The No. 5 Texas A&M baseball team will face off against the Oklahoma Sooners in the opening round of the College World Series on June 17, with the first pitch slated for 1:02 p.m.
The Aggies are coming off one of their best seasons in program history behind first-year head coach Jim Schlossnagle. After clinching the SEC West title and going 42-18, this will be A&M’s first appearance in the College World Series since 2017, when Louisville and TCU sent the Aggies home.
“I’m excited,” Schlossnagle said. “It never gets old. You work all year long recruiting, donor meetings, fundraising, working through issues with staff and players and just the day to day to have this opportunity … It’s been five years, so I’ve been looking forward to getting back.”
Schlossnagle has been to Omaha several times in his career, including five times with his former school, TCU, in 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
“I’ve never had a bad day there,” Schlossnagle said. “ I love seeing all the A&M fans that get to get up there and stick their chests out because their team is there. The opening ceremonies are a lot of fun and just seeing the joy on the faces on the players.”
As one of the only teams that hasn’t appeared in the College World Series in a while, Schlossnagle said he understands the excitement, but the main focus remains the same.
“The challenge for us is going to be any first-year team or team that hasn’t been in a while is combining the enjoyment of getting there and seeing everything that Omaha is because it is a tailgate party on steroids for ten days. You have to be able to focus on baseball because you want to win and extend your season,” Schlossnagle said.
The Aggies are led by hard-hitters sophomore first baseman Jack Moss (.391 BA), junior designated hitter Austin Bost (.364 BA) and graduate left fielder Dylan Rock (.335 BA). Rock leads the team in home runs and RBIs with 18 and 59 this season, respectively.
“I don’t think you could ever envision, even a guy who’s as talented, strong and physical as he [Rock] is, to have that kind of season in this league,” Schlossnagle said. “I thought he had the ability to have a big impact for us.”
Looking at the opposing dugout, Oklahoma has its own set of reliable players in senior outfielder Tanner Tredaway (.373 BA) with nine homers and 61 RBIs and sophomore infielder Peyton Graham (.336 BA) with 20 home runs and 70 RBIs.
“I’m excited about how we won this past weekend; a little bit of pitching, defense and base running things,” Schlossnagle said. “We’re going to have to cover more ground in the outfield. It’s way more ground than what this park is, so we’ll go up there and try to play the best brand of baseball we can.”
If the Aggies defeat Oklahoma in the first round, it will be the first win in the College World Series in program history. Additionally, a rematch against the Texas Longhorns is possible if both teams either win or lose their first games. The Aggies last faced the Longhorns on Mar. 29, when they defeated the orange and white 12-9.
“To say that in 12 months, you’re sitting here as the highest seed in your bracket in the College World Series — it’s awesome,” Schlossnagle said. “It’s great, but you want to win too. It comes down to playing good baseball and being able to handle all of the other stuff; that will be the challenge.”
