OMAHA, Neb. — Jace LaViolette robbed Cade Kurland of a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning, Justin Lamkin and two relievers struck out 16 and Texas A&M beat Florida 3-2 in the weather-delayed opener of the Men's College World Series . which ended early Sunday morning.
The Aggies (50-13) will play Kentucky on Monday night in a Bracket 2 winners' game. The Gators (34-29), national runners-up to LSU last year, will face North Carolina State in a game eliminator on Monday afternoon.
Texas A&M scored its runs in the first three innings against Liam Peterson (3-5), the first freshman to start an MCWS opener for Florida, and then relied on Lamkin, Chris Cortez (10-3) and Evan Aschenbeck to hold down the Gators' powerful offense.
Florida had come back from four of its six NCAA tournament victories and was on the verge of doing it again.
Down one run in the eighth, the Gators loaded the bases with two outs against Aschenbeck. The left-hander, named Closer of the Year as the nation's top closer, got out of the inning when second baseman Kaeden Kent gloved Dale Thomas' slow roller and underhanded first baseman Ted Burton in time for the third out. .
In the ninth, Michael Robertson reached with one out before Kurland flied out deep to right-center field. With his back against the fence, LaViolette reached over it to catch it. Aschenbeck walked All-America slugger Jac Caglianone before earning his 10th save on a strikeout by Ashton Wilson.
A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle took a calculated risk by starting Lamkin and saving fellow left-hander and all-season No. 1 pitcher Ryan Prager for the Aggies' game on Monday. The Aggies are missing starters after a season-ending arm injury to Shane Sdao in last week's super regional against Oregon.
Lamkin had been in the weekend rotation until the final series of the regular season, but struggled in his previous two starts. In the last month, Lamkin's only outing was a nine-pitch relief appearance against Louisiana in the regionals.
Schlossnagle needed 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 runner and striking out six in three innings.
The Aggies scored on a bases-loaded infield single by Travis Chestnut and a wild pitch in the second and on a double by Caden Sorrell in the third.
Cortez held Florida scoreless as the Gators threatened in the fourth and sixth, but broke through in the seventh on consecutive doubles by Tyler Shelnut and Thomas. Aschenbeck faced Michael Robertson, whose RBI groundout cut the Aggies' lead to 3-2.
