By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Smacked around early by the Oregon Ducks, the third-seeded Texas A&M Aggies rallied from a multi-run deficit for the second time in two days Sunday night, claiming a 15-9 victory for a two-game sweep at the Bryan-College Station Super Regional.
As a result, the Aggies won for the 49th time this season and earned a berth in the College World Series.
At one point in the second game of the Super Regional, A&M trailed by five runs against an Oregon team looking to win and force a third and deciding matchup Monday in the best-of-three series.
Aggies sophomore Kaeden Kent decided he didn’t want that to happen, so he belted a grand slam to highlight a nine-run seventh inning.
The Ducks figured prominently in their own demise, walking six and hitting a batter to fuel the outburst that left them trailing 13-8.
With injured star Braden Montgomery not available, the Aggies shuffled their lineup, moving pieces around and adding Kent, a sophomore from Lake Travis, to play second base. He finished three for five with five RBI.
Hayden Schott also enjoyed a big night, going four for four with four RBI. Schott belted a two-run homer in the eighth to make it 15-8.
A&M players will pack their bags in a few days for a trip to Omaha, Neb. They’ll play in the CWS for the eighth time in program history in search of the program’s first national title.
Records
Oregon 40-21
Texas A&M 49-13
Coming up
The College World Series is scheduled for June 14-24 at Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
Notable
In the Super Regional opener on Saturday, the Aggies lost one of their best players to injury in the first inning and then rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Ducks 10-6.
After the game, A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle said Braden Montgomery likely would be out for the season with a lower leg injury.
Oddly, the same sort of thing happened Sunday night, only this time the injury bug claimed one of A&M’s starting pitchers. Shane Sdao was relieved with one out in the bottom of the first after giving up a home run to Chase Meggers.
With Brad Rudis on the mound for the Aggies, the Ducks added round-trippers by Drew Smith and Anson Aroz to give them three homers in three consecutive at bats.