Ad Disclosure
Bryan-College Station Super Regional: Schedule, preview for Texas A&M vs. Oregon
By Paul Harvey
Published:
The Bryan-College Station Super Regional is just about to get rolling. This weekend, Texas A&M will host the best-of-3 series against Oregon with the winner advancing to the College World Series in Omaha.
The Aggies are back in the Super Regionals for the first time since 2022. That was also the program’s most recent trip to the CWS, and A&M is in its 6th Super Regional series since 2011 and the 2nd of the Jim Schlossnagle era.
As for Oregon, the Ducks are in a 2nd straight Super Regional after their final season in the Pac-12. The Big Ten-bound Ducks are in their 4th straight NCAA Tournament under Mark Wasikowski but have not been back to the CWS since 1954.
Texas A&M, as the host, is a major favorite to win the Super Regional and advance with ESPN Bet listing the Aggies at -390. Oregon checks in at +270 as the underdog.
Here is the full schedule for the weekend and the keys to be aware of:
Bryan-College Station Super Regional schedule
- Game 1: Saturday, June 8 — 2 pm ET, ESPN2
- Game 2: Sunday, June 9 — 7:30 pm, ESPN2
- Game 3: Monday, June 10 — TBD, TBD
How they got here
As the No. 3 national seed, Texas A&M made it out of the regional round in 3 games, though not without a fair amount of drama. The Aggies opened the regional with an 8-0 shutout of Grambling State, leading to an epic winner’s bracket showdown with rival Texas.
The Longhorns would carry a 2-1 lead in that game into the 8th inning before a pair of throwing errors led to Braden Montgomery scoring the tying run. A&M would eventually take a 4-2 lead in the top of the 11th on a bases-loaded infield single and wild pitch.
In the regional final against Louisiana, the Aggies would score 6 runs across the 3rd-5th innings to take a commanding lead. A 3-run home run from Montgomery broke things open while a solo home run from Gavin Grahovac in the 9th gave A&M the 9-1 lead before finishing off a 9-4 win.
Oregon, a 3-seed in the Santa Barbara Regional, made quick work of the group by getting through in 3 games. The Ducks upset San Diego in the regional opener, withstanding a late-innings rally for a 5-4 win.
The Ducks would move on to face regional host UC Santa Barbara twice, first in the winner’s bracket and again in the regional final. In both games, it was the clutch pitching of Oregon that carried the day.
Oregon’s Grayson Grinsell covered 7 shutout innings with 9 strikeouts in the first game before Ryan Featherston covered the final 2 innings while allowing just 1 earned run in the 2-1 winner’s bracket victory. In the clinching victory, Kevin Seitter went the distance with a complete game shutout that included 7 strikeouts, 1 walk and just 4 hits allowed.
In terms of offense, Oregon received a solo home run from Jacob Walsh in the clincher. Drew Smith and Carter Garate accounted for the runs driven in during the 2-1 win, and Garate also had a home run and 3 RBI against San Diego. As a team, Oregon had just 3 home runs during the regional round.
3 keys
A big series for Braden Montgomery
After going just 1-for-9 at the SEC Tournament, Braden Montgomery started heating things up in the regional round. He opened the NCAA Tournament with 3 hits, a run and an RBI against Grambling State, and he would punctuate the regional round with a multi-hit game that included 4 RBI and a home run.
BOOM!! THREE-RUN JACK FOR @B_mont_ #GigEm pic.twitter.com/ELGjOBgYq5
— Texas A&M Baseball (@AggieBaseball) June 3, 2024
Montgomery would take home the Bryan-College Station Regional MVP honors after going 6-for-15 with 3 runs scored and 5 RBI across the 3 games. Now, he’ll carry that hot streak into a series looking for a bit of redemption against Oregon.
Montgomery spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons at Stanford, but the Cardinal did not have success against the Ducks either year. Oregon went 1-2 against Stanford each season without winning a series, a fact Montgomery acknowledged head on ahead of the Super Regional.
Third time’s the charm for Braden Montgomery (@B_mont_) vs Oregon? https://t.co/a7XbVcHk8Z pic.twitter.com/8U81JXkt2N
— Tyler Shaw (@TylerShawSports) June 6, 2024
Pitching, pitching and more pitching
Fans of low-scoring games could be in for a treat this weekend with 2 of the top defensive teams in the country. Texas A&M, led by a 3.85 team ERA, is 3rd in the country with 4.2 runs allowed per game. Oregon produced a 4.62 team ERA and is also a top-25 defense at 5.1 runs allowed per game.
In the regional round, the Ducks leaned on a trio of starting pitchers with RJ Gordon, Grayson Grinsell and Kevin Seitter leading the way as Oregon allowed 5 total runs in the regional. Those 3 starters combined for 23 innings pitched with 19 strikeouts and just 3 earned runs.
Texas A&M’s strategy to the regional round was a bit different with the Aggies using 4 different pitchers in an opener shutout against Grambling and 9 pitchers overall in the regionals. Ryan Prager (6.1 innings, 2 earned runs) and Shane Sdao (5.1 innings, 1 earned run) had the longest outings for the Aggies, but 5 Aggies had scoreless performances for the round.
Can Gavin Grahovac heat up?
While Gavin Grahovac did homer in the regional final, it was otherwise a round to forget. He was just 2-for-15 with 5 strikeouts, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI, and that’s unlikely to be enough for the Aggies to get through the Super Regionals.
On the season, Grahovac posted a 1.031 OPS with 22 home runs and 77 hits and finished 2nd on the Aggies with 76 runs scored, so he’s always a candidate to break out. However, he also led A&M with 82 total strikeouts on the year, and we’ll see if the Ducks are able to exploit that this weekend.
21+ and present in NY, NJ, PA, CT, AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, NC, NH, OH, OR, TN, VA, WV, WY. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
CLAIM OFFER
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
