Omaha staked. Florida baseball falls 3-2 to Texas A&M in College World Series opener
OMAHA, Neb. — Late night at Charles Schwab Park turned out not to be fruitful for Florida baseball in the College World Series.
The Florida Gators failed to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities in a 3-2 loss to Texas A&M in its CWS opener late Saturday night before 25.774.
Florida, which entered the game averaging 9.2 runs during its five-game postseason win streak to reach Omaha, left 10 runners on base, including seven in scoring position. Down 3-2, Florida loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth against Texas A&M closer Evan Aschenbeck, but third baseman Dale Thomas grounded out to second on a bang-bang play,
Aschenbeck then finished off the Gators in the ninth, but not without some anxious moments. Florida center fielder Michael Robertson got on base with an infield single with one out, then second baseman Cade Kurland drove a ball to deep to right field that TAMU right fielder Jace LaViolette caught above the wall, robbing Kurland of a go-ahead home run. After Florida two-way star Jac Caglianone walked, right fielder Ashton Wilson struck out to end the game.
With the loss, Florida moves into the losers bracket, where it will face North Carolina State on Monday afternoon (2 p.m., ESPN). The Wolfpack lost 5-4 in 10 innings to Kentucky earlier Saturday afternoon.
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Florida baseball vs Texas A&M ends at 1:15 a.m. local time
Both teams waited through a four hour, 15-minute weather delay before starting at 10:15 p.m. local time. Florida freshman starter Peterson pitched a scoreless first inning before running into trouble in the second, loading the bases with one out. He got ahead 1-2 on Texas A&M ninth hitter and center fielder Travis Chestnut but couldn't finish him off. Chestnut hit a high chopper down the third base line that Thomas snared. But Thomas couldn't get to the third base bag in time for the force. The infield RBI single put the Aggies up 1-0 and kept the bases loaded.
Peterson then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Texas A&M shortstop Ali Camarillo to race home from third base to put the Aggies up 2-0. But he worked out the inning by striking out catcher Jackson Appel and third baseman Gavin Grahovac to limit the damage.
Texas A&M then tacked on a run in the third inning to end Peterson's night. Hayden Schott walked to lead off the inning, then scored when Caden Sorrell lined an RBI double over the head of Michael Robertson in center, extending Texas A&M's lead to 3-0. O'Sullivan then pulled Peterson, who struggled with his control in his second straight outing. Peterson allowed 3 runs on 4 hits, with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts. Of Peterson's 64 pitches, only 39 were strikes.
Peterson (3-5) took the loss for Florida, while Chris Cortez (10-3) got the win in relief of TAMU starter Justin Lamkin. Cortez allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out six in four innings. Aschenbeck picked three scoreless innings to pick up his 10th save.
Fisher Jameson replaced Peterson and kept Florida in the game, throwing three scoreless innings. Florida wasted a scoring opportunity in the sixth inning when they had runners on second and third and none out when Kurland was hit by a pitch and Jac Caglianone doubled into the right corner. Texas A&M reliever Chris Cortez found a different gear, striking out Wilson and Colby Shelton, then getting Luke Heyman to fly out to right field to get out of the jam.
Florida finally broke through against Cortez in the seventh. Tyler Shelnut led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch, then scored on a ground-rule double by Thomas, cutting the Texas A&M lead to 3-1. Brody Donay then sacrificed Thomas over to third, and Thomas scored on an RBI ground out from Michael Robertson, cutting TAMU's lead to 3-2.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida baseball loses to Texas A&M in College World Series opener
