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Texas A&M is making its first super regional appearance since the 1999 campaign after the Aggies hosted and won the College Station Regional, coming through the loser�s bracket after falling to Louisiana-Lafayette. A&M won the regional with 4-1 and 5-2 wins over the Ragin� Cajuns. Rice, the national #2 seed, is the highest national seed remaining in the field. The Owls swept through their home Houston Regional with a win over Prairie View and two over TCU to book their third super in a row.

THE VENUE

Reckling Park is arguably one of the toughest places in the nation for visiting teams. Rice has lost only 24 games at home in the last five seasons. The last time the Owls lost a series at home was in 2000. Reckling Park is playing host to its fifth super regional, having previously hosted in 1999, 2002, 2003, and 2006.

BREAKING IT DOWN

Starting Pitching

Texas A&M�s two guaranteed starting pitchers this weekend should be David Newmann and Kyle Nicholson. Rice has a quartet to choose from, with Ryan Berry, Ryne Tacker, Matt Langwell, and Joe Savery. Newmann and Nicholson are two outstanding arms, but Rice has the advantage with their four All-American quality arms.

Advantage: Rice

Hitting

A&M is hitting .317 as a team, and has produced solid power numbers with 65 homers. The Aggies have five players with double-digit homers, and are led at the plate by Blake Stouffer, who is hitting .402 and is tied for the nation�s lead in RBI (84). Rice�s numbers have improved as the year has gone on, and the Owls are currently hitting .311 as a team with 56 homers. Both teams are capable of putting up a bunch of runs at the plate, and have balance from top to bottom. Neither was extremely impressive at the plate in the regionals, but don�t be surprised to see fireworks this weekend.

Advantage: Even

Out of the Pen

This is where Rice has a clear advantage. A&M does have their all-purpose guy in Nicholson, but he�ll likely be limited to just starting duty. Rice has a deep bullpen, with the ability to use Langwell or Tacker out of the pen, and quality arms like Bobby Bramhall and Cole St. Clair.

Advantage: Rice

Coaching

Few coaches can compare to Wayne Graham in terms of putting together a winning program. Rob Childress has done an excellent job in getting Texas A&M back to the supers in only two seasons, but he still has a long way to go to reach Graham�s status.

Advantage: Rice

Intangibles

Rice is 30-3 at home, but one of those losses came to A&M so the Aggies will go into Reckling Park knowing that they�re capable of winning. But while this is new for many of the A&M players, Rice has been here before, with many of their core players being part of two previous postseason runs.

Advantage: Rice

FINAL THOUGHTS

It�s going to be a tall task for Texas A&M to go into Reckling Park and take two off of the Owls. The last time Rice lost two in a row at home was last March against Cal State-Fullerton and Texas. But the Aggies won�t be a pushover, and they�ll give the Owls their best shot and then some.

With a clear advantage overall and the home field in their favor, there�s no reason why Rice shouldn�t advance to their third CWS appearance in the last five seasons. They and Arizona State are the two best teams left in the field. But as Vanderbilt and four other national seeds proved, talent and home field advantage don�t always mean a win. Rob Childress is going to have his team ready to play, and they�ll go in with an attitude that they can win the series, and send A&M back to Omaha for the first time since �99. While the team hasn�t been there, Childress was a part of several successful Nebraska teams, and his experience no doubt rubs off on his players, which is a big reason why Texas A&M is where they are now. It won�t be a surprise if they do pull off the upset, but it�s going to take a lot to overcome the Owls, who are one of the hottest teams in the land.

PREDICTION TIME

Eddie Jimmy Jonathan

Rice Rice Rice

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