TCU to Face Texas A&M in CWS Elimination Game
TCU and Texas A&M play in an elimination game Tuesday
By Charles Nichelson	• Published June 19, 2017 • Updated on June 19, 2017 at 4:38 pm
TCU, an Omaha-regular, was blanked 3-0 by the University of Florida; Texas A&M, a surprise-qualifier, had one bad inning and could never close the gap against the University of Louisville.
Now the two in-state powers face each other Tuesday to keep their College World Series hopes alive. The winner will face the loser of the two teams that defeated them, which makes their path to a title that much longer.
TCU has been in this position before. In 2014 the team defeated Texas Tech in their opening game at TD Ameritade, before falling to the University of Virginia and the University of Mississippi in consecutive games. In 2015 the team was one game away from reaching the CWS final, after defeating LSU twice, but lost to the eventual runner-up, Vanderbilt. In 2016 they were in the drivers seat, but then lost two straight to eventual-champion, Coastal Carolina.
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So, logically, in 2017 the team should take the next step and reach the final series, but things won't be so easy.
Texas A&M was a three-seed in the Houston Regional, but the won five straight games to start the NCAA tournament and, if not for a bad second inning against the Louisville Cardinals, could easily have won that game.
The Aggies have been streaky all season - dominating February and April, but struggling mightily in March and May - but the team has legit offensive fire power.
TCU was the pre-season favorite for the title, but had no answers for Florida starting pitcher, first round draft pick Alex Faedo. The Horned Frogs will need veterans like Austen Wade, Connor Wanhannen, and Evan Skoug - who combined to go 1-9 at the plate with four strikeouts - to get the offense going.
But Jim Schlossnagle and company have been here before and know what it takes to survive in Omaha. Both teams should be ready to go when they face off at 1 p.m. on ESPN.
texasFloridaHoustonVirginiaCharles Nichelson