College Station Regional Preview — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects

Baseball America will break down all 16 regionals, including College Station, hosted by Texas A&M. Michael Lananna has the details.

STAT PACK (National rank in parentheses)
	Avg.	Scoring (R/G)	HR	SB	ERA	K/9	WHIP	Fielding %age
1. Texas A&M	.316 (13)	7.2 (25)	55 (30)	70 (66)	3.14 (15)	9.2 (8)	1.22 (17)	.977 (25)
2. Minnesota	.323 (5)	6.6 (53)	47 (47)	45 (185)	3.90 (77)	7.6 (95)	1.35 (68)	.980 (7)
3. Wake Forest	.280 (115)	6.5 (61)	55 (30)	43 (196)	4.99 (177)	7.1 (143)	1.56 (187)	.970 (105)
4. Binghamton	.296 (43)	6.3 (72)	37 (98)	56 (137)	5.02 (183)	5.9 (268)	1.46 (135)	.979 (9)

1. Texas A&M (45-14, 20-10 in Southeastern Conference)

32nd appearance (10th straight), automatic qualifier, second place in SEC West, won SEC Tournament

Top 300 Prospects: OF Nick Banks (82), RHP Brigham Hill (163), C Michael Barash (168), RHP Mark Ecker (204)

Season in a Sentence: The preseason No. 3 team, Texas A&M lived up to that ranking and more, finishing one game shy of the SEC West lead and winning the SEC tournament to earn the No. 4 national seed.

Player to Watch: Boomer White, 3b: The SEC’s player of the year, White’s conference numbers are mind-boggling: .471/.524/.653 in 121 at-bats. He’s the catalyst in a very deep Texas A&M lineup. When he goes, so do the Aggies. He’s been going all year.

Best Weekend: at Mississippi State, April 15-17. Texas A&M dealt Mississippi State its only SEC series loss of the season. Not only that, the Aggies did it on the road, sweeping the series and scoring 10 runs in each of the three games. It was arguably the best weekend of any team in any conference all year.

Outlook: Though the Aggies earned a No. 4 national seed, they finished atop the Top 25. Their resume speaks for itself—the sweep of the Bulldogs and series wins against Louisiana State, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Mississippi. They should be well-positioned to advance to a super regional.

2. Minnesota (32-20, 16-7 in Big Ten Conference)

31st appearance (first since 2010), at-large, first place in Big Ten

Top 300 Prospects: C Austin Athmann (245)

Season in a Sentence: The Golden Gophers took care of business early on in the Big Ten slate, establishing a large lead in the standings that dwindled down the stretch but was just enough to win the regular season conference title and send Minnesota back to a regional.

Player to Watch: Austin Athmann, c: Finally healthy for an entire season, Athmann put together a big year at the plate, batting .367/.438/.622 with 11 home runs in 180 at-bats, serving as a veteran leader for the Gophers. Also a strong defender behind the plate, he provides value across the board.

Best Weekend: at Michigan, April 8. Though it came early in conference play, the Gophers won an important road series against Michigan, sweeping both games of a doubleheader in a rain-shortened series to establish some momentum in conference. They went on to win their next three Big Ten series.

Outlook: Minnesota has a balanced club, with some pop in the middle in the form of Athmann, a two-way star in Matt Fielder and a solid veteran lefty in Dalton Sawyer. The Gophers fared well against the top teams in the Big Ten this season and should be able to hold their own. However, they will be playing with heavy hearts, as their pitching coach Todd Oakes, 55, died May 26 after a battle with leukemia.

3. Wake Forest (34-25, 13-17 in Atlantic Coast Conference)

12th appearance (first since 2007), at-large, sixth place in ACC Atlantic

Top 300 Prospects: 3B/RHP Will Craig (45)

Season in a Sentence: The Demon Deacons lived life on the bubble for most of the season, finding success at home but unable to bring it onto the road until the final stretch of the year; with a big final push a and solid ACC tournament showing, the Deacs punched their NCAA ticket.

Player to Watch: Will Craig, 3b/rhp: The Demon Deacons will likely go as far as Craig can carry him. Craig not only serves a central role in the offense (.392/.537/.766, 16 home runs, 65 RBIs), but he’s the team’s primary closing option out of the bullpen (2-0, 2.42, eight saves), as well, often providing multiple innings at a time.

Best Weekend: vs. Florida State, April 15-17. After a dreadful weekend at N.C. State, the Demon Deacons regrouped to take two of three from Florida State, essentially breathing life back into their season. From there, they swept UNC the next weekend and played well enough to earn their way into both the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

Outlook: Wake Forest can mash with the best of them and should be able to put up a fair amount of runs this weekend. The major question with the Demon Deacons is will their pitching hold up against the likes of Texas A&M? Parker Dunshee is a legitimate Friday starter, Drew Loepprich pitched well in the ACC tournament, and Donnie Sellers has shown flashes out of the bullpen, but they’ll have to be at their absolute best against one of the country’s most dynamic offenses.

4. Binghamton (30-23, 19-5 in America East Conference)

Fourth appearance (first since 2014), automatic qualifier, first place in American East, won America East Tournament

Top 300 Prospects: None

Season in a Sentence: The Bearcats began the season 4-17 in non-conference play, but once they entered the America East slate, they found their groove, going 19-5 in the America East and a perfect 3-0 in the tournament to earn the league’s automatic qualifier.

Player to Watch: Reed Gamache, 2b: The senior, along with first baseman Brendan Skidmore, has been one Binghamton’s offensive leaders this season, batting .367/.450/.551 with seven home runs and a team-leading 46 RBIs.

Best Weekend: America East Tournament, May 26-28. The Bearcats needed to win the America East Tournament in order to advance to the NCAA tournament, and they accomplished that mission by going a perfect 3-0. It wasn’t easy. They trailed Hartford, 6-0, going into the ninth inning of the semifinal before scoring nine runs to win. They defeated Stony Brook in the next day’s championship, 6-3.

Outlook: Binghamton turned its season around and showed some serious moxie with its nine-run ninth in the America East Tournament. With that said, it has an extraordinarily tough draw against Texas A&M, and, with an RPI in the triple digits, its resume lags behind the other teams in the regional.