Today is Day Six of the 2022 College World Series…and then there were four.
Yesterday, Texas A&M took on Notre Dame. The Aggies got a tremendous performance from Nathan Dettmer. Dettmer bounced back from a rough first appearance in the CWS with seven innings of three-hit, six-strikeout baseball. The Texas A&M offense did enough to jump out to a quick lead thanks to Notre Dame errors and some manufacturing of runs. By the middle of the fifth inning, the Aggies had built a 5-0 lead.
Notre Dame was never able to scratch a run across on Dettmer, but they finally broke through in the eighth inning with a solo home run for their first and only run of the game. The Aggies eliminated the Irish 5-1 and advance to take on Oklahoma today.
In the second game of the day, Auburn took on Arkansas in a battle of SEC West teams. Much like the first game, Arkansas played the role of Texas A&M. Started Will McEntire had a career-best performance. McEntire went seven strong innings where he had nine strikeouts while only allowing three hits and a single run.
The Arkansas offense took advantage of some shaky Auburn defense to get to the Auburn bullpen early, and before long, Arkansas had a 9-0 lead in the sixth inning. After a Bobby Peirce solo home run for Auburn in the seventh, Arkansas tacked on the final two runs of the game to take down Auburn 11-1. Arkansas advanced for a rematch against another SEC West foe in Ole Miss.
With Texas A&M-Oklahoma and Arkansas-Ole Miss matchups on tap today, let’s break down the matchups and give some predictions:
#5 Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma @ 1:00 CT
Oklahoma will run David Sandlin on the bump in the early game, and I don’t know about this choice right here. Sandlin is 8-4 on the season with a bad 5.93 ERA and 90 strikeouts to 30 walks in 88 innings. The reason why I do not like this decision is Sandlin was hit around hard in just 0.1 innings on Friday when the Aggies scored four runs off of him. I also do not think Oklahoma will exhaust the bullpen in a game that is not an elimination game.
Ryan Prager will start for Texas A&M against the Sooners. Prager is 1-3 on the season with a not-great 4.90 ERA and 50 strikeouts to 24 walks in 57 innings. The Aggies need the freshman lefty to give a little length to bridge to the bullpen. If A&M can get a solid four innings out of Prager, they will be in a good spot.
Both teams have been hot on offense, but I think that A&M has to feel better coming in. They have had more success against the opposing starter, and they have a sense of urgency to win today that Oklahoma may not have. The Aggies will score enough to get the job done today. I like the Aggies.
Arkansas vs. Ole Miss @ 6:00 Ct
Hagan Smith will take the bump against Ole Miss for Arkansas as the Razorbacks look to stay alive and get some revenge. Smith sports a 6-2 record with a not-great 4.85 ERA with 82 strikeouts in 72.1 innings. Walks are an issue with 42 allowed this season. Opponents hit just .240 off the freshman lefty. Hagen Smith’s outings this season have gotten noticeably shorter as the season has progressed. He became more of a bullpen arm rather than a starter. This allowed him to find some better consistency. While Smith has not thrown more than 2.2 innings since May 7th, he has allowed three earned runs over his last five outings, albeit just 6.2 innings. The young freshman has electric stuff on the mound. It will come down to how the freshman handles the bright lights of Omaha. Closer Brady Tygart and the Arkansas bullpen look primed to handle the back end of the game, as well.
John Gaddis takes the ball for Ole Miss. Gaddis is 3-1 with a 4.40 ERA this year with 43 strikeouts in 43 innings pitched and 16 walks allowed. Opponents are hitting .272 off the senior lefty. Gaddis is likely not going to pitch long into the game. He has exceeded four innings just twice this season and not since March 11th. From April on, Gaddis has gotten stronger as the season has progressed. He has allowed just three earned runs in his last 11.2 innings pitched.
Both lineups have been hot, but I cannot help but feel better about Hagen Smith against Ole Miss’s lineup than John Gaddis against Arkansas. Arkansas’s lineup looks primed to keep scoring. Ole Miss struggles more with lefties. Smith also has had previous success against Ole Miss. Ole Miss is also not likely to empty the chamber with the bullpen with it not being a “must-win” game. I like Arkansas to force a winner-take-all game tomorrow.