Top-ranked Aggies squarely in the hunt for SEC regular-season crown

Undoubtedly, being the last team standing in Omaha is in a class of its own when it comes to this sport.

However, surviving and succeeding in the Southeastern Conference gauntlet is extremely difficult.

There’s a reason Jim Schlossnagle refers to the SEC West division as the “American League East” of college baseball.

Instead of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, you have the LSU Tigers, Arkansas Razorbacks and Mississippi State Bulldogs.

In fact, the last three national champions reside in Texas A&M’s division.

Since their arrival in the league ahead of the 2013 baseball season, the Aggies have never won the SEC’s regular-season crown. It’s a short list in Aggieland as far as conference accolades go:

• 2016 SEC Tournament Champions
• 2022 SEC West Division Champions

Michael Wade/SEC

The 2024 SEC Tournament will be held from May 21-26 at the Hoover Met outside of Birmingham, Ala.

However, the 2024 club has a chance to obtain even more.

And no, the quest for regular-season titles should not supersede the end goal, which obviously remains winning the program’s first national championship.

But with only four weekends remaining, the top-ranked Aggies are absolutely within striking distance when it comes to hardware in America’s toughest college baseball league.

Does anyone need further evidence that this conference is a grind unlike any other beyond the fact that the nation’s top four teams all hail from the SEC?

Unironically, those four — No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4 Kentucky — are also in a dogfight for the 2024 SEC crown.

Entering this week’s series with No. 20 Georgia at Blue Bell Park, the Ags remain just one game behind No. 2 Arkansas for the divisional lead and two games behind No. 4 Kentucky for pole position in the league as a whole.

Further, it appears only four teams have a shot at capturing the regular-season flag:

• No. 4 Kentucky – 15-3, -- GB
• No. 2 Arkansas – 14-4, 1.0 GB
• No. 1 Texas A&M – 13-5, 2.0 GB
• No. 3 Tennessee – 12-6, 3.0 GB

Four teams separated by three games with four weeks (12 games) to play before everyone descends upon Hoover for the conference tournament.

Buckle up.

No. 1 Texas A&M Aggies

• Conference Record: 13-5
• Division standing: Second, 1.0 GB of Arkansas
• Overall SEC standing: Third, 2.0 GB of Kentucky

Remaining conference schedule:

• vs. No. 20 Georgia (9-9) – April 26-28
• at Louisiana State (5-13) – May 3-5
• at Ole Miss (6-12) – May 10-12
• vs. No. 2 Arkansas (14-4) – May 16-18

Top Hitter: OF Braden Montgomery – .370/.510/.890, 22 HRs, 68 RBIs, 57 hits, 50 runs
Top Pitcher: LHP Ryan Prager – 7-0, 2.55 ERA, 53.0 IP, 74 Ks, 7 walks, .203 opp. avg.

The analysis of Schlossnagle’s Aggies will be short here as TexAgs already provides plenty of coverage on the Maroon & White.

Will Huffman, TexAgs

A two-time All-American, Braden Montgomery is a legitimate Golden Spikes Award candidate and a future first-round selection in July’s MLB Draft.

Simply put: They’re the nation’s top-ranked team for a reason. In SEC play, the Aggies are hitting .300 as a team and boast a club OPS of .953. The only teams that rival A&M in average and slugging are Kentucky and Tennessee. The biggest concern is pitching, but still, A&M’s staff ERA in conference games is 4.81 to rank fourth in the league even after an uncharacteristic weekend in Tuscaloosa. That potent offense will face three of the league’s bottom five staffs in ERA in the final four weeks of the year: Georgia (10th – 6.85 ERA), LSU (11th – 6.87) and Ole Miss (13th – 7.97).

The advantage squarely rests with A&M in the three series leading up to a showdown against Arkansas in Aggieland to conclude the year.

No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks

• Conference Record: 14-4
• Division standing: First
• Overall SEC standing: Second, 1.0 GB of Kentucky

Remaining conference schedule: 

• vs. Florida (8-10) – April 26-28
• at No. 4 Kentucky (15-3) – May 3-5
• vs. Mississippi State (10-8) – May 10-12
• at No. 1 Texas A&M (13-5) – May 16-18

Top Hitter: INF Peyton Stovall – .330/.404/.565, 7 HRs, 27 RBIs, 38 hits, 25 runs (29 games played)
Top Pitcher: LHP Hagen Smith – 8-0, 1.53 ERA, 53.0 IP, 100 Ks, 22 walks, .136 opp. avg.

As mentioned above, the collision course is set. As of right now, expect all eyes in the college baseball world to be on Dave Van Horn’s Hogs when they come to College Station to finish the regular season.

Pitcher of the Year candidate Hagen Smith headlines one of the nation’s premier pitching staffs, and Arkansas leads the SEC in ERA (3.21) and strikeouts (205) in addition to ranking among the league’s top-three in 13 other pitching categories in conference play.

