Preparations for A&M to host NCAA Regionals started months ago

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The Texas A&M Baseball team will host the NCAA Regionals starting Friday after earning the No. 3 national seed.

This is the first step that could take the Aggies to the College World Series, but preparations for this weekend started months ago.

Texas A&M Baseball Coach, Jim Schlossnagle, says they’ve been working all season to get this far.

“Excited for the Regional, excited for the fans. Congratulations to all the teams who made it to this point,” said Schlossnagle.

DJ Schwoegle, the A&M Baseball game manager says everyone has been doing their part to make this Regional happen.

“Making sure that all the games go off and are appropriate, counting for NCAA needs and then security is kind of our backside as well because we’ll see all. Our coordination with facilities, ticketing, just making sure all those little aspects go along,” said Schwoegle.

Schwoegle has been working alongside the NCAA to make sure the baseball team and all the games follow the rules and codes set by the NCAA.

”This place is going to be electric and a great spot for some good baseball all weekend, regardless of who’s playing on the field. This is a highly competitive regional so we’ll just spur into great baseball all weekend,” said Schwoegle.

Fans Tim and Karen Shelton started camping outside of Olsen Thursday morning and reserved their spot through Sunday.

“It’s so exciting, it’s such a great move forward from the program, and then if we can win and move onto the superregional that would be even more exciting,” said Shelton.

Not only are fans preparing for the NCAA Regional by camping outside of Olsen Field, but the Sports Field Coordinator, Matthew Harrison, has preparing for the tournament as well.

There’s a lot that goes into making Blue Bell Park ready for game days. From concessions to staffing, and even the grass – preparations start weeks in advance.

Harrison says in order for the field to be in tip-top shape, they make sure the grass is consistent, they reset the edges of the dirt, and they make sure the mount and plate are in the correct position.

Harrison says when they found out there was a possibility Texas A&M would host the NCAA regionals, they chose the specific pattern for the way the grass is cut months in advance.

“We call it the ‘Whispering Eye’ it’s just kind of mowed in little arcs around the center field logo to just highlight that logo being about there,” said Harrison.

Harrison says they had all hands on deck preparing to host the regional.