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Texas A&M
Louisville
Texas A&M Baseball

OMAHA! Aggies secure super sweep of Louisville, punch ticket to CWS

June 11, 2022
34,779

Game #60: #5 Texas A&M 4, #12 Louisville 3
Records: Texas A&M (42-18, 19-11), Louisville (42-21-1, 18-11-1)
WP: Will Johnston (3-1)
LP: Ryan Hawks (5-3)
Save: Jacob Palisch (5)
Box Score


The move to Texas A&M made by Jim Schlossnagle last June has proved to be great for the Aggie baseball coach.

The moves Schlossnagle made on Saturday were even better for the Aggies.

Schlossnagle made a series of astute moves on the mound and in the dugout that resulted in #5 A&M (42-18) posting a thrilling 4-3 super-regional victory over #12 Louisville (42-21-1).

Consequently, the Aggies — who did not even qualify for the Southeastern Conference postseason tournament last season — are moving on to the College World Series in Omaha next week.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs
In Jim Schlossnagle’s first season, Texas A&M advances to Omaha for just the seventh time in program history. It will be A&M’s first trip to the CWS since 2017.

“Just so excited for our players,” said Schlossnagle, who left TCU last year to become A&M’s head coach. “To be where we were three or four months ago and getting ready to hop on a plane and go to Omaha…super proud of them.”

His team and the 6,656 fans, who turned Blue Bell Park into a bubble festival, should be incredibly impressed at the moves Schlossnagle made to gain and protect a  precious one-run margin.

He made three brilliant moves to the bullpen that produced perfect results. He also delivered a speech that apparently led to a momentum-changing Ryan Targac home run.

The Aggies trailed 3-2 after five innings, so before the sixth, Schlossnagle gathered his hitters together for an impromptu meeting.

Targac, who previously had struck out twice, then hammered the first pitch well over the left-field fence.”

“He said, ‘Just go up there and get your pitch. Don’t try to be the hero. Don’t try to do too much. Just get your pitch and trust it,’” Targac said of Schlossnagle. “The whole entire day, I was chasing stuff out of the zone. I just told myself I know where my zone’s at. I got a pitch to handle, and I just put a good swing on it.”

Added Schlossnagle: “It’s always cool when you have a team meeting and then the guy hits a homer on the first pitch. It makes you look like you can coach.”

The Aggies took a 4-3 lead the next inning. Trevor Werner was hit by a pitch, went to third on a Jack Moss single and scored on Dylan Rock’s sacrifice fly to centerfield.

“To win a championship, you have to win in a variety of ways. It’s good to see us win the more lower-scoring pitching and somewhat defensive games without a bunch of homers.”
- A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle

“With Jack Moss behind me…he seems to be a walking barrel,” Werner said. “Whenever I get on first, I know he’s got the ability to drive the ball either down the line or in the gap. I always look at (Michael) Earley and smile and say, ‘I’m scoring on a ball in the gap.’

“He stroked one into the gap. We got first and third. That was big-time there. Rock eventually drove me in with a sac-fly. It’s huge having that confidence that if I get on base, you’ve got Rock and Bost and Targac behind me, and for sure, somebody’s going to drive me in.”

But the Aggies couldn’t be confident they could maintain that one-run margin against the heavy-hitting Cardinals.

Or could they?

The Cardinals’ leadoff hitter reached base in the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings, but only one run was managed.

That score came in the fifth on a single by cleanup-hitter Jack Payton off A&M starter Micah Dallas to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead. A threat to add to the margin remained with two runners on base.

Schlossnagle opted to bring in left-handed reliever Will Johnston (3-1), who promptly got a ground ball out to end the inning.

Johnston pitched a scoreless sixth but was removed with one out in the seventh in favor of freshman Brad Rudis.

Rudis got the next two outs. He also pitched a scoreless eighth with help from catcher Troy Claunch throwing out an attempted base stealer.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs
Stanford graduate transfer Jacob Palisch earned his fifth save of the season to clinch the super-regional championship.

