College Station Regional Preview:
- Texas A&M (45-11)
- Coastal Carolina (38-19)
- California (34-19)
- Texas Southern (31-17)
Texas A&M
After an impressive 24-game winning streak to start the year the Aggies were poised for a top-eight national seed. However, after stumbling in the second half of the season, a little bit, the Aggies ended the season without a SEC Championship and without a top-eight national seed. I think it is safe to say the Aggies will be hungry and coming into the regional with a chip on their shoulder.
The Aggies are an ”I’ll outhit you” type of team and rely on their offense for the majority of the support. Although, Grayson Long is among the nation’s top arms (2.62 ERA, 86 IP) so the Aggies have that going for them on the pitching side of things. The Aggies also have Matt Kent, who is more than capable of winning a game or two this weekend. Leading the Aggie offense is Mitchell Nau who is batting .376 with four homers and forty-six RBI. Blake Allemand, Nick Banks and Logan Taylor also provide impressive resumes for the Aggies and will most certainly continue their stellar ways into the College Station Regional.
Coastal Carolina
What magic potion can Head Coach Gary Gilmore stir up this weekend to battle through all the injuries and holes in the Chanticleers lineup? Gilmore has a tough road ahead of him if he wants to see his club advance to the Super Regional; the Chanticleers are going to be without backstop and a prominent member of the Chanticleers offense, Casey Schroeder. Connor Owings, G.K. Young and Anthony Marks lead the Chanticleers offense. Marks is the teams leading hitter with a blistering .351 batting average and an impressive 17 stolen bases. The Chanticleers are among the nations best in the long ball category, coming in at No. 10 nationally.
On the mound this weekend, the Chanticleers are going to be truly tested. It is always tough going into any tournament without your top guys and especially tough when you are facing a potent offense such as Texas A&M.
California
The California Golden Bears enter this weekend’s regional tournament in College Station, Texas as the No. 3 seed despite their 18-12 record in a very competitive PAC-12 Conference.
Being a PAC-12 team, the Bears are loaded with pitching, which bodes well for a team that could make a deep run into the tournament, even if they drop a game early. Dalton Jefferies (3.12/5-5/72 IP), Ryan Mason (3.18/6-3/90.2 IP) and Matt Ladrech (2.72/7-4/82.2 IP) are the top three pitchers for the Bears, and will all give the Bears quality starts. The impressive Jefferies, posses a heavy fastball that has been clocked at 95 mph. The Golden Bear bullpen also gives the Bears a slight advantage, as they have been very good all year-long.
Chris Paul, who is batting .326 with 8 home runs, 60 hits, 11 doubles and 42 RBI, leads the Bears offense. Devin Pearson is also an impressive hitter as he has a team best .350 batting average with 10 doubles and 4 home runs in 120 at bats. The Bears need a showing from Lucas Erceg and Brett Cumberland, both guys are the obvious power threat in the Bears line up. Erceg has hit 11 home runs and Cumberland has hit 7 home runs, both must provide the Bears with a power surge this weekend.
Texas Southern
Texas Southern enters College Station as the No. 4 seed but they are not to be taken for granted. Michael Robertson has his team playing very well heading into the weekend and won’t want to shy away from what has brought the Tigers success in the SWAC all year-long. That is base running and timely hitting and pitching. The Tigers have a whopping 136 stolen bases as a team so far this year and if they want to continue their season after this weekend that number will go up significantly. The team leaders in stolen bases are Ryan Lazo (34), Jerry Ford (29) and Zach Welz (22). The Tigers top offensive player is Robert Garza, who is batting .348 with 4 triples, 4 home runs and 31 RBI. The pitching staff is led by Frank Cruz (3.97/6-3/77 IP) and Ryan Rios (2.92/6-1/49.1 IP).
Predicted Winner: California
College Station, Texas Regional Schedule:
Game 1: Coastal Carolina vs. California, Fri. Noon
Game 2: Texas A&M vs. Texas Southern, Fri. 6 p.m.
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, Sat. Noon (Loser eliminated)
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, Sat. 6 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, Sun. Noon (Loser Eliminated)
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, Sun. 6 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, Mon. 6:30 p.m. (If Necessary)
