Aggies draw first blood in CWS final
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OMAHA, NEB. -- Texas A&M's baseball team is one win away from its first national championship in program history.
Benefitting from impressive two-strike hitting and a dominating performance from closer Evan Aschenbeck, the No.3 Aggies (53-13) never trailed in game one of the College World Series finals, taking a 9-5 decision from the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers (58-13).
"It's one win. Can't make it more than (that). Still got a ball game to win," coach Jim Schlossnagle said after the game.
A&M, which has yet to lose in the NCAA Tournament, jumped out to an immediate lead in the top of the first. Tennessee opener Chris Stamos (3-1), who had been shelled in his last two outings, did no better Saturday night. Stamos got ahead of leadoff hitter Gavin Grahovac 0-2 before leaving a fastball out over the plate that Grahovac promptly deposited in the right-centerfield stands.
Stamos was able to get right fielder Jace LaViolette to fly out, but catcher Jackson Appel followed with a double roped down the third base line. Designated hitter Hayden Schott followed with a ball up the middle that hit off the mound and bounced into the air; Tennessee shortstop Dean Curley couldn't field the ball cleanly and was charged with an error.
That was all for Stamos, and the entry of right-hander AJ Causey started a merry-go-round of six Tennessee pitchers tasked with slowing the Aggie offense down. Causey struck out first baseman Ted Burton, but left fielder Caden Sorrell singled up the middle to drive Appel home and make it 2-0 Aggies.
A&M starter Ryan Prager had better luck in the first, picking up two strikeouts and getting All-American second baseman Christian Moore to pop out, the first frustrating at-bat in 0-5 night.
The Vols would cut A&M's lead in half in the second, when Curley singled home left fielder Dylan Dreiling, who had reached on an infield single. But Prager limited the damage by getting the next two hitters to preserve the lead.
Tennessee's hopes at a comeback were crushed in the top of the third, as the Aggies benefitted from some bizarre bounces and bad fielding. LaViolette started the inning with a walk, then moved to second after Appel hit a ball that hit off of Causey's foot and shot up into the air and came down next the second base bag. Schott followed with another base hit on an 0-2 pitch, scoring LaViolette.
After getting an out at the plate, Causey gave up another hit to Sorrell -- on an 0-2 pitch. Sorrell's single to right drove in Schott to make the score 4-1. Camarillo followed with a chopper to third baseman Billy Amick, who left his throw to first well short and saw it skip over the glove of first baseman Blake Burke. Two runs scored, and Camarillo came home three pitches later when second baseman Kaeden Kent singled to right-center.
Tennessee would get a run back in the bottom half of the third, but Prager worked his way out of trouble and struck out the side in the process.
A&M's ace would work through the fourth without incident, but after Burke started the bottom of the fifth with a double, Schlossnagle turned to Josh Stewart (2-2) to work out of the jam. Stewart did just that, picking up a pair of strikeouts and a groundball to second to end the Tennessee threat.
"I thought Prager battled through some things. And Stewie was awesome," Schlossnagle said.
The Aggies added what proved to be some needed insurance in the top of the seventh, when Kent laced a two-run shot into the A&M bullpen off lefty Andrew Behnke -- on an 2-2 pitch.
"We don't have a two-strike approach. Our approach the whole time is swing at strikes and take balls, as hard as that is. That's what we do," he said.
Since entering the lineup after the injury to right fielder Braden Montgomery in the first game of the Bryan-College Station Regional, Kent is 12-24 with 2 home runs and 14 RBI. He said he allowed himself to enjoy the moment as he rounded the bases Saturday night.
"The bullpen was going crazy," he said. "The fans were so loud; these fans are amazing. I love playing in front of these fans. They help us out so much."
Tennessee flexed their muscle in the bottom of the seventh, with Dreiling hitting a two-run shot off of Stewart to make it 9-4. Schlossnagle brought in reliever Brad Rudis for his first action in Omaha, and two pitches later, DH Hunter Ensley hammered a pitch into the Tennessee bullpen to make it 9-5.
Those would be the only two pitches Rudis threw, as the Schlossnagle immediately went to Aschenbeck. The Stopper of the Year validated the award, dominating the nation's best offense for 2 2/3 innings.
"Just mixing pitches and throwing everything in the strike zone, it's what I can do," Aschenbeck said. "It's what my strength is, just making sure that I can throw everything for strikes and keep them off balance. That's what's been working for me all year."
Aschenbeck struck out the first two batters he faced, then struck out two more in the bottom of the eighth. Even though he gave up hits to Amick and Dreiling in the ninth, Aschenbeck struck out the side to finish the game and drop his earned run average to 1.49.
"Evan was Evan," Schlossnagle said. "Evan is a great luxury for us to have that most teams don't -- championship teams do, but most teams don't get that."
For the night, A&M's pitchers walked three and struck out 17 Volunteers.
"Pretty straightforward -- the team that played better won the game," Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said. "They appeared more prepared."