Men’s College World Series, Day 6: Tennessee faces Texas A&M in championship series

Five teams played three games in the Men’s College World Series on Wednesday, and the end result is a championship series between Texas A&M and Tennessee.

The schedule was packed because a second-round game between Kentucky and Florida scheduled for Tuesday had to be postponed due to weather, leaving the Gators to play a doubleheader while Texas A&M was in the lineup, while top-ranked Tennessee was one win away from its first championship appearance since 1951.

So it will be an all-SEC championship again. Since 2020, when the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19, seven of the eight teams that made it to the final round came from the SEC. The only exception: 2022 Oklahoma, a program that is close to joining the SEC.

That’s how it all happened.

Texas A&M 6, Florida 0

After beating Kentucky handily, Florida got into trouble from the start of the game and got into even bigger trouble throughout the game.

Gators starting pitcher Liam Peterson, a freshman, opened the game by striking out four of the first five batters he faced on walks, allowing the first run and leaving reliever Fisher Jameson in a bases-loaded, one-out situation to start the game. Aggies fans had a ball.

Jameson was able to get out of the situation with just one more run, but that ultimately decided between elimination and a forced second game in the semifinals. Aggies starter Justin Lamkin, who had pitched three scoreless innings against Florida on Saturday, threw another five scoreless innings this time, striking out nine players and allowing just three hits.

Aggies relief pitchers Chris Cortez, Josh Stewart and Evan Aschenbeck pitched a shutout over the next four innings.

Key statistics

A very good way to shut down an offense is to not allow big hits. Texas A&M’s pitchers allowed four hits in total, with a double by Colby Shelton being the only one that added extra bases.

Highlights

A shutout is not possible without good defense and Ali Camarillo Jr. made sure of that with a buttery soft catch in the third inning when the Gators had all the bases loaded.

The game was decided in the sixth inning when Caden Sorell hit a home run to give the Aggies a five-run lead.

Tennessee 7, Florida State 2

In the second game of the day, Tennessee made light work of Florida State, extending the Volunteers’ postseason and moving into the finals.

Tennessee got going early, scoring three runs in the first inning and adding a fourth in the second. Although Florida State put up some strong performances, the Volunteers held the Seminoles scoreless for six innings, scoring two more runs — one in the fourth and another in the seventh.

Back-to-back solo home runs by Daniel Cantu and Alex Lodise in the seventh inning put Florida State on the scoreboard, but the Seminoles could not close the gap. A home run by Tennessee first baseman Blake Burke at the top of the ninth inning sealed the victory for the Volunteers and ended Florida State’s season.

Key statistics

Tennessee pitcher Zander Sechrist pitched a great game for the Volunteers over six innings, throwing three strikeouts and allowing just five hits.

For Florida State, starting pitcher John Abraham was taken out of the game shortly after Tennessee’s batters opened the first inning. He was replaced by Brennen Oxford, who threw four strikeouts in three innings. Joe Charles then finished the game with five strikeouts and held the Volunteers to just three hits.

Highlights

Although Tennessee’s bats gave the team the early lead, it was the Vols’ fielding that kept it. Tennessee centerfielder Kaveres Tears helped keep Florida State scoreless with a monster catch against the wall – losing his hat and glasses in the process, but somehow keeping the ball – to end the first inning.

Volunteers second baseman Christian Moore had another good night, hitting an RBI triple in the fourth inning to extend Tennessee’s lead.

Back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning posed Florida State’s biggest offensive threat of the night, both flying past right field with ease.

But Burke’s home run sealed the deal for Tennessee, extending the Volunteers’ unassailable lead and helping the team to victory.

Florida 15, Kentucky 4

Florida used a strong first inning to advance to tonight’s semifinal against the Aggies. The Gators scored seven runs in the first inning and chased Kentucky starter Dominic Niman after he recorded just one out and allowed five runs on three hits. One of those hits was a grand slam by Donay that gave Florida a 7-1 lead.

The Gators scored two more runs in the third inning, five more in the fifth and one more in the sixth.

Kentucky struggled to get past Florida left-hander Pierce Coppola, who went five innings and struck out nine batters.

Émilien Pitre’s two-run home run against Coppola in the fifth inning was the last time the Wildcats scored in the game.

Key statistics

Donay is the fifth Gator with a multiple home run game in this College World Series. His second hit of the game went 415 feet and delivered an exit velocity of 117.6 mph, the hardest hit ball of the tournament. He finished the game 3-for-5 with five RBIs.

Highlights

The Gators overran the Wildcats early, capped by Donay’s grand slam into the opposite field.

Donay wasn’t done with his bombshells yet. He opened the fifth inning with his 14th home run of the season, putting the Gators up 10-5.

Jac Caglianone hit his 35th home run of the season and the 75th of his Gators career, overtaking Matt LaPorta as the record holder in program history.