Check out some of the best pictures from last night that were taken by USA TODAY Sports photographers Steve Branscombe and Dylan Widger.
Following a four-hour rain delay in Omaha, Nebraska, that pushed the College World Series opening round into the early hours of Father’s Day, the Texas A&M baseball team held on for a 3-2 win against SEC rival Florida.
The No. 3 Aggies (50-13) beat the Gators (34-29) by tallying two runs in the bottom of the second inning and one in the third. Texas A&M plays another SEC foe, No. 2 Kentucky (46-14), at Charles Schwab Field on Monday at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN+.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Justin Lampkin, junior right-hander Chris Cortez and senior lefty Evan Aschenbeck pitched 3 innings each in that order on Saturday evening. Cortez relieved Lampkin to earn his 10th win on the year before the Stopper of the Year shut it down like he usually does.
Check out some of the best pictures from Saturday night that were taken by USA TODAY Sports photographers Steve Branscombe and Dylan Widger.
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After a four hour rain delay, the Aggies beat SEC rival Florida in the opening round of the College World Series at Charles Schwab Field.
After a four hour rain delay, the Texas A&M baseball team beat SEC rival Florida in the opening round of the College World Series at Charles Schwab Field.
The No. 3 Aggies (50-13) held on for a 3-2 victory versus the Gators (34-29) on Saturday night in Omaha, Nebraska. Texas A&M tallied 2 in the second inning and 1 in the third. Florida scored both of its runs in the seventh frame following two doubles.
In the bottom of the second, three consecutive Aggies reached to load the bases. Freshman outfielder Caden Sorell singled to center field, junior shortstop Ali Camarillo drew a walk and sophomore second baseman Kaeden Kent hit a single to right.
Senior OF Travis Chestnut hit a groundout to third base but the Gators were unable to make a play in time so each runner was safe, including Sorrell to plate the first run. Camarillo scored on a wild pitch during the next at-bat.
After graduate student designated hitter Hayden Schott walked in the third inning, Sorrell smashed an RBI double to center to increase the advantage to 3-0.
Sophomore OF Jace LaViolette sealed the win for Texas A&M in the top of the ninth frame. With one out and the go-ahead run at the dish, Florida sophomore 2B Cade Kurland crushed a pitch to right field where the 6-foot-6 superstar reached above the fence and robbed Kurland of the homer.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Justin Lamkin got the start on the mound in place of hurt sophomore LHP Shane Sdao, who’s out for the season. Despite being inconsistent at times this year, Lamkin was lights out in the late hours of Saturday evening. He pitched the first 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing only 1 hit with 6 strikeouts on 42 pitches.
Chris Cortez (10-3) earned the win in relief. The junior RHP allowed the first two batters to reach base and quickly got out of it. He tossed 3.0 frames and allowed 4 hits, 2 runs and 1 walk with 6 Ks on 65 pitches.
Newly minted NCBWA “Stopper of the Year,” Evan Aschenbeck, pitched the final 3.0 scoreless innings after entering in the top of the seventh for Cortez. The senior lefty gave up 3 hits and 2 walks with 4 punchouts on 51 pitches. Aschenbeck got out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth frame.
Sorrell was the lone Aggie to rack up multiple hits. Chestnut, Kent, Schott and freshman third baseman Gavin Grahovac respectively recorded a hit. LaViolette drew 2 walks Saturday to set a new single-season program record for free passes with 59 thus far.
Gators junior first baseman Jac Caglianone is going to be drafted very early in the the 2024 MLB Draft next month, just like injured Texas A&M junior OF Braden Montgomery. The future Top 10 pick was 2-for-3 with 1 double and 1 walk against the Aggies.
Texas A&M plays another SEC foe, No. 2 Kentucky (46-14), on Monday at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
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Kentucky’s baseball team found a heck of a way to win its first-ever College World Series game on Saturday.
In the bottom of the tenth inning for the team’s first game against NC State, Wildcats infielder Mitchell Daly broke the 4-4 tie and hammered a home run out of the baseball diamond to win the game.
