A historic and magical season for the Florida Gators baseball team has come to an end with a 6-0 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies Wednesday night in the College World Series semifinals.
All good things must come to an end, but Florida’s goose egg and exit from the postseason felt even worse after experiencing the euphoria of an 11-run win earlier in the day.
[autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] managed to make a little more history, but it was his final game as a Gator. [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] made the final appearance of his Florida career, too.
A rough start
[autotag]Liam Peterson[/autotag] couldn’t shake his nerves again and walked four batters in the first inning. [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] went out to get him after Peterson walked in a run and brought in [autotag]Fisher Jameson[/autotag] for damage control. A sacrifice fly scored a second run before the inning ended, and the damage was already done.
Florida couldn’t get any momentum going, even when they got multiple runners on base. Texas A&M starter Justin Lamkin delivered five scoreless innings, striking out nine of the 19 batters he faced. The Gators couldn’t figure out his rhythm and looked baffled at the plate.
Jameson gave up a run in the fifth before turning the ball over to [autotag]Jake Clemente[/autotag] in the sixth. Clemente threw earlier in the day and couldn’t find his command. Sully had a short leash on him and brought in Neely with a 2-0 count and one-on.
That turned out to be a mistake. Neely gave up a two-run shot to make it 5-0 and suck the life out of the Gator collective.
One shot, one opportunity
Lamkin’s exit in the sixth brought in Chris Cortez, who couldn’t buy a strike. A pair of walks forced the Aggies to the bullpen again, but Josh Stewart escaped the jam without giving up a run.
Evan Aschenbeck threw the final two innings for Texas A&M to complete the shutout. Florida stranded eight men on base; although, it felt more like 100. [autotag]Brody Donay[/autotag] grounded into a double play to end the game and Florida’s season.
Caglianone had two of the team’s four hits — both singles. He tied the program record for career hits with 104.
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