Here's some names to know before Oregon takes on Texas A&M.
Jared Mack
Oregon has made it to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament for the second season in a row.
After taking the Santa Barbara Regional with a clean 3-0 sweep, the Ducks will be rewarded with a matchup against No. 3 overall seed Texas A&M. The Aggies swept the College Station Regional that they hosted, taking down Grambling, Texas, and Louisiana.
Texas A&M finished the season 47-13 and 19-11 in conference before going 0-2 at the SEC Tournament. Regardless, the Aggies carry one of the most productive offenses in the nation, clubbing 130 home runs in 60 games, good for No. 4 in the nation.
Ahead of Oregon's Super Regional matchup against Texas A&M, here are five names to know from the Aggies from the pitching staff and offense.
Sign up for the FREE DuckTerritory.com newsletterand get all your Oregon news sent directly to your e-mail inbox daily.
Consider followingDuckTerritory on Twitterand our full-time writersMatt Prehm,Erik Skopil, andJared Mack.
If you're not a VIP subscriber to DuckTerritory.com, considersigning up and taking advantage of our FREE trial here.
1. OF Braden Montgomery
Braden Montgomery is arguably the best bat for the Texas A&M Aggies, as the junior transfer from Stanford has torn through the SEC.
Montgomery is a top-10 draft prospect and a surefire first round pick. He entered the transfer portal after his sophom*ore season at Stanford where he did damage in the Pac-12. He's carried that momentum and then some in the SEC with a slashline of.322 BA/.455 OBP/.730 SLG with 28 home runs and 81 RBIs. His OPS is well over 1.000.
The talented switch-hitting outfielder also has tremendous advanced analytics, sporting a 164 wRC+, a .411 ISO, and a walk rate over 17 percent. Montgomery is not lucky at the plate either, as his .325 BABIP indicates he's been slightly unlucky this year.
Plus, Montgomery is very strong in the outfield, making rangy plays and carrying a cannon on his shoulder, as the former two-way prospect can make nearly any throw on the field.
Oregon's pitching staff will have its hands full against Montgomery, who's one of the best bats left in the NCAA Tournament, along with his teammate and outfield-mate Jace LaViolette.
2. OF Jace LaViolette
For as impressive as Montgomery has been this season, his teammate, Jace LaViolette, has been arguably a better player. A difficult concept to believe after sorting through Montgomery's stats but LaViolette is right there with him.
LaViolette is hitting .313 this season with 26 home runs and 74 RBIs. He sports a.450 on-base percentage and a .770 slugging percentage to give him an OPS over 1.200. For those unfamiliar with OPS, it simply combines on-base and slugging percentage, a simple equation to show how much better some players are. For reference, the MLB average OPS is around .700. Obviously college baseball conduces a more offense happy approach but LaViolette and Montgomery are two of the best bats around.
Just like Montgomery, LaViolette is no slouch analytically either, with a wRC+ of 168 and an ISO of .450. His walk-rate is over 18 percent, with a near 1-to-1 walk rate.
In a year, when he's draft eligible, LaViolette's name will be heard around the nation.
3. SP Ryan Prager
Now to the pitching side of AM.
Ryan Prager is the best starter for Texas A&M and one of the best pitchers in the SEC. If it weren't for Hagen Smith's spectacular season at Arkansas, Prager would have a chance at winning SEC Pitcher of the Year.
From the numbers aspect, Prager threw 85.1 innings this year with a 2.53 ERA with 113 strikeouts. The 6-foot-3 left-handed pitcher went 8-1 this season, holding opponents to a .603 OPS with an xFIP of 3.46. Prager limits hard contact well, as 42.3 percent of contact against him are ground balls.
Prager uses a 3/4 arm angle and tunnels his 3-pitch mix well. He uses a low-90s fastball that will touch 95 mph, a slider in the low-80s and a changeup to both sides of the plate.
Prager rarely allows free passes as well, with 19 walks over his 85 innings.
4. 3B Gavin Grahovac
Like LaViolette, Gavin Grahovac will become a well-known name in the baseball community over the next few seasons. The difference is Grahovac is only a freshman and has dominated in his first season in the SEC.
Overall, Grahovac is hitting .308 with 22 home runs,63 RBIs, on 77 hits in 59 games. Grahovac also carries a .403 on-base percentage with a .628 slugging for an OPS, once again, above 1.000. He's doing this out of the leadoff spot as well.
He also carries a 128 wRC+ and an ISO power of .320. The lone blemish on Grahovac is his swing and miss tendencies, as he's struck out over 80 times this season and only recorded 33 walks. But, that is to be expected from a true freshman in one of the most talented conferences in the nation.
5. RP Evan Aschenbeck
Lastly, Evan Aschenbeck has been a monster out of the bullpen for Texas A&M all season long.
He's appeared in 26 games this year, throwing 60.1 innings with a 1.64 ERA and a 6-1 record. He struck out 65 batters as well in those 60 innings, with a WHIP that's sub 1.00. WHIP (Walks, hits, per innings pitched) measures how often baserunners get on independent of defensive miscues. A WHIP underneath one indicates how impressive Aschenbeck has been this season.
In the Aggies' extra-inning victory over Texas in the regionals, Aschenbeck threw 4.2 hitless innings in relief to secure the win. While he leads the team in saves with seven, Aschenbeck is a multi-inning reliever, having pitched one or fewer innings just four times in his 26 appearances.