Gary Cosby Jr./USA Today Network

Hagen Smith’s fastball touches 98 mph, and he ranks No. 6 on MLB.com’s draft-eligible prospects.

On the flip side, the Razorback offense has been anemic vs. SEC pitching. They’re hitting .238 as a group (13th) and are averaging just 5.33 runs per game (ninth). When it comes to offensive threats, only one Hog appears on the SEC’s leaderboards for any statistics: Ben McLaughlin leads the league in walks in SEC play with 19. He’s literally the only Razorback inside the top ten in any offensive category.

Before losing two of three at Alabama two weeks ago, the Razorbacks were the nation’s No. 1 team. Even still, they pace the SEC West, but the margin for error is gone. The Hogs also have a tougher remaining schedule than the Aggies as they must travel to Lexington for a top-five showdown next weekend.

If you’re an A&M fan, as much as it might pain you, call the Hogs in that series.

No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers

• Conference Record: 12-6
• Division standing: Second, 3.0 GB of Kentucky
• Overall SEC standing: Four, 3.0 GB of Kentucky

Remaining conference schedule: 

• vs. Missouri (6-12) – April 25-27
• at Florida (8-10) – May 2-4
• at No. 11 Vanderbilt (10-8) – May 10-12
• vs. No. 24 South Carolina (9-9) – May 16-18

Top Hitter: INF Christian Moore – .373/.442/.807, 19 HRs, 45 RBIs, 60 hits, 45 runs
Top Pitcher: RHP Drew Beam – 5-1, 3.40 ERA, 55.2 IP, 49 Ks, 12 walks, .282 opp. avg.

Gary Cosby Jr./USA TODAY NETWORK

The Vols’ second baseman, Christian Moore is a key piece to Tennessee’s success at the plate and in the field.

For Tony Vitello’s villains of college baseball to have much of a chance to win a second SEC regular-season title in three years, it’s going to take big weekends against SEC East cellar dweller Missouri and the scuffling Jac Caglianone-led Florida Gators. The Vols certainly made up some ground by taking last weekend’s series at Kentucky, but with 12 games to play, they remain four games behind the Wildcats. However, that head-to-head tiebreaker could come in handy, considering who Big Blue Nation has left.

Lindsey Nelson Stadium has been extremely kind to Tennessee again this season, and the Power T is not the only power threat at that launching pad. The Vols lead the SEC in conference slugging percentage (.628) and home runs (51). Similar to how Arkansas is all over the conference leaderboards on the mound, Tennessee is among the league leaders in almost every offensive category. On the pitching side, the Big Orange appears up and down in different metrics, so it’s hard to get a read on that group as a whole, though it might not matter, given what their offense provides on a regular basis.

No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats

• Conference Record: 15-3
• Division standing: First
• Overall SEC standing: First

Remaining conference schedule: 

• at No. 24 South Carolina (9-9) – April 26-28
• vs. No. 2 Arkansas (14-4) – May 3-5
• at Florida (8-10) – May 10-12
• vs. No. 11 Vanderbilt (10-8) – May 16-18

Top Hitter: OF Ryan Waldschmidt – .386/.506/.639, 8 HRs, 30 RBIs, 44 hits, 41 runs
Top Pitcher: RHP Johnny Hummel – 2-0, 5 saves (15 games, 0 starts), 1.25 ERA, 21.2 IP, 31 Ks, 7 walks, .096 opp. avg.

Before last weekend’s No. 3 vs. No. 4 series at Kentucky Proud Park, it appeared nobody was going to catch the Wildcats. At the conference midway point, Nick Mingione’s team was 14-1, but the Vols proved that Kentucky is indeed beatable.

Sam Upshaw Jr./USA TODAY NETWORK

Ryan Waldschmidt’s .506 on-base percentage ranks fourth in the SEC. In conference games, his OBP sits at .528 and is good for third in the league.

At least according to SEC-only statistics, the Wildcats do it both at the plate and on the mound. The numbers indicate they are the most complete club of the four discussed here, as Kentucky ranks among the league’s best in offensive production and pitching metrics.

Further, the Cats already have four SEC sweeps on their resume: vs. then-No. 25 Georgia (March 15-17), at then-no. 22 Ole Miss (March 29-31), vs. then-No. 11 Alabama (April 5-7) and at Auburn (April 11-13).

However, Ole Miss (6-12) has faded significantly, winning just three conference games since, and Auburn (2-16) is squarely in last place in the league — a full three games behind the next-closest club (LSU, 5-13).

Their resume is attention-grabbing, but how good Kentucky truly is should come to light over the next four weeks. Fortunately for them, No. 2 Arkansas has to travel to the Bluegrass State, where Kentucky owns a 17-4 record this year.

Likely on their way to hosting an NCAA Regional in back-to-back years (and just the fourth time ever), the Wildcats have been the SEC’s Cinderella through six weeks after being picked to finish fifth in the SEC East.

But is Kentucky truly what their record says they are? Or will the clock strike midnight?