Jim Schlossnagle breaks down decision to start Nathan Dettmer for Texas A&M in CWS elimination game

Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle had a big decision in front of him against Notre Dame — picking a starting pitcher. He ended up selecting Nathan Dettmer, even after a rough outing on Friday against Oklahoma. Dettmer ended up going seven innings, meaning Schlossnagle’s decision more than paid off.

Schlossnagle began to explain his line of reasoning, starting with Dettmer not throwing too many pitches on Friday. He said the other option, Ryan Prager, was not the greatest matchup against the Fighting Irish and if Texas A&M wanted to stay in Omaha, Dettmer had to be the option.

“Well, I just felt like he had only thrown 44 pitches,” Schlossnagle said. “I didn’t like the matchup if we were going to throw Prager. You want to be left-handed. OU’s a great team, whether you’re a right-handed pitcher or left-handed pitcher. But I think you would rather be left-handed against them as much as you can.

“And obviously, we want to win and stay here but also I’d like to win the thing. And I felt like if we’re going to have a chance to win the College World Series and play, still be playing on Sunday or Monday, Dettmer was going to have to pitch twice.”

Jim Schlossnagle wanted Dettmer on the mound two more times

As Texas A&M progresses in the tournament, getting Dettmer on the mound another two times was always the goal for Schlossnagle. He said getting his first start completed as soon as possible was the goal so he could possibly be ready to face Oklahoma once again.

The head coach even said Dettmer was “the only option” if he wanted to get past Notre Dame.

“The longer we waited to start him the less likely he’d be able to do it or he would have to do it on even shorter rest,” said Schossnagle. “The fact that he’d only thrown 44 pitches on Friday gave us an opportunity to do that. And him being a sinkerball guy. Usually those guys there sometimes can be a little bit better on a little bit shorter rest.

“That was the thought process. I honestly didn’t think we had an option. I thought that was the only option. If we were going to, A, try to beat Notre Dame; and B, try to win the College World Series, which we’re a long way from that. But you understand what I’m saying. If he’s going to pitch twice, three times in the series, we needed to get the middle one over with.”

Schlossnagle and this thought process paid off, getting a 5-1 win against Notre Dame. Texas A&M will still have their backs up against the wall vs. Oklahoma, needing to win twice in order to make the College World Series championship series.