SEC Tournament Preview: Aggies enter Hoover as No. 4 seed

What: SEC Tournament — Bracket Two
Who: #1 Tennessee, #4 Texas A&M, #5 Mississippi State, #8 Vanderbilt
Where: Hoover Metropolitan Complex — Hoover, Alabama
When:

• Wednesday: 4:30 p.m. CT (Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt) and approximately 8 p.m. CT (Texas A&M vs. Mississippi State) — SEC Network
• Thursday: 1 p.m. CT (Loser’s game) and 8 p.m. CT (Winner’s game) — SEC Network
• Friday: 7 p.m. (Elimination game) — SEC Network
• Saturday: 4 p.m. Semifinal Game (Single Elimination) — SEC Network
• Sunday: 2 p.m. SEC Tournament Championship Game

Texas A&M begins postseason play on Wednesday in the SEC Tournament with the ultimate goal of returning to the Men’s College World Series in three weeks. At 10:15 p.m. last night, A&M found out the long postseason journey starts with Mississippi State when Bulldog centerfielder Connor Hujsak drilled a dramatic ninth-inning, two-run homer to beat Ole Miss 2-1 and advance to the double-elimination round. The game is scheduled to start at approximately 8 p.m. CT depending on the length of the afternoon contest between Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

The two losers from Wednesday will play Thursday at 1 p.m., while the two winners will face off at 8 p.m. The winner of the Thursday night contest moves to the single-elimination SEC semifinals on Saturday, while the remaining one-loss teams play an elimination game on Friday at 7 p.m. to determine who advances to Saturday’s semifinal.

The winners of Saturday’s games will advance to the SEC Tournament Championship Game on Sunday.

With the scheduling formalities out of the way, let’s discuss what A&M needs to accomplish this week in Hoover.

Road to Omaha starts in Hoover

This Aggie squad had a great regular season at 44-11. In fact, the Maroon & White reclaimed the top spot in the RPI rankings this week after winning the regular-season finale against top-five Arkansas. Thus, A&M is virtually assured of a national top-eight seed and will play at Blue Bell Park throughout the NCAA Tournament until the Men’s College World Series.

Kelii Horvath, TexAgs

Brad Rudis will start for A&M on Wednesday night vs. Mississippi State. 

The ultimate goal of any collegiate team is to earn that right to play at their home ballpark throughout both rounds of regional play. From that standpoint, that begs the question what can the Aggies accomplish in the SEC Tournament?

Frankly, the answer is “not much” in terms of seeding and the privilege of hosting. A&M has already locked up the biggest reason a team wants to go on a big run in Hoover.

Don’t get me wrong, Jim Schlossnagle would love to bring home an SEC Tournament Championship trophy back to Aggieland.

With that said, this team has a legitimate chance to win a national championship. All eyes are focused on the big picture. Indeed, the Road to Omaha starts in Hoover. With a national seed most likely already secured, that means getting the pitching rotation set for regional play and not taxing the core group of arms that will be critical in a run to the title. That doesn’t mean the Aggies won’t try to win this week, but it does mean Schlossnagle will not stress any starting pitcher with long, extended outings, and he won’t max out any relievers in the bullpen with multiple appearances. The team will try to win every game, but not at the expense of jeopardizing the pitching rotation next weekend.

This squad earned the right to prepare for the NCAA Tournament this week.

What can Texas A&M accomplish in Hoover?

While A&M and other top seeds like Tennessee and Kentucky don’t have a lot on the line this week at the SEC Tournament, there’s still plenty of work to do this week for the Aggies. This is a perfect time to address some loose ends from a performance standpoint.

A&M has been dominant for most of the year offensively, led by the three-headed attack of Gavin Grahovac, Jace LaViolette and Braden Montgomery. The trio at the top of the batting order has combined for 73 of the team’s 121 home runs and driven in 211 runs in 2024. The Aggie offensive machine is powered by this trio. Leading up to the Arkansas series, that engine fell into a mini-slump that resulted in consecutive series losses at LSU and Ole Miss. Grahovac, LaViolette and Montgomery pressed and chased pitches out of the zone as the strikeouts mounted. On the year, the trio has racked up 195 strikeouts. Power hitters will get plenty of swing-and-miss, but the strikeouts really hurt this lineup during the late-season swoon. In particular, Montgomery scuffled significantly in recent weeks and saw his average drop from a high near .380 to .325 today.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The big bats started heating up against Arkansas. LaViolette and Montgomery had two homers each, and Grahovac lit up the box score by getting on base five times on Saturday, including a double and a big fly of his own. The Aggies need these three sluggers to build on the momentum from last weekend and have a productive run in Hoover. If they can start hitting on all cylinders this week and storm into regionals next week with some red-hot bats in tow, this team will be hard to beat in the NCAA Tournament.

On the mound, the Aggies have to feel good about Ryan Prager and Evan Aschenbeck. Those two veterans have been stalwarts all season, and even better in recent weeks. The goal for these two is to get some work this week. I suspect Prager will start on Thursday since he pitched last Thursday against Arkansas. That fits perfectly into his routine and will set him up for a full week’s rest heading into regional play. Aschenbeck will likely be used in situations with the game on the line in late inning scenarios. I would not foresee him being called upon in the middle innings for an extended outing that would drive up his pitch count. I do think he could be used in multiple situations throughout the week, but in much smaller doses as needed.

