Oregon was threatening to force a Game 3 in the Bryan-College Station Super Regional, up 8-4 heading into the seventh inning. Texas A&M then exploded for nine runs in the top half and ultimately won. It’s another College World Series appearance for head coach Jim Schlossnagle as he continues to build something special with the Aggies.
Schlossnagle was asked about the nine-spot, saying Texas A&M went to a plan they had installed when losing late in the game. Dubbing it “catch-up baseball”, any plan where you are able to score nine runs is a good one.
Try Fubo for FREE today and don’t miss any of the action!
“I’ve been around for a while so been a part of a few of them,” Schlossnagle said. “I’ve been on the other end of it a couple times. We have a built-in system to go to when we get down by X number of runs in the seventh inning-on. It’s called catch-up baseball.”
Brock Moore was who gave up a majority of the runs for Oregon. Giving up two hits over 2.2 innings may not sound the worst, especially when watching the other team score nine. But Moore walked five batters, something you do not want to do at Blue Bell Field.
Texas A&M fans were in their element, getting into Moore’s head by chanting how many consecutive balls he had thrown. Five walks is almost impossible to come back from and the Aggies took advantage.
“You just need a plan,” Schlossnagle said. “You need something to go to. Obviously, I’m sure their pitcher doesn’t feel great but I think he’s had a pretty good season for them, has a great arm. And the crowd played a role.”
Without the big inning, Texas A&M would have been playing on Monday in a winner-take-all game against Oregon. While the Aggies likely would have been favored, anything can happen in one baseball game. Schlossnagle has to be happy his team wrapped the Super Regional up when they could.
Next up will be the College World Series, the program’s second in Schlossnagle’s third season. Getting to Omaha in 2022 resulted in a great run, being one game away from the Finals. Instead, Oklahoma advanced before Ole Miss eventually won the national championship.
Going at least one step forward is likely Texas A&M’s goal, if not going there to win the whole thing. Hard to predict anybody beating them if Schlossnagle can consistently deploy the “catch-up baseball” strategy.
The post Jim Schlossnagle describes Texas A&M’s big seventh inning in Game 2 win over Oregon appeared first on On3.
