Texas A&M is heading to the finals of the College World Series! – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

“I’m tired of leaving before the championship, so personally it’s great, it’s fun to be a part of it,” he said after his Aggies knocked off Florida with a 6-0 victory on Wednesday night. “I’m excited to play against a great Tennessee team, one of the best college teams I’ve had — I mean, they really have a great team.”

The Aggies (52-13) will play No. 1 national seed Tennessee (58-12) in the best-of-three championship series starting Saturday. It will be an all-SEC final for the second year in a row and the third time in four years.

Justin Lamkin gave Texas A&M a second sensational start in a row against the Gators and Caden Sorrell homered to break the game open.

Hours after Florida had 14 hits and scored the third-most runs this season in a 15-4 win over Kentucky, the Gators (36-30) managed just four hits and were shut out for the first time in 145 games.

The last team to beat the Gators? Texas A&M, 10-0 in the 2022 SEC Tournament.

“It’s like you’re going full speed ahead, and you win the game this morning, and you go back to the hotel, everyone’s in a good mood, we’re feeling really good about tonight, and it just didn’t go our way. way,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It’s that simple, and Texas A&M deserves to move forward.”

Schlossnagle, who lost starter Shane Sdao to an arm injury in the super regionals, turned to Lamkin for a second matchup with the Gators in Omaha. Lamkin was sharp on Saturday in a 42-pitch, three-inning performance. He was even better on Wednesday. He held the Gators scoreless for five innings and struck out nine.

“I think the biggest part of it is just having confidence in myself and knowing that I can go out there and compete and play at this level,” Lamkin said. “And I think being ahead of the hitters and being really confident in all my pitches has really helped me.”

There was a scary moment in the top of the ninth when Florida right fielder Ashton Wilson hit his head on a padded post on the fence separating the bullpen and the field as he tried to catch Ali Camarillo’s drive that produced a triple. Wilson appeared woozy, was attended to by athletic trainer and coach Kevin O’Sullivan and left the game.

Few expected Florida to make it to the final four of the CWS. The Gators struggled in the regular season and needed to win their final series, in Georgia, to achieve the winning record needed to qualify for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. They’ve won regional and super-regional awards on the way to getting here.

“Anytime you lose a game to end the year, especially in Omaha, it’s going to be heartbreaking,” Gators outfielder Tyler Shelnut said. “I’m just super proud of my teammates and the rest of this group who pushed a lot to get here – I mean, a lot. This whole year has been pretty tough for all of us. So it was a huge achievement to be here.”

Florida freshman Liam Peterson struggled for a third straight start. He walked the first five batters, forcing and lifting the Aggies’ first run.

With his team trailing 3-0 in the sixth, O’Sullivan called reliever Brandon Neely with a man on base and one out. Neely had entered after allowing just three runs in a team-high 21 innings in the NCAA tournament, but Sorrell converted a 3-2 pitch for a two-run home run to right and a 5-0 lead.

“I remember coming to these games when I was 10 years old and wanting to be a part of this,” said Sorrell, who grew up a three-hour drive from College Station in Highland Village, Texas. “The job isn’t done yet.”