Florida Gators Run Out of Magic in Shutout Loss to Texas A&M in CWS

Florida suffered its first shutout loss in more than two years to end its season against Texas A&M.

Florida Gators left fielder Tyler Shelnut / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Texas A&M starting pitcher Justin Lamkin gave the Florida Gators bats fits in their first matchup of the College World Series. It was the same story in the rematch.

Florida then fared no better against the Texas A&M bullpen and suffered their first shutout loss in two seasons, 6-0. This coming after the Gators scored 15 runs on 14 hits against Kentucky earlier in the day.

With the shutout loss, the Gators’ end their season. 

“Our players persevered through a lot of different tough moments,” Florida manager Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Awfully proud of our team. But this time of year it's difficult. It's really hard to put into words. It's like you're going full speed in a sprint and all of a sudden it just comes to an end just like that. So I know a lot of our guys are extremely disappointed, but speaking from my heart, I'm just awfully proud of them, for what they were able to accomplish this year and have this experience out here in Omaha.”

Florida’s bats had no answers for Lamkin’s mix of his changeup and fastball. The off-balanced Gators offense recorded just three hits in five innings against the southpaw.

Lamkin struck out nine Gators hitters. Over two starts versus Florida in the tournament, he punched out 15.

Lamkin’s continued success against the Florida hitters meant an end of the Gators offensive hot streak. Against Kentucky, the Gators went 8-for-14 with runners in scoring position. 

But that didn’t transfer over into the night cap. 

Like the first matchup versus Texas A&M in the College World Series, Florida couldn’t capitalize with runners in scoring position. On Wednesday, the Gators stranded the bases loaded in the third inning. Then in the sixth, they left runners on second and third. During the eighth, they couldn’t move runners any farther than the corners.

In all three cases, the Gators had men on those bases with only one out.

Florida finished the loss 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. The Gators were 2-for-23 with RISP versus Texas A&M in two games in Omaha. 

“We had our opportunities, very similar to the game on Saturday night, we had our opportunities, we just, I think we struck out 30 times over the course of those two games,” O’Sullivan said. “But credit Lamkin, he threw the ball extremely well. And, yeah, it's part of it and that's the reason why they're moving on.”

O’Sullivan decided to go back to Saturday’s starter Liam Peterson to open Wednesday’s game. Unfortunately, Peterson didn’t find redemption. He walked four of the five batters he faced, walking in the first run and only registered one out. 

When Fisher Jameson replaced him in the first inning, the Aggies tacked on a second run with a sacrifice fly, putting them ahead 2-0. But Jameson did what he could to keep the Gators in the game. He went 4 ⅓ innings, giving up just one earned run while striking out five. 

Jake Clemente replaced Jameson but lasted only two batters before the Gators turned to their hot bullpen arm, Brandon Neely. But the Aggies also got the better of Neely.

On the first batter he faced, Neely surrendered a two-run home run to Caden Sorrell, which increased the Aggies lead to 5-0. Neely gave up one more run and finished his outing with six strikeouts and two earned runs in three innings. 

But that should do little to discredit what Neely did during the entire tournament. In 24 innings pitched, Neely gave up just five earned runs and struck out 38 batters.

Neely’s postseason performance will be remembered for a long time. He was in tears in the dugout after the loss. He gave it his all. 

On Wednesday, the Gators couldn’t give any of their pitching much support. Caglianone was the lone bright spot offensively. He finished 2-for-4, tying the program record for the most hits in a single season. He recorded his 104th hit of the campaign in the eighth inning. 

He’ll also leave Florida as the record holder for the most home runs in program history. 

"Day-in and day-out, I just wanted to fight for these guys next to me,” Caglianone said. “Yeah, to be honest with you, I can't thank the coaches here enough for all they have done to help me get to where I am today. The people that I've met along the way and played with, it's something that I won't ever take for granted. I appreciate Sully for taking a chance on me in high school and getting to this point.”

There’s much to be proud of for Caglianone and the Gators, but Wednesday was still a disappointing way for Caglianone to end his collegiate career and for Florida to end its season.

A long flight home to Gainesville awaits the Gators as the offseason officially begins after their first shutout defeat in more than two years. Ironically, Florida’s last shutout defeat on May 26, 2022 was also against Texas A&M.

“This team never quit,” O’Sullivan added. “There's a lot of people that said a lot of negative things about us this year and, you know, we kind of deserved it at times. We didn't play as well as we should. But these guys stayed the course.”