Justin Lamkin struck out nine in five scoreless innings, leading No. 3 Texas A&M to a 6-0 win over Florida on Wednesday and a berth in the Men’s College World Series championship series in Omaha, Neb.
Caden Sorrell homered and drove in three runs for the Aggies (52-13), who will oppose No. 1 Tennessee (58-12) in the best-of-three final series that begins Saturday.
Texas A&M, playing in its eighth MCWS, is shooting for its first national title.
Lamkin (3-2) gave up three hits and one walk while throwing 70 pitches.
Chris Cortez replaced Lamkin in the sixth inning and walked both batters he faced before Josh Stewart came on and closed out the frame. Stewart also handled the seventh inning before Evan Ashenbeck pitched hitless ball in the eighth and ninth to complete the shutout.
Texas A&M jumped in front in the first inning. Two walks, a strikeout and another walk loaded the bases before Ted Burton walked to knock in the opening run. The Gators then replaced Liam Peterson (3-6) with Fisher Jameson on the mound, and Sorrell greeted the reliever with a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.
Gavin Grahovac’s RBI double in the fifth inning increased the gap to 3-0, and Sorrell added a two-run homer in the sixth.
Kaeden Kent, son of former major league All-Star Jeff Kent, capped the scoring with a ninth-inning RBI single. Kent and Grahovac each had two of the Aggies’ six hits.
Jac Caglianone had two of the Gators’ four hits.
Earlier Wednesday, Florida beat No. 2 Kentucky 15-4 in an elimination game to earn the shot to meet Texas A&M. The Aggies had earlier defeated the Gators 3-2 on June 15.
–Field Level Media