Aggies fall short in game 2 of CWS final
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OMAHA, NEB. -- All the pieces of the fairy tale were in place. Texas A&M was down 4-1, with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth inning. Pinch-hitting was the man wearing number 12, team leader and fan favorite Ryan Targac.
The fairy tale nearly came true, but Targac's fly ball, and A&M's hopes of a sweep in the College World Series final, fell just short. The No. 1 Volunteers (59-13) escaped with the 4-1 win, setting up a winner-take-all game three tomorrow against the No. 3 Aggies (53-14).
"It was a great ballgame," A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "Just exactly what you'd expect with these two teams. To think you're going to roll right through it in two games would be, that would have been nice."
After dominating the Tennessee offense in Saturday night's 9-5 win, A&M started off well again Sunday afternoon. Opener Zane Badmaev worked a scoreless first with a pair of strikeouts, then right fielder Jace LaViolette hit a booming home run over the right field bullpen off of Tennessee starter Drew Beam. It was LaViolette's 29th homer of the season, but his first since late May.
LaViolette didn't just get an "attaboy" when he got back to the third base dugout.
"In the moment that felt great," he said. "Coach pulled me over talked me about my body language. He told me I'm one of the best players in the nation and I need to act like it."
Armed with a 1-0 lead, the Aggies turned to power reliever Chris Cortez after Badmaev allowed the leadoff hitter to reach in the top of the second. A walk and a throwing error by shortstop Ali Camarillo loaded the bases for Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore, but the All-American grounded out weakly to second.
The Vols would load the bases again with two outs in the top of the fourth, but Cortez worked his way out of trouble by getting first baseman Blake Burke to ground out to second. In spite of a mounting pitch count, Cortez swiftly worked through the fifth, striking out two Tennessee hitters and hitting 101 mph on his 80th pitch.
Cortez finally wore down on a sweltering afternoon in the top of the sixth, giving up a hit and a walk with one out before Schlossnagle turned to freshman lefthander Kaiden Wilson (0-2). Wilson promptly induced a 5-4-3 double play to end the threat.
For the day, Cortez threw a season-high 99 pitches, gave up just two hits, walked four and struck out seven to lower his ERA to 2.78 in what was likely his last appearance in an Aggie uniform.
"I felt good. I just got a little dehydrated at the end," Cortez said. "I just wanted to compete. I didn't really care about my feelings. I would have kept throwing. But coach is looking out for me, and I just wanted to compete. It didn't matter how I felt."
But while Cortez was shutting down the Tennessee offense, the Volunteers pitching staff was doing the same to the Aggies. A&M chased Beam after the first two batters reached in the bottom of the fifth, but reliever Aaron Combs (3-1) struck out second baseman Kaeden Kent and centerfielder Travis Chestnut, then catcher Cal Stark picked Camarillo off first base to end the inning.
Combs, like Cortez, would throw four scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk while striking out five.
"Combs, I think, was the story of the game," Schlossnagle said.
The dam finally broke in the top of the 7th, when Tennessee left fielder Dylan Dreiling hit a two-run shot to put the Vols up 2-1. Wilson would keep his composure and work his way out of the rest of the inning, but gave up another two-run blast to Stark in the eighth.
"I was proud of Kaiden WIlson. Two pitches got him," Schlossnagle said. "Dreiling was on the fastball, and he hung a breaking ball to the catcher."
The Aggies had a chance to tie the game in both the bottom of the eighth and the ninth. LaViolette singled with two outs in the eighth, followed by a walk by catcher Jackson Appel. But designated hitter Hayden Schott, who came within feet of a homer earlier in the game, flew out.
In the ninth, first baseman Ted Burton and left fielder Caden Sorrell started the inning with singles, but Camarillo bounced into a fielder's choice that became a nasty collision between Sorrell and Tennessee defensive substitute second baseman Ariel Antigua that left the freshman outfielder bloodied. Second baseman Kaeden Kent then flew out, leaving Targac as A&M's last hope.
In spite of the loss, Schlossnagle remained upbeat.
" We get to play. We don't have to play. We get to play the last college baseball game of the season. And that's awesome," he said.