The seismic homer cleared the bench and brought all of Daly’s teammates to celebrate with him on home plate, making this easily the best moment for Kentucky baseball in quite some time.
Walk-off homers in Omaha are always special, but this is just on another level for the Wildcats.
The radio call from UK Sports Network’s Darren Headrick and Keith Madison was particularly enjoyable, as it’s always great to hear such a historic moment broadcasted from the school’s point of view.
With Justin Lamkin set to take the mound, here are the broadcast details for Texas A&M’s CWS Game 1 matchup vs. Florida
Texas A&M (49-13) has reached the College World Series for the second time in three seasons under head coach Jim Schlossnagle. The Aggies will face a feisty Florida Gators (34-28) team on Saturday night. Both programs last met during the start of SEC play in early mid-March.
In a surprising but overall strategic move, lefty Justin Lamkin will take the mound to start the series. The sophomore actually performed much better against the Gators on March 17, striking out five while allowing just two runs on the afternoon.
If Lamkin can last more than four innings, this provides Schlossnagle with plenty of depth in the bullpen. If a victory on Saturday is in their immediate future, they can start by deploying senior Chris Cortez and reliable closer Evan Aschenbach to potentially close things out and save ace pitcher Ryan Prager for Game 2 on Monday.
With several lineup changes taking effect, sophomore pitcher Shane Sdao and star outfielder Braden Montgomery will miss the rest of the postseason due to injury.
Here is the official broadcast and streaming information ahead of Saturday night’s matchup.
Time: 6:00 p.m. CT.
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 1150AM/93.7FM (local)
Web: 12thman.com
App: 12th Man Mobile App
ESPN betting line: Texas A&M -160
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Tennessee and Florida State went back and forth on Friday night, trading leads late into the game, and thanks to Christian Moore’s cycle, the Volunteers emerged victorious.
But there was some controversy! With Tennessee’s Blake Burke up and a 2-2 count on him, Burke checked his swing, and the third base umpire confirmed that was the case.
But the replay shows it was … questionable at best. It really looked like he offered. Then, Burke tied the game at 11. Tennessee went on to win, and FSU manager Link Jarrett didn’t go too hard on the umpire for the call, as you’ll see below:
This was ruled a check swing instead of ending the game, and Tennessee goes on to walk off Florida State #MCWSpic.twitter.com/cWTDQSuP2K
THIS. IS. JUNE. THIS. IS. OMAHA. THIS IS (what happens when you give Blake Burke a 50/50 check swing call that would have ended the game but he gets 2nd life and capitalizes) pic.twitter.com/1MpKPjwDcF
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) June 15, 2024
Link Jarrett talked about the Blake Burke check swing in the last part of his opening statement, not a single reporter asked a follow up about it:
“I want to thank the coaches for giving me an opportunity to play for Texas A&M. It was the best decision that I ever made in my life.”
Texas A&M senior left-handed pitcher Evan Aschenbeck received the “Stopper of the Year” award on Friday from the National College Baseball Writers Association.
“Alright, I’m not too good at public speaking, but I’ll give it a go. I just wanna thank everybody that’s been a part of this,” Aschenbeck said. “I first off want to thank my teammates just because nothing is better for a pitcher than to have a great defense behind you. They just want to play their hearts out every time that we go out on the field and it makes it a whole lot easier knowing that I just need to fill up the zone and they’ll make plays behind me.
“Next, I want to thank the coaching staff for taking a chance on me and giving me an opportunity to play for Texas A&M. It was the best decision that I ever made in my life. Next is my family, just for all the support and everything. They are here today, it’s awesome to see them here and every away series so I just want to thank them.
“I can’t accept this award without my teammates and everyone that is there to support me. So thank you very much!”
The No. 3 Aggies (49-13) begin the College World Series versus SEC rival Florida (34-28) on Saturday at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
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Christian Moore hit the second cycle in the history of the College World Series on Friday night.
