OMAHA, Neb. – The thrillers continued at the College World Series.
Jace LaViolette robbed a two-run homer in the top of the ninth and Evan Aschenbeck struck out Ashton Wilson to end the contest as third-seeded Texas A&M pulled out a 3-2 victory over Florida on Saturday night into Sunday morning in the first round of the 2024 CWS.
The Aggies (50-13) will face No. 2 Kentucky on Monday, June 17 at 6 p.m. CT. The Gators (34-29) will meet No. 10 NC State on Monday at 1 p.m. CT in an elimination contest.
With UF trailing 3-2, Michael Robertson had a one-out single in the top of the ninth. Cade Kurland launched a fly ball to right. The 6’6 LaViolette made his way to the wall and reached over to catch the potential go-ahead homer.
“I told Jace I’m super happy that he’s tall,” A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
Aschenbeck walked Jac Caglianone before striking out Ashton Wilson to secure the win.
The game started at 10:16 p.m. CT following a weather delay of more than four hours.
TAMU got the offense going in the bottom of the second. Caden Sorrell had a one-out single up the middle, went to second on a walk to Ali Camarillo, took third on a base hit to right by Kaeden Kent and scored on a high chopper to third by Travis Chestnut to give the Aggies a 1-0 edge. Camarillo came home on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. A&M would leave the bases loaded in the second.
The Aggies would add a run in the third. Hayden Schott drew a leadoff walk and came home on a double to center by Sorrell to make it 3-0. A&M would again leave the sacks full.
The Gators looked like they would get on the scoreboard in the sixth after Kurland was hit by a pitch and went to third on a double by Caglianone. Chris Cortez struck out Wilson and Colby Shelton before getting Luke Heyman to fly out to right to end the threat.
UF did break through in the seventh. Tyler Shelnut doubled and scored on a ground rule double by Dale Thomas, who would later come home on a groundout by Robertson as the Gators pulled within one at 3-2.
The Gators threatened again in the eighth. Caglianone had a leadoff single and went to third on a two-out double by Heyman. A walk to Shelnut loaded the bases before a groundout to second ended the frame.
Three Aggie hurlers combined for 16 strikeouts with just three walks. Justin Lamkin started and tossed three scoreless innings for the Aggies with one hit, no walks and six strikeouts. Cortez fanned six in three innings to earn the win and raise his record to 10-3. Aschenbeck worked three scoreless frames with three hits, two walks and four strikeouts to record his 10th save.
“Texas A&M was outstanding on the mound today,” UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We made a late run at it. A difficult one, but another great game to be involved with.”
UF left 10 on base, while A&M stranded eight.
Notes
Texas A&M reached 50 wins for the sixth time in program history and first since 2015.
The Aggies are 36-0 when leading after eight innings.
The 16 strikeouts by A&M were its most in a CWS game.
This is the first time that there have been four straight one-run games to open the CWS.
“I think that you have eight of the best teams in college baseball from two of the best conferences,” Schlossnagle said. “I think the players are amazing. This is the Golden Age of college baseball. I’ve been around it 35 years. It’s never been this good.”