'Dores destroyed by Prager shutdown in series-opening beatdown, 15-0

Game #34: No. 3 Texas A&M 15, No. 6 Vanderbilt 0 (7 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (30-4, 9-4), Vanderbilt (26-8, 8-5)
WP: Ryan Prager (7-0)
LP: Bryce Cunningham (4-2)
Box Score

"I think this is the fun-est game I've ever been a part of."

The 7,351 fans packed into Blue Bell Park on Friday night might agree with Jace LaViolette's postgame sentiments.

Indeed, it was a historic series-opening victory for No. 3 Texas A&M as they overwhelmed No. 6 Vanderbilt in a 15-0 seven-inning beatdown.

"I don't know that I've ever been a part of a game like that that we ran away with, and it only lasted two hours and four minutes," A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "Obviously, great night for us at the plate. Everything went our way."

In a hit parade of epic proportions, A&M tallied 17 knocks. Every Aggie enjoyed a multi-hit night except Gavin Grahovac, who had a single, two walks and scored three runs.

Six different hitters drove in a run. Only Hayden Schott — who finished 2-for-4 with an RBI — did not score.

Displaying its ever-present power, A&M jumped Olsen Field more times (5) than Vanderbilt had base hits (4).

"I think our offense still has a lot of work to do," LaViolette said. "I think we still have a long way to come, and I don't think we're anywhere near our best potential, which is really fun to say after a night like this."

Fun, sure.

Scary if you're in the opposing dugout.

Somewhere, Michael Earley is grinning ear to ear, knowing that his hitters hunted heaters all night and kept "Rattlin' Bog" playing on a loop inside the ballpark.

In an offensive showing that would make Mike Elko and Collin Klein blush, the Aggie annihilation started just two batters in.

After a 10-pitch walk by Grahovac, LaViolette launched his first of two home runs on the night.

Two pitches later, Braden Montgomery made it 3-0.

"It's a fun little thing me and B-Mont have going on here," LaViolette said. "It's exciting to come to the park every single day — even when I don't have my best days — and watching that dude play. It's unbelievable to watch him play.

"Getting to hit in front of him is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I'm loving it."

It's the sixth time the two big boppers have homered in the same ballgame, and neither was done there.

LaViolette added a three-run blast in a six-run fifth to bring his RBI total on the evening to six.

That was three innings after Montgomery's own three-run bomb.

Kelly Cothern, TexAgs

Punching out 10 batters, 71 of Ryan Prager’s 93 pitches on Friday were strikes.

The duo now have 16 and 19 round-trippers on the year, respectively.

"Those are two future major league players," Schlossnagle said. "When the rest of the lineup gets going and you have to deal with those two, that's what it was like last year when you were playing Tommy White and Dylan Crews.

"You constantly have to be thinking, when are they coming up, and how are you going to get them out?"

Ted Burton's fourth bomb of the year — a two-run opposite-field shot — rounded out the Aggies' five-homer night.

2024 is becoming an Aggie version of New York's 1961 M&M Boys.

Instead of chasing the Babe, LaViolette and Montgomery continue gaining ground on Daylan Holt's 34.

Further, the team’s highwater mark of 125 set in 1999 is also coming into view as the 2024 club has crushed 69 in 34 games.

Indeed, the A&M Boys are on a torrid pace.

Vanderbilt starter Bryce Cunningham had no answers for the A&M lineup, allowing three runs in both the first and second.

Kelly Cothern, TexAgs

Finishing 2-for-3 with two home runs, Jace LaViolette led the Aggies with six RBIs.

When Cunningham departed down 7-0, Sam Hliboki and Levi Huesman failed to solve the puzzle, allowing six and two in their individual innings of work.

In fact, the lone arm to succeed against the College Station south wind was Ryan Prager.

Somehow, the left-hander's seven-inning complete-game shutout is a footnote.

Thank the Aggie bats for that.

"I feel like that is nothing special, though, right now," Prager said of his offense. "I feel like that's just what they've been doing all year. That's just who they are."

Pushing and pulling the throttle, Prager punched out 10 and did not allow a walk as his changeup and slider kept Vanderbilt hitters waving all night.

He took a perfect game into the fifth, retiring the first 13 Commodores he faced.

The only men to reach against him were four scattered singles well after the outcome was out of reach.

It is the first complete-game shutout by an Aggie since Asa Lacy blanked No. 7 Mississippi State in 2019. That was also a seven-inning victory.

"Our job as starting pitchers is to keep our team in the game and give us a chance," Prager said. "When you have a great night like that, it just helps set up the rest of the weekend."

No stranger to dominant starts, Prager is now 7-0 and lowered his season ERA to a microscopic 1.98. He has punched out 73 on the year against just five walks.

His latest gem kept the A&M bullpen completely fresh.

That provides even more reason to expect more fun when the series continues at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.