After a tough appearance Wednesday against Florida, Texas A&M junior right-handed pitcher Chris Cortez returned to his normal form of being a stone cold reliever during a 4-1 loss against top seed Tennessee.
Cortez pitched 4.1 scoreless innings, giving up 5 walks and 2 hits with 7 Ks on 99 pitches. He took over for senior RHP Zane Badmaev, who opened the contest and recorded the first three outs, allowing 2 hits with 2 Ks on 20 pitches.
“I’m super proud of Zane. It’s not the easiest thing to go out there with the championship game. He’s an older guy. I’ve always had a hard time starting. He went out there and did his thing,” Cortez explained. “I feel good, I just got a little dehydrated at the end. I just wanted to compete, I didn’t really care about my feelings. I would’ve kept throwing but coach is looking out for me.”
The No. 3 Aggies will attempt to win their first national championship in program history on Monday evening. First pitch of Game 3 is at 6 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN+.
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