The 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament is set and with that comes the Regional matchups. The third overall seed in the tournament was awarded to the Texas A&M Aggies. The Aggies had a great season in the SEC, and they follow a trend of all the top three seeded teams coming out of the conference. College Station will host Louisiana, Texas, and Grambling in what looks to be yet another stacked Regional for a higher seeded team. Here’s a brief overview of each team along with a prediction for who will advance to the Super Regionals.
#1 Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M enters the Regional with a 44-13 overall record, and this season in SEC conference play, totaled a 19-11 record. The Aggies have put an impressive 32-3 record at home, and they’ll need this home-field advantage against the opponents in this Regional. After battling through a rigorous SEC schedule the whole year, the 12th Man could be the deciding factor in the Aggies success this weekend.
Players to Watch | Season Stats
Braden Montgomery – .317 BA, 1.193 OPS, 70 H, 26 HR, 80 RBI, .742 SLG
Jace LaViolette – .321 BA, 1.246 OPS, 71 H, 28 HR, 73 RBI, .796 SLG
Gavin Grahovac – .319 BA, 1.061 OPS, 75 H, 21 HR, 61 RBI, .647 SLG
Ryan Prager – 2.51 ERA, .97 WHIP, 106 K, 15 BB, .210 B/AVG
#2 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
The Ragin’ Cajun enter the Regional with a 40-18 overall record, and a 23-7 record out of a very competitive Sun Belt Conference. Even more impressive, they tallied a 14-5 away record which is worth noting as they head into College Station. They’ll look to make up for back to back losses in the Sun Belt Conference tournament in the Regional, and possibly advance into the Super Regional.
Players to Watch | Season Stats
Kyle DeBarge – .361 BA, 1.152 OPS, 86 H, 21 HR, 67 RBI, .723 SLG
Trey LaFleur – .361 BA, 1.104 OPS, 57 H, 11 HR, 39 RBI
Andrew Herrmann – 2.90 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 58 K, 24 BB, .229 B/AVG
#3 Texas Longhorns
By Texas standards, 2024 has been a fairly down year for the Longhorns. Going 35-22 and 20-10 in Big 12 conference play, earned them a spot in the College Station Regional with their in-state rival. After back to back losses to Texas Tech and Cincinnati in the Big 12 tournament, they’ll look to make up for it in the Regional and if they meet the Aggies, it would be must watch TV.
Players to Watch | Season Stats
Jared Thomas – .355 BA, 1.089 OPS, 83 H, 15 HR, 45 RBI, 16 SB
Max Belyeu – .349 BA, 1.159 OPS, 68 H, 18 HR, 53 RBI, .713 SLG
Jalin Flores – .345 BA, 1.070 OPS, 79 H, 17 HR, 52 RBI
#4 Grambling State TIgers
The SWAC champion Grambling Tigers grinded their way into the Regional with a 26-26 record, and an 18-8 conference record. They’ve played a couple in-state midweek games against good teams like LSU and University of Louisiana, losing big in both games. The Tigers won four straight to take the Southwestern Athletic Conference title, and look to stay hot in the Regional and defy the odds to advance to the Supers.
Players to Watch | Season Stats
Kyle Walker – .394 BA, 1.143 OPS, 76 H, 11 HR, 41 RBI, 14 SB
Cameron Bufford, .349 BA, 1.016 OPS, 67 H, 9 HR, 56 RBI, 14 SB
Tiger Borom – .337 BA, .992 OPS, 65 H, 20 2B, 4 HR, 42 RBI, 16 SB
Predicted Winner: #2 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun
Grambling is coming in with a ton of momentum and with the speed on the basepaths a lot of the players on the Tigers lineup have, it could give the Aggies some trouble. If they advance they could run into a Louisiana team that is coming off of two conference tournament losses. They’re a 40 win team for a reason, that’ll show in this Regional.