Tennessee star infielder Christian Moore is one of the top college prospects in the 2024 MLB draft, and he’s made himself a lot of money in the postseason.
Moore has helped carry the top-seeded Volunteers to Omaha for the third time in the last four years, and the junior did something even more special than that during the team’s first game in Omaha against Florida State.
He hit for the cycle for just the second time in the entire history of the College World Series. It was also the sixth-ever cycle for a Tennessee player and the first in the postseason.
After hitting a triple, double and single in his first three at-bats, Moore capped things off perfectly in the bottom of the sixth with a 440-foot two-run shot to dead center in the deep Charles Schwab Stadium outfield.
This man is playing a video game!
Sixth cycle in program history and first ever in the postseason!
His heroics weren’t done there, as Moore’s two-out double in the bottom of the ninth kept the game alive, and he became the tying run in what was an eventual walk-off win.
It’s more of what Moore has been doing all year. He entered Friday night’s game with a .375 batting average on the season, and the home run to clinch the cycle was his 33rd of the season, pacing a Tennessee lineup that is arguably the best in the entire country.
Moore was ranked No. 40 on last month’s MLB draft board from ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, while Perfect Game slots him as the No. 22 prospect on its recent board. However, his performance in the postseason has likely moved him up a few spots on those rankings.
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“The more often you go, the more used to being here that a team is. Between Prager, Cortez, Rudis and Targac, it’s awesome to have that.”
Before the Texas A&M baseball team begins the College World Series this weekend, coach Jim Schlossnagle spoke to the media about the four Aggies who accomplished program history by making their second trip to Omaha, Nebraska.
“It means a lot. The more often you go, the more used to being here that a team is. When you have somebody other than a coach who can talk to you about their experience, whether it be on the field or off,” Schlossnagle said Thursday. “Between Prager, Cortez, Rudis and Targac, it’s awesome to have that coming from players. It’s like hearing from your dad all the time, they hear from me all the time, but it’s better when it comes from a player. Hopefully we can continue that to where we always have that kind of experience on our club.”
No. 3 Texas A&M (49-13) face SEC rival Florida (34-28) on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
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“I’m about living in the moment so I took today in and it was pretty surreal. It’s my first time ever being here, so it was really surreal.”
Before the Texas A&M baseball team begins the College World Series this weekend, sophomore outfielder Jace LaViolette spoke to the media after his first practice in Omaha, Nebraska.
“I’m kind of all about living in the moment so I took today in and it was pretty surreal. It’s my first time ever being here, (Gavin Grahovac’s) first time ever being here, so it was really surreal,” LaViolette recalled Thursday. “It was a really cool moment and obviously it’s really cool to be here but you just have to treat it like Opening Day, right? We have to realize that we got here because we had a standard and because we have things that we believe in. We can’t start going away from those things just because we’re on a bigger stage or bigger field that you perceive to be bigger, right?
“So we just have to put it in perspective and realize it’s still baseball, it’s still a game and we just have to play our best.”
The No. 3 Aggies (49-13) face SEC rival Florida (34-28) on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
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“It’s tough to lose a guy like Braden. Every guy has to step up now, like you saw the other day, Kaeden Kent with a huge swing and plays.”
Before the Texas A&M baseball team begins the College World Series this weekend, freshman third baseman Gavin Grahovac spoke to the media after his first practice in Omaha, Nebraska.
“Just gonna have the same mentality that we’ve had all year. Opening Day, every day, go out there, it might be a new field, big field, big stage, but gotta go out there, play our game and just have fun,” Grahovac said Thursday. “It’s tough to lose a guy like Braden. Great teammate, great person, built a great relationship with him. He’s going to continue to be a great teammate as we continue to go through this journey. Every guy has to step up now so whoever is coming off the bench and going to play, like you saw the other day, Kaeden Kent with a huge swing and huge plays.
“It’s going to be awesome, we’re going to have a great time and Braden is going to be here with us.”
The No. 3 Aggies (49-13) face SEC rival Florida (34-28) on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
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