Author Archives: Jerry Briggs

In the title hunt: Texas A&M beats Florida, advances to the MCWS finals for the first time

Posted on by
Reply

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Led by a dominant pitching staff, the Texas A&M Aggies have surged into the finals of the Men’s College World Series for the first time. They clinched a spot in the title round after they eliminated the Florida Gators, 6-0, on Wednesday night at Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha, Neb.

With the victory, the third-seeded Aggies will now focus on trying to capture their first national title in baseball. They’ll have a tough test in the top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers. The best-of-three set will commence on Saturday.

Coming into the game against the Gators, the Aggies’ pitching had been the story. They beat the Gators last Saturday, 3-2. They followed up with a 5-1 victory against the Kentucky Wildcats on Monday.

As it turned out, the rematch against the Gators turned into much the same narrative as A&M pitchers, with starter Justin Lamkin leading the way, allowed only four hits. Going back to late Saturday night, the Aggies have now strung zeroes on the scoreboard in 19 of their last 20 innings.

“Great ball game,” A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle told reporters later. “Lamkin was obviously outstanding. The decision was just how long to leave him in there and win the game but still give us a chance over the weekend since we’re down a pitcher.”

Lamkin, a 6-foot-4 lefty from Corpus Christi Calallen, made his second start of the MCWS and made it count with nine strikeouts in five innings. He allowed only three hits and was threatened seriously with runners in scoring position only once.

In the third inning, the Gators loaded the bases with one out. First, Michael Robertson drew a walk. Next, Jac Caglianone beat an infield shift by punching a single through the left side. Cade Kurland then smashed a ball back at Lamkin for an infield single.

At that point, Lamkin struck out Tyler Shelnut. The inning ended when shortstop Ali Camarillo raced into foul territory to catch a pop up off the bat of Colby Shelton.

When Lamkin was replaced to open the sixth, the Aggies went through a bit of uncertainty when Chris Cortez walked two straight. But Josh Stewart entered and used a sweeping curveball to pitch two scoreless frames. Evan Aschenbeck, the stopper of the year in college baseball, finished with the last two innings.

“Stewy made big pitches,” Schlossnagle said. “Got us out of a jam. Cortez will be better next time, I have no doubt.”

Caden Sorrell led the way offensively with a team-high three RBI, one coming on a sacrifice fly and the others on a two-run homer. It was his 11th of the season and his third in the NCAA playoffs. Gavin Grahovac and Kaeden Kent both had two hits and an RBI.

Jace LaViolette, who tweaked a hamstring Monday night against Kentucky, started and played right field but clearly wasn’t 100 percent physically. He went zero for four at the plate and struck out twice.

In the first inning, he was on third base when Sorrell hit his sac fly to center. LaViolette scored on the play but didn’t look smooth as he tried to accelerate. In the field, a fly ball that might have been caught on another night got past him for a double.

Given the circumstances, it’s remarkable that the Aggies are in position to win it all.

They lost star outfielder Braden Montgomery and front-line starting pitcher Shane Sdao for the season with injuries in the Super Regional round. Now, they’re playing with a less-than-100 percent LaViolette, and they’re two wins away from holding up the trophy. One of the big reasons for their success in Omaha is Lamkin, who has pitched eight scoreless innings.

“I think the big part of it is just having self confidence in myself, knowing that I can go out there and compete and play at this level,” Lamkin said. “I think just getting ahead of hitters and having true confidence in all my pitches really helped me out.”

Asked how it feels to become a part of Texas A&M history as the first baseball team to play for a national title, Sorrell talked about how he had always followed the program when he was younger.

“It’s definitely an amazing feeling,” Sorrell said. “I remember coming to these games when I was like 10 years old and always wanting to be a part of this. You know, finally being here and making it this far, it’s been an amazing feeling. But, obviously, the job is not finished yet.”

A&M’s 8-0 ride through the NCAA tournament has not been without a few hiccups. Namely, the injuries and the accompanying decisions on what to do with personnel. Kent, who stepped into the lineup in Game 1 of the Super Regionals when Montgomery went out, has been the most visible of players coming off the bench to perform well.

The son of former major league infielder Jeff Kent has produced five hits in three games in the MCWS, including two against Kentucky and two against Florida. Another player rising to the occasion has been Stewart, who didn’t pitch in either NCAA regional or the super regional round.

For the first time since May 23, he got into a game on Monday against Kentucky and pitched 2 and 1/3 innings, giving up a run (on a solo homer) and three hits. Against Florida, his emergence was a key in steadying the team after Cortez faltered. Stewart said

“It wasn’t too big of a deal with the break (between games),” Stewart said. “Got work in on the off days, and whatnot, and didn’t try to rise to the occasion, or whatever. Just got back to what we do every single day and just (went) one day at a time, really. Didn’t try to make it bigger than it is.”

Records

Florida: 36-30
In the MCWS: 2-2
In the NCAA tournament: 8-3

Texas A&M 52-13
In the MCWS: 3-0
In the NCAA tournament: 8-0

Notable

The Gators entered the game with one loss, having dropped their opener to the Aggies before rebounding to eliminate both North Carolina State, 5-4, and second-seeded Kentucky, 15-4.

The Gators rolled the dice with the use of freshman Liam Peterson as their starter. Peterson was ineffective against A&M in the opener and once again didn’t have it, walking four of the first five batters that he faced. He was charged with two runs and the loss and fell to 3-6 on the season. Lamkin was the winner and improved to 3-2.

Florida star Jac Caglianone finished his night two for four at the plate. But, fortunately for A&M, he didn’t homer. He had hit home runs in four of five NCAA tournament games coming in.

Tennessee advances to the MCWS finals with a 7-2 victory over Florida State

Posted on by
Reply

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers scored three runs in the first inning Wednesday afternoon and cruised past the No. 8 Florida State Seminoles 7-2 and into the finals at the Men’s College World Series.

Blake Burke had two RBI and three of Tennessee’s 10 hits, including a solo homer, to back Tennessee pitchers Zach Secrist, Kirby Connell and Nate Snead, who blanked the hard-hitting Seminoles in eight of nine innings

Daniel Cantu and Alex Lodise homered back to back in the sixth inning for Florida State’s only runs.

Tennessee entered the MCWS as one of the nation’s most potent offenses, but the pitching has also come on strong.

The Vols have allowed only three runs on 12 hits in their last two games. Florida State, which needed two wins in the semifinals to advance, represented a threat to Tennessee’s dominance because of its own potent attack.

But the Seminoles, who lost to the Vols 12-11 last Friday night, could never put anything together.

Records

Tennessee: 58-12 overall, 8-1 in the NCAA tournament, 3-0 in the MCWS
Florida State: 49-17, 7-2 in the NCAA tournament, 2-2 in the MCWS

MCWS recap

Tennessee defeated Florida State, 12-11; defeated North Carolina, 6-1; defeated Florida State, 7-2.

Florida State lost to Tennessee, 12-11; defeated Virginia, 7-3; defeated North Carolina, 9-5, lost to Tennessee, 7-2

Coming up

Tennessee advances to the best-of-three MCWS title round, set for Saturday, Sunday and Monday if necessary, against either Texas A&M or Florida.

Once a .500 team in April, Florida reaches the MCWS semifinals against Texas A&M

Posted on by
Reply

The Florida Gators once looked nothing like a national-title contender. They were once 17-17 on the season and 6-8 in the Southeastern Conference at the end of a season-long, six-game losing streak.

That was in April. By May, at the SEC tournament, the perennial national power had shown some progress with a few victories against highly-ranked opponents but had once again found themselves in trouble. Beaten in the SEC tournament by Vanderbilt, they fell to 28-27 entering a week during which the NCAA tournament selection committee would decide whether the Gators deserved a chance to play again.

Fortunately for the Gators, they survived the cut into the 64-team field, and they were designated as a No. 3 seed out of four teams in the Stillwater Regional. In Stillwater they came alive, winning four out of five games and beating the home-team Oklahoma State Cowboys twice. On their way to the Clemson Super Regional, the Gators stayed hot, winning 10-7 and then 11-10 in 13 innings for a berth in the eight-team Men’s College World Series.

Now they’re in the MCWS semifinals, taking a modest 36-29 record into tonight’s game against the third-seeded and 51-13 Texas A&M Aggies. Once again, the Gators fell down before they rose up and played their best baseball. They lost to the Aggies 3-2 to fall into the losers bracket. Adversity? Florida didn’t flinch, eliminating North Carolina State 5-4 on Monday. On Wednesday, they erupted for seven runs in the first inning and advanced with a 15-4 victory.

As usual, the Gators had plenty of offense. Brody Donay hit two home runs, including a first-inning grand slam. All-American Jac Caglianone hit a solo homer in the sixth inning to give him four homers in his last five games and 35 for the season. Caglianone has 75 for his career to become Florida’s all-time leader. He is also tied for eighth all-time in the NCAA and tied for third in the SEC history books.

Coming up

MCWS semifinals

Wednesday: Florida State vs. Tennessee, in progress
Wednesday: Florida vs. Texas A&M
x-Tennessee and Texas A&M need one win to advance to the finals
x-Florida State and Florida need two wins to advance
x-play in semifinals will be completed Thursday if necessary

Records

Florida State 49-16
In the NCAA tournament: 7-1
In the MCWS: Lost to Tennessee, 12-11; defeated Virginia, 7-3; defeated North Carolina, 9-5.

Tennessee 57-12
In the NCAA tournament: 7-1
In the MCWS: Defeated Florida State, 12-11; defeated North Carolina, 6-1.

Florida 36-29
In the NCAA tournament: 8-2
In the MCWS: Lost to Texas A&M, 3-2; defeated NC State, 5-4; defeated Kentucky, 15-4.

Texas A&M 51-13
In the NCAA tournament: 7-0
In the MCWS: Defeated Florida, 3-2; defeated Kentucky, 5-1.

Aggies can book a trip to MCWS finals if they can win tonight

Posted on by
Reply

By the end of the day on Wednesday, the top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers and the No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies could clinch berths in the championship round of the Men’s College World Series.

Weather-related concerns in Omaha scrambled the schedule for the MCWS on Tuesday as the hard-hitting eighth-seeded Florida State Seminoles won 9-5 to stay alive in the tournament and to eliminate the No. 4 North Carolina Tar Heels.

The Seminoles staved off elimination for the second straight day, led by Jaxson West, who set a career high with four hits, including a ninth-inning home run.

West and Max Williams hit back-to-back homers in the ninth to put the game away. Connor Hults improved to 3-1 with 4 and 1/3 scoreless innings.

An elimination game between Florida and Kentucky scheduled for Tuesday night was pushed back a day because of weather-related concerns in Omaha.

Florida and Kentucky were playing Wednesday morning with the winner hoping to advance into the semifinal round against A&M. The second game of the day will feature a semifinals matchup between Tennessee against Florida State.

Tennessee rallied with four runs in the bottom of the ninth last Friday to stun Florida State on opening day of the tournament.

Both Tennessee and A&M will need to be beaten twice in the semifinals for their opponents to make the finals. Should either or both Tennessee and A&M lose, a second day of competition in the semis would be held on Thursday.

The best of three MCWS finals are scheduled to open Saturday.

Wednesday’s schedule

(Revised)
Florida v Kentucky, 10 a.m. (elimination game)
Tennessee v Florida State, 2 p.m. (semifinals)
Texas A&M v Florida or Kentucky, 6 p.m. (semifinals)

Aggies keep winning in the playoffs despite ‘losing players left and right’

Posted on by
Reply

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

One win away from the finals in the Men’s College World Series, Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle is clearly enjoying the ride. And, why not? His team has won seven straight in the NCAA baseball tournament, including a 2-0 start in the MCWS.

At the same time, questions loom. Will slugging outfielder Jace LaViolette be ready to play on Wednesday? If not, how can the coach be expected to win a national title if he’s missing both LaViolette and Braden Montgomery in the most important game of the season?

Moreover, what will he do without the services of starting pitcher Shane Sdao, who like Montgomery suffered a season-ending injury in the Super Regional round? All serious questions that will force Schlossnagle to make some big decisions over the next 36 hours.

In his postgame news conference Monday, Schlossnagle said LaViolette “tweaked” a hamstring in third-seeded A&M’s 5-1 victory over No. 2 Kentucky. He did it apparently in the sixth inning when the Aggies scored five runs.

So, what is his status for Wednesday?

“Thankfully we don’t play (Tuesday),” Schlossnagle told reporters. “So we got 48 hours to see if we can get him functional to do something on the field. Last two weeks (we’ve) been losing players left and right. Gives other guys opportunities. Hopefully it’ll make a good story.”

The loss of Sdao to injury last week against Oregon could become a major issue should the Aggies falter and lose Wednesday’s game. If they lose, they’d need to play again Thursday for the right to move into the title series.

“When you’re down a pitcher like Sdao, that’s a big hole to fill for any team,” the coach said. “At least, for our team. The fact that we get an extra day’s rest and hopefully just have to win one (is important).”

Just when he mentioned his fortuitous position in the bracket, Schlossnagle recalled an experience that he had at another school, a memory that apparently still haunts him. Eight years ago, his TCU Horned Frogs went into the CWS semifinals with a 2-0 record and failed to reach the finals.

As it turned out, Coastal Carolina won in the losers bracket and then knocked off TCU twice in the semifinals en route to winning the MCWS title, a footnote in history that should give hope to both Kentucky and Florida, who play Tuesday night for the right to meet A&M again on Wednesday.

“In 2016 we had to win one game and Coastal Carolina had to win three, and they did,” Schlossnagle said. “So, we’ve won a couple of ballgames, but we’re not where we want to be yet.”

One of the keys to A&M’s success is, obviously, talented players who aren’t playing at the moment and staying ready just in case. Kaeden Kent is one of those players. He wasn’t in the lineup at the start of the NCAA tournament but now is playing a major role.

“It’s amazing,” Kent said. “Any time you can play playoff baseball, it’s amazing. The fans are crazy, especially at Olsen Field. And my teammates, our teammates, are ultra-supportive of everybody. We have each other’s backs, and we play for each other.

“Like (pitcher) Ryan (Prager) said earlier, we have full trust in everybody in that dugout. So it’s amazing when a team can come together like we are and enjoy being around each other so much where we can win ball games, and it’s super fun to play.”

Another element of the Aggies’ run to the brink of their first championship round appearance is resilience. Sometimes, players on other teams just get hot. Sometimes, in the case of the Oregon Ducks last week, they get hot and make a good pitcher like Prager look bad.

The Ducks hammered Prager for six runs in just one and two thirds innings in the opener of the best-of-three Bryan-College Station Super Regional. On Monday night, Prager had a chance to make amends, and he did.

He carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished with 6 and 2/3 innings scoreless, allowing only two hits. A strong wind blowing into hitters’ faces aided his cause, but at the same time, he kept throwing strikes and forced the Wildcats to swing early in counts.

“After last week, as soon as I came out (of the game), there was some frustration,” Prager said. “(But) once we made the last out (in the series), all of that went away. We just won an opportunity to come to Omaha. I thought that went away pretty quick.

“But the first couple of days after, there was some thinking. Maybe a little bit of over thinking. But, truly coming back to neutral and understanding what I’ve done all year has led to some success and nothing really needs to change. There doesn’t need to be a drastic change.”

Did the Aggies catch a break when they showed up Monday afternoon with the wind blowing in? Sure they did. They’ll acknowledge it and they’ll take it. Including a 3-2 victory over Florida on Saturday, A&M pitching has now allowed only three runs in two games in Omaha.

Prager did his part, going deep into the game and minimizing the role that the bullpen would need to play to finish off the victory.

“First two games we’ve been here, that’s about how we drew it up,” Schlossnagle said. “Glad to see him get a little bit of a cushion. Also glad to see him not to have to go much further than he did. Because if we’re going to have a chance to win this thing, he’s going to have to pitch again on much shorter rest.

“So, he did a great job. We played good defense behind him. Any time the wind’s blowing like it was, it gives any pitcher more confidence to throw the ball in the strike zone.”

Coming up

Tuesday: Florida State v North Carolina, 1 p.m.; Kentucky v Florida, 6 p.m. (both elimination games)
Wednesday: Tennessee v Florida State or North Carolina, 1 p.m.; Texas A&M v Kentucky or Florida, 6 p.m., (semifinals)

A&M defeats Kentucky, advances undefeated into MCWS semifinals

Posted on by
Reply

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Jackson Appel and Hayden Schott ignited a five-run sixth inning and lefthander Ryan Prager took a no hitter into the seventh Monday night, as the Texas A&M Aggies rolled to a 5-1 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats to remain undefeated at the Men’s College World Series.

Looking for their first national title in their eighth trip to Omaha, Neb., the third-seeded Aggies have fashioned a 2-0 start in the MCWS for the first time. With wins over Florida and second-seeded Kentucky, A&M has moved into the semifinals needing only one victory to advance to the championship round.

Now with one loss in two games, Kentucky is scheduled to play Florida, also 1-1, in the losers bracket Tuesday. The winner is scheduled to get another shot at A&M on Wednesday night in the semifinals. A&M will need to be beaten twice for its opponent to reach the finals.

A&M star outfielder Jace LaViolette came out of the game against Kentucky with an apparent injury after his team broke it open in the sixth with five runs, four hits and three walks off Kentucky pitching, including four runs charged to starter Mason Moore.

LaViolette, whose catch at the wall robbed Florida of a home run in a 3-2 A&M victory on Saturday night, led off with a walk and moved to third base when Appel doubled down the right field line. It was A&M’s best scoring opportunity of the night, and the Aggies didn’t waste it.

Both LaViolette and Appel scored on Hayden Schott’s two-run single to left to make it 2-0. The first glimpse of LaViolette’s discomfort showed when he limped in from third to home plate.

Subsequently, the Aggies kept it going when Ted Burton walked. One out later, with runners at first and second, Ali Camarillo stroked an RBI double over the head of Kentucky right fielder James McCoy. A&M caught a break when McCoy appeared out of position to make the catch.

The play left A&M with a 3-0 lead and runners at second and third base. Kaeden Kent slapped a two-RBI single to left to make it 5-0.

Ryan Nicholson tied the Kentucky single-season, school record with his 23rd home run, a solo shot, off A&M reliever Josh Stewart in the bottom of the ninth.

Records

Kentucky 46-15
Texas A&M 51-13

Coming up

Tuesday: North Carolina v Florida State, 1 p.m., elimination game; Kentucky v Florida, 6 p.m., elimination game.

Wednesday’s semifinals: Tennessee v North Carolina/Florida State, 1 p.m.; Texas A&M v Kentucky/Florida, 6 p.m.

Notable

Texas A&M’s Ryan Prager bounced back from a poor outing in the Super Regional round to notch the victory over Kentucky, improving his record to 9-1. Prager worked 6 and 2/3 shut out innings, giving up only two hits. He walked one and struck out four.

In the Super Regional opener against Oregon, the redshirt sophomore from Dallas Hillcrest lasted only one and two thirds innings. He yielded six runs on seven hits, including a homer, after which the Aggies rallied for a 10-6 victory.

Offensively, Hayden Schott led the Aggies in the MCWS matchup against Kentucky.

The graduate student from Newport Beach, Calif., went three for five and had two RBI. Schott has hit safely in six of seven NCAA tournament games. He is four for eight in the CWS and has produced 13 hits in 30 at bats in the tournament.

Kaeden Kent, a sophomore from Lake Travis and the son of former major league star Jeff Kent, also continued to shine for the Aggies. Kent is eight for 15 in the tournament and seven for 13, including a grand slam in Game 1 against the Ducks, since he replaced injured Braden Montgomery in the lineup.

When LaViolette exited the Kentucky game before the bottom of the sixth, A&M coach Jim Scholossnagle inserted Jack Bell into the game at second base and moved Kent over to play third. Gavin Grahovac moved from third base to left field and freshman Caden Sorrell from left to right to take LaViolette’s position in the field.

Both Montgomery (ankle) and pitcher Shane Sdao were injured in the Oregon series and have been declared out for the MCWS. All of which makes it interesting to see whether LaViolette can return. LaViolette, whose injury was announced as a hamstring, leads A&M with 28 homers. Montgomery, considered a potential first-round draft pick, has hit 27 homers. Sdao is regarded as a key starter.

Quotable

“Give their starter credit. (Ryan) Prager. What an outing. What a time to throw a game like that. He kept us off balance. It was the fastball. The breaking ball. The changeup. He just threw an absolute great game,” Kentucky coach Nick Mingione said.

“I thought it was a great ballgame,” A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Tough conditions to hit. I thought both pitchers, Ryan was obviously outstanding. I thought Mason was outstanding for them. We just happened to get Appel’s big hit to get us into scoring position.

“And then both Hayden and Kaeden did an awesome job of staying on the baseball and using the whole field to hit.”

Tennessee beats North Carolina to remain undefeated at the MCWS

Posted on by
Reply

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The Tennessee Volunteers are 2-0 in the Men’s College World Series for the first time in program history after knocking off the North Carolina Tar Heels, 6-1, Sunday night.

With the win, the top-seeded Vols earned two days off and moved into the semifinals. The Tar Heels will play the Florida State Seminoles in a battle of 1-1 teams on Tuesday, with the loser eliminated and the winner moving on to meet Tennessee on Wednesday.

Tennessee won in dramatic fashion in its opening game, beating Florida State 12-11 by scoring four runs in the ninth inning. Beating North Carolina was much less stressful as Kavares Tears and Reese Chapman both hit home runs and starting pitcher Drew Beam allowed one run in five innings.

Kirby Connell and Nate Snead both pitched two scoreless innings to finish off the Tar Heels, who managed only five hits on the day.

Records

Tennessee 57-12
North Carolina 48-15

Coming up

Monday: Florida vs. NC State, 1 p.m., elimination game. Texas A&M vs. Kentucky, 6 p.m. winners bracket.

Tuesday: Florida State vs. North Carolina, 1 p.m., elimination game. Late game, TBA.

Wednesday: Tennessee vs. either Florida State or North Carolina, 1 p.m., semifinals. Late game, TBA.

Florida State wins 7-3 to eliminate Virginia at the MCWS

Posted on by
Reply

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Jaime Ferrer smashed two home runs to back the pitching of Carson Dorsey as the Florida State Seminoles survived to play another day at the Men’s College World Series, eliminating the Virginia Cavaliers 7-3 Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Seminoles of the Atlantic Coast Conference improved to 6-1 in the NCAA tournament and to 1-1 in the MCWS.

Ferrer led off the fourth inning with a solo shot and added a three-run blast in the fifth for three homers in two MCWS games and five in his past four NCAA playoff games. An FSU junior from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Ferrer is batting .324 with 22 home runs and 66 RBI for the season.

Dorsey pitched into the eighth inning to pace the Seminoles. He gave up three runs and struck out seven. In three NCAA tournament starts, Dorsey has yielded five earned runs in 21 innings while striking out 20. He is a junior lefthander from Panama City, Fla.

Records

Florida State 48-16
Virginia 46-17

Coming up

Florida State advanced to the bracket semifinals to face either the Tennessee Volunteers or the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Jace LaViolette discusses his game-saving play at the Men’s College World Series

Posted on by
Reply

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Around 1 a.m. on Sunday morning at Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha, Neb., Texas A&M pitcher Evan Aschenbeck threw the pitch. Florida leadoff man Cade Kurland hit it, and the ball sailed high and deep to right field.

Six-foot-six A&M rightfielder Jace LaViolette, already playing deep to prevent anything from sailing over his head, ran slightly off line to where he needed to be on the most important play of the game at the Men’s College World Series.

Admitting to making “the total wrong read” on the ball, LaViolette said later that he also thought his position might not matter because the ball might be a home run, anyway.

“My heart kind of dropped for a second,” he told reporters on site after the game.

Then something amazing happened. The ball that looked like it might land well beyond his reach for a go-ahead, two-run homer started to come back into LaViolette’s range.

He jumped up and snatched it out of the air, robbing Kurland of a homer and propelling A&M to a 3-2 victory over the Gators on Day Two of the MCWS.

“I think the wind knocked it down a little bit,” LaViolette said. “It was a really cool play.”

A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle, in his postgame remarks, deadpanned that he is glad that LaViolette is tall.

Schlossnagle said he thought when Kurland struck the ball that it would be a home run.

“You know, I know there’s been homers hit (here), but you never know until you see it go over the fence, because of how this place plays,” said Schlossnagle. “Really, there wasn’t that much wind going, but he just hit it to the wrong spot.

“Cade’s a great hitter. Stayed on a good pitch. We were playing no doubles (positioning),” Schlossnagle said. “So, Jace was already pretty far back there. But I thought it was a homer.”

It wasn’t a homer, and it gave LaViolette a thrill of his young life.

He told a television reporter from ESPN that he might be awake for a few more hours because of the adrenaline he was feeling.

Texas A&M will play against the Kentucky Wildcats on Monday at 6 p.m. in the winners bracket. Both teams are 1-0 in their half of the eight-team MCWS tournament.

The winner there will earn a ticket to the four-team bracket finals against either North Carolina State or Florida, who will play on Monday at 1 p.m. in an elimination game.

Records

Florida 34-29
Texas A&M 50-13

Pitching, defense shine as A&M wins its MCWS opener, 3-2, over Florida

Posted on by
Reply

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The Texas A&M Aggies executed a few clutch, highlight-worthy defensive plays in the last few innings to back a pitching staff that struck out 16 in a riveting 3-2 victory Saturday night over the Florida Gators at the Men’s College World Series.

In a game that started more than four hours late after a weather delay, the third-seeded Aggies scored two runs in the second inning and one in the third and made it stand up for their 50th win of the season. Florida rallied for two runs in the seventh to make it close.

But the Aggies closed the door, thanks to reliever Evan Aschenbeck and defensive gems authored by second baseman Kaeden Kent and rightfielder Jace LaViolette.

In the eighth inning, the Gators had loaded the bases with two outs when Dale Thomas poked a ball that rolled slowly out to the right side. Kent hustled in to pick it up but didn’t have time to throw over-handed or side-armed to first. Instead, he under-handed it, with the ball barely beating Thomas.

Florida asked for a review on the call, but it was upheld, ending the threat and the inning. In the ninth, more drama ensued. With one out, Michael Robertson reached on an infield single. Cade Kurland stepped up and drove a pitch high and deep to right.

LaViolette leaped and caught it as it was coming down, robbing Kurland of extra bases, if not a go-ahead two-run homer. Florida star Jac Caglianone, the next batter, worked a 3-2 count and Aschenbeck walked him to put runners at first and second.

Aschenbeck, regarded as perhaps the best reliever in the nation, immediately put Ashton Wilson on the defensive. He dropped a sharp-breaking curve into the zone for strike two. On a 1-2 count, he threw another ball way wide of the strike zone. Wilson swung and missed to end the game.

The Aggies surged into a 2-0 lead in the second inning against Gators starter Liam Peterson. Caden Sorrell led off with a single and Ali Camarillo drew a walk. Kent followed with a single of his own to load the bases.

At that point, Travis Chestnut chopped a high-bouncer to third for an RBI infield single. The play seemed to rattle Peterson, as he threw a wild pitch that allowed the second run to cross.

In the third inning, Hayden Schott led off with a walk and Sorrell, a freshman from Flower Mound Marcus, sent an RBI double soaring over the center fielder’s head.

The Gators, who scored 21 runs combined in two Super Regional wins last week, failed to score until the seventh inning. Justin Lamkin pitched the first three and Chris Cortez the next three. Both notched six strikeouts.

Cortez was charged with yielding two runs in the seventh before Aschenbeck entered to end the threat. Aschenbeck pitched the remainder of the seventh, the eighth and the ninth, yielding three hits and fanning four.

Records

Florida 34-29
Texas A&M 50-13

Coming up

Sunday: Virginia vs. Florida State, 1 p.m., elimination game. North Carolina vs. Tennessee, 6 p.m., winners bracket.

Monday: North Carolina State vs. Florida, 1 p.m., elimination game. Kentucky vs. Texas A&M, 6 p.m., winners bracket.