If Saturday was Texas A&M ace Ryan Prager’s final outing of his three-year career with the Aggies, he went out on a high note. The junior worked into the fifth inning against the Vols on short rest, throwing strikes on 60 of 81 pitches with eight hits, six strikeouts and only two earned runs.
It was another redemptive moment for Prager, who pitched in Texas A&M’s MCWS elimination loss to Oklahoma as a true freshman in 2022 and missed the entire 2023 season following Tommy John surgery. The Aggies’ Friday starter is 9-1 on the season with a 2.95 ERA and had just gone 6 2/3 innings against Kentucky in a 5-1 win on Monday.
“I thought he was great,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be his very best stuff throwing on short rest, but (Texas A&M pitching coach) Max (Weiner) has done such an unbelievable job with our pitching staff in getting them to believe in throwing the ball in the strike zone.”
Josh Stewart relieved Prager out of the bullpen and kept the Vols’ offense in check with two shutout innings before surrendering a two-run homer to Dylan Dreiling in the eighth inning. When reliever Brad Rudis stepped in and immediately gave up a Hunter Ensley solo shot, Schlossnagle turned to All-America closer Evan Aschenbeck to finish the job. Aschenbeck struck out seven of the 10 batters he faced, improving his Division I-leading ERA to 1.49 on the year.
“I’ve had some great relievers in the past, and he’s right up there with all of them,” Schlossnagle said. “You just know he’s going to control his heartbeat. The moment’s never too big.”
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