Jim Schlossnagle Provides Injury Update Texas A&M Star Braden Montgomery

The Texas A&M Aggies have lost star

May 23, 2024; Hoover, AL, USA; Texas A&M Aggies outfielder Braden Montgomery (6) catches a pop fly against the Tennessee Volunteers during the SEC Baseball Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports / Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas A&M Aggies took care of business in Game 1 of the College Station Super Regional against the Oregon Ducks on Saturday, coming from behind to secure a 10-6 win at Blue Bell Park.

However, that victory did not come without a major loss, either.

In the first inning of the game, Montgomery suffered a lower-body injury while attempting to slide into home plate - an injury that, while it hasn't been officially confirmed, was significant enough that Aggies head coach Jim Schlossnagle believes the outfielder's season is over.

"Yeah, I don't think he'll be back," Schlossnagle said. "I don't know the injury exactly. I haven't talked to the doctors, but I think he's out for the year." 

Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski, who is very familiar with Montgomery from his time at Stanford, also offered a statement on the injury, sending his best to Montgomery and congratulating the Aggies on the win.

“My first thoughts are, congratulations to Texas A&M on winning the ballgame and Braden Montgomery, I hope he’s okay. That’s a guy that we recruited, we saw quite a bit first-hand and upfront at Stanford and he’s obviously a very talented player and a pretty great person. I hope he’s okay. 

As for what the Aggies will do to help mitigate the loss of Montgomery, that is not so simple.

This season, Montgomery was one of the Aggies' best players, hitting .322 with 76 hits, 85 RBI, 27 home runs and 53 walks, scoring 65 total runs. So obviously, replacing that production won't be so simple.

Still, Schlossnagle has a plan, and it starts with giving fellow star Jace LaViolette some protection in the batting order.

"Yeah, we'll have to for the most part, just bump everybody up. We got to give Jace a little bit of protection," Schlossnagle said. "With Kaeden behind him. We have to give Jace some protection, especially against the lefty tomorrow. So we'll talk about it, but we have plenty of guys that can handle moving up in the order, and we'll be fine." 

Game 2 between the Ducks and Aggies will start at 6:30 pm on Sunday night on ESPN 2.