Texas A&M has All-American SP, All-American Reliever to Throw at Cats

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Vicky Graff Photo

After a dramatic debut at theCollege World Series, No. 2Kentucky will continue its run in Omaha tonight against No. 3 Texas A&M in a matchup of Opening Round victors.

The game from Charles Schwab Field Omaha is set to begin at 7 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN. The UK Sports Network will also have a radio broadcast on 630 WLAP in Lexington, as well as on ukathletics.com.

Kentucky (46-14, 22-8 SEC) opened the program’s first World Series appearance beating No. 10 NC State 5-4 in 10 innings. Mitchell Daly etched his name into Kentucky history, as he drilled a walk-off home run into the Kentucky bullpen in left field to hand his team the victory.

The win also broke the Kentucky single season record for wins, giving the 2024 team 46 on the year and moving them past the 2012 NCAA Tournament team. The new record is just one of many for the Cats this season, who have already set program marks for SEC wins, road wins, and SEC road wins, along with winning the program’s second SEC Championship and clinching Kentucky’s first-ever MCWS berth.

Texas A&M (50-13, 19-11 SEC) advanced to the winners’ bracket matchup against Kentucky with a 3-2 win over Florida in the final Opening Round contest. The Aggies swept the Bryan-College Station Regional and Super Regional on their way to Omaha, defeating Grambling, Texas, Lousiana, and Oregon (twice)) on the way to their eighth World Series appearance.

Texas A&M opened the season on a 17-game win streak and is a perfect 31-0 against teams outside the SEC.

The Aggies are led on the mound by All-American Ryan Prager, who owns a 8-1 record with a 3.10 ERA and 117 strikeouts. First-Team All-American, and NCBWA Stopper of the Year, Evan Aschenbeck has been electric out of the bullpen, holding a 6-1 record with a 1.59 ERA across 29 appearances.

The Aggies offense has been spearheaded by a pair of All-Americans in the outfield in Braden Montgomery and Jace LaViolette. LaViolette leads the team with 28 home runs on a .311 batting average and 77 RBI, while Montgomery leads the team with 85 RBI on a .322 average and 27 home runs. However, Montgomery is out for the remainder of the season due to an ankle injury sustained in the Super Regional.

Kentucky is guaranteed another game in Omaha after Monday. Should the Wildcats win, they would move to Wednesday’s semifinal to be played at 7 p.m. ET. If the Cats were to lose, they would play in an elimination game on Tuesday  at 7 p.m. ET.

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