By ROBERT CESSNAOMAHA, Neb. -- Perception changes in a hurry when you're on the national stage. Less than 48 hours ago, Texas A&M was being lauded as a team that could win the College World Series.
It sure made sense. Unseeded teams have flourished in Omaha, winning six of the last seven titles. A&M and California are the only unseeded teams, and everyone knew Cal wasn't going to win it. The Bears finished sixth in the Pacific-10, which is not bad for a program that barely avoided being disbanded because of budget constraints. But win it all? Few thought they'd even win a game in Omaha. So that left A&M, which more than fit the part. The Aggies shared the Big 12 crown with Texas and won the league's tournament. A&M should have been seeded and proved it by winning the super regional at Florida State.
The Aggies came to Omaha with two overpowering starting pitchers on a roll and about to throw in a park that's not hitter friendly. Besides, A&M was just a good story. It was a homecoming for head coach Rob Childress, the former Nebraska pitching coach. And Aggies were tickled maroon because he led the program back to the CWS for the first time since 1999 even though it didn't have the services of right-hander John Stilson (torn labrum) down the stretch.
Yet all those positive vibes ended in Sunday's 5-4 loss to South Carolina. The Aggies played like a national champ all right, but only for half an inning. And other than a solid pitching performance by Ross Stripling, the final eight innings were a lost cause.
Now A&M needs to make sure the CWS isn't a lost cause, and that starts by beating Cal on Tuesday. It should happen. Cal is 5-13 against ranked teams and has to pitch freshman Kyle Porter because sophomore Erik Johnson, a second-round pick of the Chicago White Sox, is hurt. A&M has the luxury of pitching Michael Wacha, who has allowed the Aggies to jump on his broad right shoulders and ride to Omaha. At 3-0 in the postseason with an 0.95 earned run average in the postseason, he's pitched the way most thought Stilson would.
And if Wacha can work his magic one more time that might allow A&M's batters to get rolling. The Aggies were 2 for 22 in the last eight innings in their first CWS game. South Carolina starting pitcher Michael Roth was good, but he was a 31st-round draft pick of Cleveland, not a third-rounder.
A&M's lack of hitting is a concern, because even without Johnson the one thing Cal can do is pitch. The Bears came to Omaha with an ERA of 2.84, which was 11th in the country. That's even better than the Aggies. So a 2-1 or 3-2 final score wouldn't be surprising.
And if that's how A&M wins, so be it. Obviously, the most important thing is advancing in an elimination game, but if the Aggies want to make a week of it in Omaha the hitters are going to have to crank it up. You figure the earliest that Stripling could pitch again would be Friday.
So if A&M beats Cal, it would have to play the South Carolina-Virginia loser on Thursday with sophomore Brandon Parrent or freshman Derrick Hadley on the mound. If a wily veteran such as Stripling gets nervous pitching at the CWS, what would Parrent or Hadley do?
The bottom line is A&M's offense has to give the pitchers some breathing room.
Big 12 player of the year Tyler Naquin and Krey Bratsen can't combine to go 1 for 7 as they did against South Carolina. Brandon Wood and Jacob House got off to good starts at the CWS with a three-run triple and RBI single, respectively. But A&M needs production throughout the lineup. Adam Smith can't strike out three times and Andrew Collazo can't go 0 for 4 with a throwing error.
There's a lot of pressure on A&M heading into Tuesday, as well there should be. The program hasn't had a lot of success in Omaha. A 2-9 record is lousy, and lost in that statistic is how hard it is to reach the CWS. The Aggies have had a successful season. This is the 60th anniversary of the event and this is A&M's fifth trip, which means it averages an appearance every 12 years, which just happens to coincide with the Aggies' last appearance.
A&M went two and barbecue last time, which was the same fate the Texas Longhorns had this year. The Aggies have thought they were the better team all along this season, but perception was UT was the superior team. That's why the Longhorns got a national seed and an easy draw to reach the CWS. But if A&M can take care of business against Cal, it can lay claim to being the best team in the Lone Star state.
That wouldn't be someone's perception, it would be a fact.
*Robert Cessna's email address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com
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