Texas A&M looks to continue its charmed run

The proverbial tightrope Texas A&M sailed to an NCAA Regional and Super Regional was apparently wrapped and packed on the Aggies’ plane to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

A&M’s fluke-defying act continued in the CWS with a 3-2 victory over Florida in an opener that began late Saturday night after a four-hour delay and ended in the early hours of Sunday .

“This is the golden age of college baseball,” A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle said of one of the reasons his team has had so many close calls in competitive games, especially at short. “I’ve been around it for 35 years and it’s never been this good.”

The Aggies (50-13) will face Kentucky (46-14) on Monday at 6 p.m. in the CWS winner’s bracket. The Wildcats beat North Carolina State 5-4 earlier Saturday in 10 innings. The Gators will face North Carolina State on Monday at 1 p.m. in an elimination game.

The Aggies are 6-0 in the postseason, with four of the six contests featuring a breakout act of some sort during what A&M fans hope will be a season of destiny for a program that has never won a national title.

The most recent came when right fielder Jace LaViolette, a former Tompkins High starter, reached over the fence to rob Florida’s Cade Kurland of a two-run homer in the top of the ninth in the one run by the Aggies – their first CWS opening round win since 1993 and just their second in eight trips to Omaha.

IN CONNECTION WITH: Jim Schlossnagle was driven to take the Aggies where they had never gone

“Cade Kurland came within inches of taking over there,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “So obviously it was a tough one but another great game to be involved in. We are looking forward to playing on Monday.”

So are the Aggies, considering they’re on one of their all-time lists when it matters most. A&M outscored Texas 4-2 in 11 innings in the rivals’ second game of the NCAA Tournament, requiring the Aggies to overcome a 2-1 deficit.

A&M went on to win the College Station regional with a three-game sweep (Grambling, Texas and Louisiana), and then the Aggies pulled off two comeback wins over Oregon in a super regional at Blue Bell Park. A&M rallied from an 8-4 seventh-inning deficit in Game 2 against the Ducks to prevail 15-9, thanks in large part to Kaeden Kent’s seventh-inning grand slam.

Kent was in the game because star right fielder Braden Montgomery suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Game 1 of the super regional, and Schlossnagle moved LaViolette from center field to right field. Travis Chestnut moved from second base to center and Kent filled in at second base.

Montgomery is 6-foot-2, so it’s not sure if he would have been able to get Kurland’s pitch just over the right-field wall. The Aggies would never have to find out after LaViolette’s joyous late game jumper.

“I told Jace I’m really happy he’s tall,” Schlossnagle said with a smile. “We weren’t playing doubles, so Jace was pretty far out there. But I thought it was a homer.”

Schlossnagle, who has taken TCU to the CWS five times and has now guided A&M to two in his three seasons in College Station, also successfully rolled the dice in starting Justin Lamkin on the mound in the first round of the CWS . Lamkin pitched just one-third of an inning in the NCAA Tournament, but responded with an impressive three innings of scoreless pitching.

Relievers Chris Cortez and Evan Aschenbeck followed with three solid innings of their own each, and the Aggies now have ace Ryan Prager available against the Wildcats. A&M prevailed in the CWS opener despite also being without Montgomery and starting pitcher Shane Sdao (arm injury).

“As far as the release, it’s exactly how we wanted to script it,” Schlossnagle said of the opening and then moving forward. “Lamkin was great and it was definitely tempting to drive him back there, but without Sdao, we really don’t have a choice. We have to try to stay in the winners bracket as best we can.”

The A&M pitchers’ combined 16 hits were the most by the Aggies in a CWS game. The Aggies scored two runs in the second inning on an infield RBI single from Chestnut and a wild pitch. A&M added the clinching run in the third on an RBI double by Caden Sorrell.

The Aggies and Wildcats haven’t played in SEC action this season, adding intrigue to their first meeting of the year on college baseball’s biggest stage.

“We haven’t played them yet and they haven’t played us,” Schlossnagle said. “They’re just a great team, very well coached. Obviously the “coach of the year” (in Nick Mingione) in the league. They can do everything: field the ball, run, tackle, put a lot of pressure on you, throw shots, play defense. But we are not bad. We will show up.

“I’ve seen them play on TV and they have a great synergy with them too. You can see he is playing with a lot of confidence. Like us.”