Tennessee baseball is just a day away from squaring off with Texas A&M in the national championship.
To preview the biggest series in Vols baseball history, I spoke with Mark Passwaters of AggieYell.com.
Here’s what he had to say.
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What reasons will Texas A&M win the title?
“Their pitching staff, which has been performing at a high level throughout the CWS, and the depth of their lineup. There is no easy out and they work counts.”
What reasons will it not?
“Injuries and a lack of starting depth. Losing All-American Braden Montgomery and No. 2 starter Shane Sdao have hurt, even though they haven't lost to this point. All-American Jace LaViolette and DH Hayden Schott are banged up. Sdao's absence means the Aggies are even more reliant on starters Ryan Prager and Justin Lamkin.”
What needs to go differently this time around compared to the SEC Tournament?
“A&M needs to throw strikes and take pitches. The Aggies got out of their offensive gameplan the last four weeks of the season, but have gotten back to it since Hoover. Oddly enough, losing two quickly has proven to be a benefit for them. They needed the downtime.”
How impressive is this pitching staff and how deep is the bullpen?
“The pitching staff was good, but it's been phenomenal in Omaha. Pitching coach Max Weiner can't get enough credit. Prager threw 6 2/3 no-hit innings against a strong Kentucky lineup, and Lamkin combined to throw 8 innings of 4-hit, 1 walk baseball with 15 strikeouts against Florida. The bullpen hasn't really been taxed yet. So far, they've used three pitchers: righty Josh Stewart, power arm Chris Cortez and closer Evan Aschenbeck. They have a several other big arms they can go to and also have guys who throw ground balls. Stewart has been a revelation, as he's really come on. They worked on his slider during the downtime before the regional and it's far better than it was when Tennessee jumped on him.”
What’s a name or two to watch out for at the plate?
“Like I said, there's no easy outs in this lineup, 1-9. But the big bats are Gavin Grahovac, the freshman third baseman, and LaViolette, who hit 27 homers this year. They hit 1-2 in the order and can put up huge numbers fast when they're on. But one guy to watch out for is Kaeden Kent, the second baseman who moved into the lineup when Montgomery was hurt. He hit a grand slam in the Super Regional and has hit everything hard since the Aggies got to Omaha.“
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