East Texan leads Aggies to College World Series
The Lufkin News
Brigham Hill is having himself a pretty good June.
The former Lufkin High School and Nacogdoches High School pitcher started the month by picking up a win for Texas A&M over Baylor in the opening game of the Houston Regional. Hill was the Game 1 starter in the Super Regional against Davidson—a series the Aggies swept.
On Tuesday, Hill was selected in the fifth round by the Washington Nationals in the Major League Baseball Draft.
Hill's month will get even better on Sunday, when he and the Aggies will begin play in the College World Series.
“It's incredible,” Hill said. “It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. After previous years of falling a little short, this is special.”
In Hill's first two seasons at Texas A&M, the Aggies' season ended the same way both times—losing to TCU in the Super Regionals.
When Hill was a freshman, Texas A&M dropped the Super Regional series to TCU in three games. The decisive game was a 5-4 TCU victory in 16 innings.
Hill went 1-0 with a 5.30 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 182/3 innings in his freshman campaign. In his three starts, he was 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 121/3 innings.
As a sophomore, Hill worked his way into the Texas A&M rotation and went 9-2 with a 2.51 ERA with 99 strikeouts in 97 innings during 24 appearances—13 starts. Hill was named a second-team AllAmerican by Baseball America and a third-team All-American by the College Baseball Writers Association.
But in the end, the Aggies missed out on the College World Series once again, losing to TCU in three games in the Super Regional, this time in College Station.
Texas A&M came into the 2017 season with a young roster and wasn't expected to be anywhere near a Super Regional again.
“This year has been a completely different year,” Hill said. “I've had to develop more as a leader and be a more complete player.”
Hill established himself as the ace of the Texas A&M staff. He's made 16 starts and is 8-3 with a 3.18 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 961/3 innings.