OMAHA, Neb. – Kentucky didn’t have an answer for Texas A&M’s Ryan Prager. The left-handed pitcher mixed his pitches to keep the Wildcats’ hitters off-balanced and prevent them from squaring up the baseball.
Prager carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, as his strong outing propelled the Aggies past Kentucky, 5-1, in the College World Series on Monday night at Charles Schwab Field.
It was a memorable experience for the Texas A&M ace, who pitched in the College World Series his freshman year before missing all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
“It was super special,” said Prager to Baseball Prospect Journal. “I’m super grateful for the opportunity to be on the mound and the opportunity to have success. It’s super special.”
Prager threw 6 2/3 shutout innings with four strikeouts, one hit and one walk. He did a tremendous job mixing his fastball, slider and changeup and attacking the lower part of the strike zone to keep hitters uncomfortable.
Prager’s strong outing nearly didn’t come to fruition, however. In the second inning, the Wildcats had a prime opportunity to take an early lead. The first two Kentucky batters reached base safely after a throwing error and a hit batter.
With two runners on and zero outs, Prager generated a fly ball out and a strikeout. Kentucky’s James McCoy tried bunting down the third base line, but Texas A&M catcher Jackson Appel quickly got out of his crouch behind the plate, fielded the baseball and threw a laser to first base to just beat McCoy down the line.
“That was a heck of a play by Jackson,” Prager said. “I didn’t even know at first. I thought the quickest play might have been to tag the runner, but he picked it up and threw it. It was a great play. Once we got through that inning, we kind of hit a groove, and it was smooth sailing from there.”
Kentucky recorded its first hit off Prager in the seventh inning with two outs. Ryan Nicholson singled to right field, and then Nolan McCarthy knocked a double to center field.
The back-to-back base hits resulted in Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle pulling Prager in favor of a reliever.
It was a strong bounce-back performance for Prager. In his previous start, Prager allowed six runs in 1 2/3 innings to Oregon in the NCAA Super Regionals. Despite Prager’s off night, the Aggies defeated Oregon 10-6 in that contest. The disappointing outing didn’t faze Prager, who entered the College World Series with plenty of confidence.
“I knew nothing really had to drastically change,” said Prager on his approach after his start against Oregon. “I just had to get back to who I am, compete and have fun.”
Texas A&M has won all seven of its games in the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies are playing extremely well and can clinch an appearance in the championship series with a victory on Wednesday.
“We just have to continue to have fun,” Prager said. “We have a lot of fun and enjoy being around here. We’re trying to be here as long as we can. In order to do that, we have to keep winning ball games.”
Read a detailed MLB draft profile on Ryan Prager and his development and skill set here.
Dan Zielinski III has covered the MLB draft for nine years. He has interviewed 518 of the top draft prospects in that period, including four No. 1 overall picks. Multiple publications, including Baseball America, USA Today, MLB.com, The Arizona Republic and The Dallas Morning News, have quoted his work, while he has appeared on radio stations as a “MLB draft expert.” Follow him on Twitter @DanZielinski3.