But with one on in the ninth and a full count, Schlossnagle brought in the left-handed Jacob Palisch to face right-handed hitting Ben Metzinger, who had fouled off four pitches in the at-bat.

“I just thought the right-handed hitter was getting good swings on (Rudis),” Schlossnagle said. I felt like we could change the look. I thought (Metzinger) was in swing mode. The pitch that Jacob is most comfortable throwing in just about count is his slider, his breaking ball. I just wanted to go right to that and change the look and see what happened.”

Palisch struck out Ben Metzinger with his first pitch. He then retired Dalton Rushing on a deep fly to the warning track in centerfield.

Palisch followed by striking out Payton to end the game and start a bubble infestation.

A&M frequently has won high-scoring slugfests. Schlossnagle said the 4-3 victory, which followed a 5-4 win on Friday, enhanced A&M’s possibilities in Omaha.

“To win a championship, you have to win in a variety of ways,” Schlossnagle said. “It’s good to see us win the more lower-scoring pitching and somewhat defensive games without a bunch of homers.”

Discussion from...

OMAHA! Aggies secure super sweep of Louisville, punch ticket to CWS

19,621 Views | 10 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by TheChameleon
Ian Neff
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AG
WINNERS.
McJulie-O
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Whoop!
LatinAggie1997
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An amazing job by the team and coaching staff.


We ain't done yet!
jigsaw87
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FallsonbrazosAg91
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Great win for us. Love Schloss and the boys.
Louisville is class though. It starts at the top. That coach always had a smile on. Was always cordial and complimentary to us. Well wishes for him and his team.
Dallasag517
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i'm wondering if they might want to move the press room a little further from the locker room. it cracked me up the louisville guys are giving a presser while the roar from our locker room is drowning them out.
Aggieangler93
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I have really enjoyed this team. Hope they go all the way!
Class of '93 - proud Dad of a '22 grad and a '26 student!
AWP 97
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First team to Omaha makes for a stress free Sunday.
Matsui
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Boom!
TheChameleon
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What an accomplishment. This is now an achievement that will always be in place... A banner that will always be on the wall. To think this season would turn out like this is a testament to everyone in the program... Spectacular grit, determination, coaching, and talent... Everyone deserves so much credit. The Louisville series was back and forth, difficult, a lot of tense moments and we found a way in both games. The will to win has been there and we just outlasted Louisville- great effort by those guys, very talented team.

Thought Dallas threw the ball well- a lot of positives to take into Omaha. They got him early but he really settled down after we tied it up... Just seemed like he turned it up a notch after that. Fastball had juice, spotting it armside, and did a nice job staying down with his offspeed. Stuff looked sharp and feeling really good about his next start in the CWS. Bullpen was tremendous... Johnston, Rudis, and Palisch were all locked in... Rudis has really found another gear starting in the regionals- fastball has great life and his changeup has a ton of deception. Palisch's experience shows so much, he is composed, the strikeout on the slider when he came in on the 3-2 count... That was a major turning point. Awesome job closing it out and major credit to Schloss for making that move on 3-2. Also definitely would not have won this series without Claunch behind the plate- what a defensive performance by him.

Offense battled and Louisville did throw well in this series... But again, we found a way. Grinded out some walks and clutch sac flies by Bost and Rock... Huge homer by Targac to tie it- the power he has from both sides of the plate is incredibly rare. Fun to watch. Louisville did hold down the middle of the order some, credit to them but these guys are way too good for that to last- predicting big things from them in Omaha. Our approach at the plate is stellar overall, definitely think we'll score some runs this weekend.

No matter how it turns out in Omaha this has obviously been a special year... No way I'd bet against these guys in the CWS. The resilience, talent, and coaching is all there... We have as good a shot as any team. It's been awesome to see the transformation from really early in the year, to conference play and all the way to winning supers... What a season and it's not over yet.
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