CWS Finals: 10 issues to look at in Tennessee vs. Texas A&M • D1Baseball

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Kendall Rogers – June 21, 2024

1. Texas A&M’s pitching employees

The Vols have been very offensive all through this Faculty World Sequence, however the nice equalizer to a unbelievable offense is an equally good or higher pitching employees. And it’s arduous to argue towards what Max Weiner’s pitching employees has completed in Omaha up to now. How spectacular of a job have the Aggies completed on the bump? A&M has a 1.00 ERA in three video games (Tennessee is 4.67), whereas groups are hitting the Aggies at a .168 clip. I don’t anticipate these numbers to carry as much as that diploma towards the Vols, however man, that’s spectacular. 

2. Tennessee’s high of the order

I completely love everything of the Tennessee batting order, however what makes this group further particular is simply what they’ve on the high, with superstars Christian Moore and Blake Burke main the cost, whereas Dylan Dreiling is on a heater in Omaha with a .500 common and 4 RBIs. There’s depth on this lineup, and when Moore, Burke, Amick and others get rolling, it’s like attempting to decelerate a freight prepare. As a lot as potential, the Aggies should attempt to gradual Moore and Burke down. 

3. Tennessee’s outfield protection is an element

We’ve documented it nicely that Tennessee’s protection has been an enormous consider a great way all through this Faculty World Sequence. Hunter Ensley received the ball rolling earlier this week when he made such an excellent play in deep heart discipline that he left eye black on the outfield wall padding. Then, after shifting over to heart discipline for a hobbled Ensley, Kavares Tears did virtually the identical factor a recreation later. That is an space the place the Vols have a definite benefit with Jace LaViolette gimpy from a hamstring situation. 

4. Texas A&M’s Ryan Prager

Unsurprisingly, the Aggies will begin one of many premier lefthanded pitchers in school baseball within the collection opener towards the Vols.  I wrote about this earlier this week, however Prager struggled towards Oregon two weekends in the past earlier than shining towards Kentucky earlier this week. Prager may very well be a stable matchup towards this Vols lineup — relying on the climate. If the wind is blowing in each so barely, Prager matches up nicely along with his capacity to maintain the breaking ball and changeup — his two greatest pitches — low within the strike zone.

5. Texas A&M’s bullpen is contemporary

The Aggies suffered a troublesome loss within the Tremendous Regional spherical when proficient lefthanded pitcher Shane Sdao went down with a season-ending arm harm. Nevertheless, as I stated main as much as the CWS, staying within the winner’s bracket permits you to be skinny concerning the beginning rotation. Now, the Aggie must win two out of three video games with a rested bullpen for essentially the most half. Josh Stewart was nasty in reduction towards UF two nights in the past, Chris Cortez solely threw a number of pitches out of the pen towards the Gators, and Evan Aschenbeck has thrown in a few video games however has considerably of a bionic arm. Which means the Aggies are contemporary with Kaiden Wilson and others having but to throw. 

6. Tennessee’s Drew Beam

Beam continues to be a premier arm and robust draft prospect, however a few of his 2024 season didn’t go as deliberate within the dominance division. Beam had an ERA simply north of 4 in SEC play, however what was fascinating is that he didn’t miss a ton of bats in league play with simply 51 strikeouts in 58.2 innings of labor. Beam was common at greatest in his three begins earlier than the Faculty World Sequence. Nevertheless, he was excellent in his one begin on this tourney, putting out seven and permitting only one run in 5 innings towards North Carolina. No less than in that begin, it was extra the classic Drew Beam that I’m used to. Can he emulate that efficiency towards the Aggies the remainder of the weekend? We’ll discover out. 

7. Texas A&M’s accidents

Jim Schlossnagle talked about this within the CWS Finals press convention, however there’s little question the Aggies are taking part in banged up on this collection. Is that an excuse? Completely not. They’re 3-0 in Omaha, in order that’s out the window. However it’s price monitoring the well being of men like Jace LaViolette and Hayden Schott on this collection. LaViolette tweaked his hamstring earlier within the CWS, so the 2 off days ought to’ve served as a Godsend to him. Schott is taking part in via a tweaked knee, however has been unbelievable within the NCAA tourney. He’s additionally hitting .400 within the CWS after wanting nice within the Tremendous Regional spherical. 

8. Tennessee’s Zander Sechrist

Assuming the Vols persist with a standard weekend rotation with the Chris Stamos/AJ Causey mixture in recreation one adopted by righthander Drew Beam in recreation two, that might arrange lefty Zander Sechrist to throw the decisive collection finale. I wrote about this earlier within the CWS, however Sechrist has been a nice shock for the Vols this season. It’s not that UT pitching coach Frank Anderson thought he wasn’t succesful, nevertheless it was extra so what number of innings he might throw for them in a given begin. Sechrist was good in his solely begin in Omaha up to now, permitting two runs on 5 hits in 6.1 innings towards a premier Florida State offensive lineup. 

9. Can Kaeden Kent stick with it for A&M? 

When Braden Montgomery went down with a season-ending harm a few weeks in the past, it made issues tough for the Aggies. They needed to ship second baseman Travis Chestnut to heart discipline, and LaViolette moved over to proper discipline. That left a emptiness at second base, and Kent, who had 70 at-bats coming into the NCAA tourney, took over. Kent has been excellent defensively, however what he has completed offensively has been the shock of the postseason up to now. Kent was nice within the Oregon Tremendous Regional, and he’s hitting a team-high .455 throughout this Omaha run. 

10. The Christian Moore present

I’m saving the most effective for final on this piece. Regulate Christian Moore all through the CWS Finals. Moore was thought of a clear-cut No. 2 behind Charlie Condon within the Participant of the Yr race coming into the Faculty World Sequence, however he has been so good that it has brought on me to do a double take. Moore hit for the cycle earlier within the CWS, and is hitting .571 with a house run and two RBIs in Omaha. That’s insane. The important thing to the collection may very well be retaining Moore from going too loopy on the plate.