Texas A&M Aggies Remain Perfect in Omaha With Dominant Win vs. Kentucky

The Texas A&M Aggies dominated the Kentucky Wildcats to improve to 2-0 in the College World Series behind a strong starting performance from Ryan Prager and an explosive sixth inning.

Jun 17, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA; Texas A&M Aggies starting pitcher Ryan Prager (18) throws against the Kentucky Wildcats during the third inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. / Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas A&M Aggies are still undefeated in Omaha.

Entering Monday evening, the Aggies were faced with a tall order of facing another SEC opponent. Prior to the first pitch, the SEC was undefeated against ACC schools in the College World Series pool, but Texas A&M took credit for none of them. Their path to the final series was through the SEC East.

Coach Jim Schlossnagle and company took care of business against Florida in Game 1 of their "regional" after holding on to a one-run lead late in the game before securing a victory.

This time, against the Kentucky Wildcats, runs were likely to be hard to come by. And they were.

But the Aggies made the most of it, ultimately securing a 5-1 victory over their opponents to improve to 2-0 in Omaha behind Ryan Prager's strong start and an explosive sixth inning.

Jun 17, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA; Texas A&M Aggies first baseman Ted Burton (27) greets catcher Jackson Appel (20) after scoring against the Kentucky Wildcats during the sixth inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. / Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

Through five innings, neither team had scratched the scorecard as a full-blown pitcher's duel was taking place. For the Wildcats, Mason Moore got things started, forcing the Aggies into three early strikeouts. He let up three runs, but Texas A&M couldn't capitalize on any of them as it became increasingly likely that any score could be game-winning.

Prager matched Moore all the way through five innings, giving up zero hits in the process as the Wildcats were unable to score, but he went a step further and pitched through another inning and change before being taken off the mound.

While he was in, however, the Aggies found their groove in the sixth inning. The first walk of the game — putting Jace LaViolette on base — led to a string of hits that broke the game open for the Maroon & White. Jackson Appel doubled and Hayden Schott singled to bring in both of them before Ted Burton was walked.

After that, Ali Camarillo doubled and Kayden Kent followed suit with another base hit to make the game 5-0 in favor of the Aggies. Texas A&M never scored again, but it didn't need to. All Kentucky was able to produce was one solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to cut the lead to four, but it wasn't enough as it ultimately fell 5-1.

Prager finished the game with four strikeouts and two hits through most of the seventh inning before he was pulled, and told the story of the Aggies' continued resilience without Braden Montgomery.

"I thought we competed well," Prager said of his team's performance. "We competed through it. We've found a lot of success ... and I have a lot of gratitude. We're super grateful to be here in this position. That's really special."

LaViolette was seen going to the locker room to tend to what appeared to be a hamstring injury, but no updates have been provided about his status moving forward, though it should be noted that he came back into the game down the stretch.

Next up for the Aggies is another meeting against either Kentucky or Florida on Wednesday. The two remaining SEC East teams on their side of the bracket will face off in an elimination game to determine who it will be, and if the Aggies beat either of them, they'll head to the series final.

First pitch for Texas A&M's next outing is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST.