OMAHA, Neb. — Jace LaViolette robbed Cade Kurland of a leadoff opportunity in the ninth inning, Justin Lamkin and two relievers struck out 16, and Texas A&M held Florida to a 3-2 tie in the College World Series The men’s school’s opening game was delayed due to weather, which ended early Sunday.
The Aggies (50-13) will play Kentucky on Monday night in the winner of Group 2. The Gators (34-29), last year’s national runner-up to LSU, will meet NC State in a playoff game live on Monday afternoon.
Texas A&M scored runs in the first three innings against Liam Peterson (3-5), the first freshman to start the MCWS opener for Florida, and then relied on Lamkin, Chris Cortez (10-3) and Evan Aschenbeck to hold off the potent Gator Offense.
Florida has trailed in four of six wins in the NCAA tournament and nearly did it again.
Down in the eighth, the Gators loaded the bases with two outs against Aschenbeck. The left-hander, named Fielder of the Year as the nation’s top closer, walked out of the inning when second baseman Kaeden Kent gloved Dale’s slow roller Thomas and flipped his arm against first baseman Ted Burton in time for the third inning.
In the ninth inning, Michael Robertson got one out before Kurland hit a deep fly to right center. With his back against the fence, LaViolette reached up to catch the ball. Aschenbeck passed All-American slugger Jac Caglianone before getting his 10th save on Ashton Wilson’s strikeout.
“Super great game and I told Jace I was really happy he was tall,” Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
Winds were blowing at 14 mph at the start of the game, delaying the game for 4 hours and 7 minutes because of rain and thunder. Winds gusted more than 25 mph in the afternoon before easing after the storm passed.
“I read it completely wrong, I’m not going to lie,” LaViolette said. “I looked up and thought this could have been a homer, my heart sank for a second and then I was standing in front of the wall. I give a little credit to the wind. This ballpark plays a lot bigger than it actually is and The wind knocked it down a bit. It was a really fun play.”
Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said he thought the ball was out, based largely on Kurland’s reaction.
“He thought he got it. I thought he got it. The right fielder did a great job,” O’Sullivan said.
Schlossnagle took a calculated risk in starting Lamkin and saving left-hander and season-long No. 1 pitcher Ryan Prager for the Aggies’ game Monday. The Aggies lack a starting opportunity after Shane Sdao’s season-ending arm injury in the super regional against Oregon last week.
Lamkin was part of the weekend rotation until the final series of the season, but he struggled in the previous two games. Over the past month, Lamkin’s only outing was a nine-pitch relief appearance against Louisiana in the regional.
Schlossnagle needs Lamkin to give him a few innings and then turn the game over to Cortez and his 100 mph fastball. Lamkin did his part, allowing one baserunner and striking out six in three innings.
The Aggies scored on Travis Chestnut’s bases-loaded infield single and a wild pitch in the second inning and Caden Sorrell’s double in the third.
Cortez held Florida scoreless as the Gators threatened in the fourth and sixth innings, but they pulled away in the seventh thanks to back-to-back doubles by Tyler Shelnut and Thomas. Aschenbeck came in to face Michael Robertson, whose RBI groundout gave the Aggies a 3-2 lead.
The eighth and ninth innings turned out to be much more tense for Aschenbeck and the rest of the Aggies.
“Evan had to make really good throws to get through it,” Schlossnagle said. “Really well [opponent], playing in the College World Series with your season coming to a close, we trust Evan. You will ride or die to the best of your ability.”