After that, Max Weiner would love to see a quality start from Shane Sdao if the Aggies can make it past Thursday. He wasn’t sharp last week against Arkansas, and ideally, the staff would like to see him leave Hoover on a high note and build some confidence. Really, you can say that about the rest of the pitching staff.

Justin Lamkin could really use another outing to wipe away some recent shaky performances. Tanner Jones showed some extra velocity out of the bullpen last week in his first assignment in several weeks. The coaches would really like to get him back on the mound for another stint to see where he stands heading into regional play next week. We could go down the list of relievers and say the same thing. They need work, and it will be an audition of sorts for the NCAA Tournament.

However, there are only so many innings to go around, especially if the team exits the SEC Tournament early. From that standpoint, there is a need for A&M to extend its stay in Hoover. The staff is still trying to find answers in the back end of the bullpen, and you can only find answers if you win some games and create more game opportunities to get these guys on the bump throwing in postseason scenarios.

While there are few tangible goals for this weekend in terms of hosting and seeding at the NCAA Tournament, there’s definitely plenty at stake this week in preparation for when the games truly count over the next three weeks, especially this year when the Aggies have a legitimate chance to be the last team standing in Omaha holding a national championship trophy.

Here’s a summary breakdown of all four teams in Bracket Two:

#1 Seed: Tennessee Volunteers

• RPI: 5
• Record: 46-10 (22-8 SEC)
• Team average: .316
• Slugging percentage: .617
• On-base percentage: .419
• Home runs: 141
• Team ERA: 3.68
• Fielding percentage: .978

Top Pitchers

• Nate Snead (8-1, 2.67 ERA, 4 saves)
• Drew Beam (8-2, 3.59 ERA, 14 starts)
• AJ Causey (10-3, 4.08 ERA, 93 K’s)

Top Hitters

• Christian Moore (.388 avg, 27 HR, 60 RBI)
• Blake Burke (.359 avg, 16 HR, 50 RBI)
• Billy Amick (.346 avg, 18 HR, 50 RBI)

#4 Seed: Texas A&M Aggies

• RPI: 1
• Record: 44-11 (19-11 SEC)
• Team average: .305
• Slugging percentage: .573
• On-base percentage: .424
• Home runs: 121
• Team ERA: 3.92
• Fielding percentage: .979

Top Pitchers

• Ryan Prager (8-1, 2.47 ERA, 104 K)
• Evan Aschenbeck (5-1, 1.80 ERA, 7 saves)
• Shane Sdao (4-1, 2.72 ERA, .98 WHIP)

Top Hitters

• Braden Montgomery (.325 avg, .26 HR, 80 RBI)
• Jace LaViolette (.324 avg, 28 HR, 72 RBI)
• Gavin Grahovac (.322 avg, 19 HR, 59 RBI)

#5 Seed: Mississippi State Bulldogs

• RPI: 22
• Record: 37-19 (18-13 SEC)
• Team average: .282
• Slugging percentage: .456
• On-base percentage: .393
• Home runs: 72
• Team ERA: 4.15
• Fielding percentage: .983

Top Pitchers

• Khal Stephen (8-3, 3.25 ERA, 93 K)
• Jurrangelo Cijntje (8-1, 3.48 ERA, 98 K)
• Tyler Davis (5-0, 1.19 ERA, 4 saves)

Top Hitters

• Dakota Jordan (.363 avg, 17 HR, 61 RBI)
• Connor Hujsak (.347 avg, 9 HR, 43 RBI)
• Hunter Hines (.259 avg, 15 HR, 51 RBI)

#8 Seed: Vanderbilt Commodores

• RPI: 27
• Record: 36-20 (14-17 SEC)
• Team average: .286
• Slugging percentage: .466
• On-base percentage: .378
• Home runs: 65
• Team ERA: 5.04
• Fielding percentage: .977

Top Pitchers

• Bryce Cunningham (7-4, 4.20 ERA, 94 K)
• Carter Holton (6-4, 5.28 ERA, 96 K)
• Miller Green (1-4, 3.00 ERA, 3 saves)

Top Hitters

• RJ Austin (.318 avg, 45 runs, 51 RBI)
• Alan Espinal (.291 avg, 10 HR, 42 RBI)
• Jonathan Vastine (.303 avg, 9 HR, .551 slug%)

Statistical Comparisons – Bracket Two

Team Batting Average

1. Tennessee: .316
2. Texas A&M: .305
3. Vanderbilt: .286
4. Mississippi State: .282

Slugging Percentage

1. Tennessee: .617
2. Texas A&M: .573
3. Vanderbilt: .466
4. Mississippi State: .456

Home Runs

1. Tennessee: 141
2. Texas A&M: 121
3. Mississippi State: 72
4. Vanderbilt: 65

Team ERA

1. Tennessee: 3.68
2. Texas A&M: 3.92
3. Mississippi State: 4.15
4. Vanderbilt: 5.04

Fielding

1. Mississippi State: .983
2. Texas A&M: .979
3. Tennessee: .978
4. Vanderbilt: .977