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Texas A&M vs. Florida: Preview, keys to know for CWS rematch
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Texas A&M and Florida are tangling again in the College World Series. For the second time, the weather played a role, too.
The Aggies and Gators were matched up in the opening weekend of CWS. Weather in Omaha forced an 11 p.m. ET start that saw Texas A&M claim a 3-2 thriller early Sunday morning.
Weather came in to play Tuesday, this time impacting only UF. Florida and Kentucky were set to play their elimination game Tuesday evening, but it was postponed to Wednesday morning due to storms in Omaha.
At DraftKings Sportsbook, Texas A&M is a 1.5-run favorite in its second CWS game against the Gators, priced at +120 for a $100 bet to potentially win $120 for a $220 payout. On the moneyline, A&M is priced at -125 and Florida is priced at -105.
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CLAIM OFFERTexas A&M is one win from reaching the College World Series finals and playing either Tennessee or Florida State.
For Florida, it’s another elimination game. The Gators are in win-or-go-home mode Wednesday evening. A UF victory would force a Thursday game for a spot in the championship series.
Wednesday night’s game is officially scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. Florida State and Tennessee, though, did not get underway until 3:45 p.m. ET and there is typically at least 1 hour before the completion of a game and first pitch of the next game.
Here’s a quick look at keys to the game:
3 keys
All eyes on Jace LaViolette
At publishing time, the status of Texas A&M OF Jace LaViolette is unknown.
A 64-game starter, LaViolette slashes .311 AVG/.454 OBP/.746 SLG.
LaViolette was 1-for-3 with a walk in the Kentucky game before he was visibly bothered by his hamstring coming home to score a run.
2-run RBI to get on the board #MCWS x ESPN / @AggieBaseball pic.twitter.com/NGIZ2zRigp
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 18, 2024
Missing LaViolette would be a tough blow for a Texas A&M squad that already lost star OF Braden Montgomery to injury earlier in the NCAA Tournament. Not only is LaViolette a big bat, the 6-6, 230-pounder also robbed Florida’s Cade Kurland of a go-ahead home run in the 9th inning early Sunday morning.
Jace LaViolette home run robberies are even more sick at 1ampic.twitter.com/mPmlpKrDTM
— Stephen Schoch (@bigdonkey47) June 16, 2024
Which Florida bats show up Wednesday night?
Florida had some offensive struggles in its first two CWS games.
The Gators struck out a combined 29 times against Texas A&M and NC State. UF particularly struggled with runners on (3-of-17) and in scoring positions (1-of-11) in the loss to A&M. While the Gators beat NC State, it was just a 4-hit performance carried by home runs from Jac Caglianone and Tyler Shelnut.
Against Kentucky, Florida finally got going on offense. UF had 14 hits in the game. While the Gators had 3 home runs, they also played some small ball scoring a run on a bunt single and were 6-of-14 with 2 outs, 9-of-20 with runners on and 8-of-14 with runners in scoring position.
The orange and blue faithful hope that the bats stay “hot” into the night. The Gators, though, are going to be facing more challenging pitchers in the later game.
Rest gives A&M a significant pitching advantage
Earlier Wednesday, Florida used Pierce Coppola (5 IP, 98 pitches), Jake Clemente (2 IP, 31 pitches) and Alex Philpott (2 IP, 18 pitches).
Cade Fisher is coming off of a 4-inning, 75-pitch outing in Monday’s win over NC State and he was described as unavailable on the ESPN broadcast of the earlier game. The Gators had to go into the bullpen earlier than planned Monday when Caglianone alerted the staff of arm issues, showing decreased velocity in his 1 inning of work.
After the UK game, it was announced that Florida is going with Liam Peterson as its starter against Texas A&M. Peterson started the first game against A&M, throwing 64 pitches and posting a line of 2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 BB and 4 K.
Peterson on short rest means Florida will have to use its bullpen on Wednesday night. Much like the previous game against the Aggies, Fisher Jameson and Brandon Neely figure to be top options.
Neely has been Florida’s postseason star on the mound, posting an ERA of 1.29 over 21 innings with 32 strikeouts, allowing just 3 runs. For the season, Neely has a 5.30 ERA, but he’s flipped a switch in the NCAA Tournament as a “closer” ready to deliver multiple innings in high-leverage situations.
A&M last played Monday, defeating Kentucky 5-1. Ryan Prager went 6.2 innings, throwing 95 pitches. Josh Stewart handled the rest of the way, throwing 37 pitches in 2.1 innings of relief.
The Aggies won’t have Prager, but everyone else, including the 3 arms that contained Florida the first time around, should be available. Justin Lamkin (3 IP, 1 H, 6 K), Chris Cortez (3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 B, 6 K) and Evan Aschenbeck (3 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K) combined for 16 strikeouts in the Texas A&M win.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
