding at the plate.”

Tennessee pitching had a good day, striking out 12. The Vols got four innings out of starter Drew Beam and four more from Aaron Combs, who was roughed up in the Vols’ MCWS opener against Florida State. In the ninth, Combs, Kirby Connell and Nate Snead all pitched for the Vols, who had to hold on at the end to win.

Ted Burton led off against Combs and poked a single into left field. Connell entered at that point and yielded a single to Caden Sorrell. With the potential tying run at the plate, the Vols brought in Snead, who would face Ali Camarillo. On a slow ground ball to the right side, second baseman Ariel Antigua, whose only play was to slap a tag on Sorrell.

Not only was Sorrell the first out, he also went back to the dugout with a bloodied eyebrow. The next batter, red-hot Kaeden Kent, flied to the outfield for the second out. At that juncture, with runners at first and third, A&M sent in pinch hitter Ryan Targac. During his at bat, Camarillo took second base, and then Targac flied to right to end the game.

Despite the loss for Texas A&M, LaViolette emerged from a batting slump with a two-for-two day. Additionally, reliever Chris Cortez relaced opener Zane Badmaev in the second inning and pitched 4 and 1/3 shutout innings. He allowed two hits and walked five but had good life on his pitches, striking out seven.

“I guess the difference in the game were the two, two-out homers,” Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “They got the big swings at the right time, but we battled back. Combs obviously settled down the game really well for them. I thought Chris (Cortez) battled. I was proud of Kaiden Wilson. Just, two pitches got him. Dreiling was on the fast ball, and (Wilson) hung a breaking ball to the catcher.

“Close ball game, just exactly what you’d expect with these two teams. To think you’re going to roll right through it in two games is … that would have been nice. We get to play. We don’t have to play, we get to play the last college baseball game of the season, and that’s awesome.”

Records

Texas A&M

Overall 53-14
In the NCAA tournament 9-1
In the MCWS 4-1

Tennessee

Overall 59-13
In the NCAA tournament 9-2
In the MCWS 4-1

Notable

Tennessee gave itself a chance to become the first No. 1 national seed in the NCAA baseball tournament to win a championship since the Miami Hurricanes did it in 1999.

Coming up

Texas A&M vs. Tennessee, Game 3 of the MCWS championship round, 6 p.m.

Aggies can book a trip to MCWS finals if they can win tonight

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By the end of the day on Wednesday, the top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers and the No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies could clinch berths in the championship round of the Men’s College World Series.

Weather-related concerns in Omaha scrambled the schedule for the MCWS on Tuesday as the hard-hitting eighth-seeded Florida State Seminoles won 9-5 to stay alive in the tournament and to eliminate the No. 4 North Carolina Tar Heels.

The Seminoles staved off elimination for the second straight day, led by Jaxson West, who set a career high with four hits, including a ninth-inning home run.

West and Max Williams hit back-to-back homers in the ninth to put the game away. Connor Hults improved to 3-1 with 4 and 1/3 scoreless innings.

An elimination game between Florida and Kentucky scheduled for Tuesday night was pushed back a day because of weather-related concerns in Omaha.

Florida and Kentucky were playing Wednesday morning with the winner hoping to advance into the semifinal round against A&M. The second game of the day will feature a semifinals matchup between Tennessee against Florida State.

Tennessee rallied with four runs in the bottom of the ninth last Friday to stun Florida State on opening day of the tournament.

Both Tennessee and A&M will need to be beaten twice in the semifinals for their opponents to make the finals. Should either or both Tennessee and A&M lose, a second day of competition in the semis would be held on Thursday.

The best of three MCWS finals are scheduled to open Saturday.

Wednesday’s schedule

(Revised)
Florida v Kentucky, 10 a.m. (elimination game)
Tennessee v Florida State, 2 p.m. (semifinals)
Texas A&M v Florida or Kentucky, 6 p.m. (semifinals)

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.