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Justin Lampkin's One-Hit Showcase Helps Aggies Advance In SEC Tournament Over South Carolina

Justin Lampkin joins Troy Wansing with the second one-hit outing of the SEC Tournament to advance to the quarterfinals..

Cole Thompson

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Jim Schlossnagle said he'd be willing to be a No. 4-seed in Anchorage if it meant Texas A&M baseball could punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Slight problem, coach; there's no regional this season on the Last Frontier. 

Baseball won't be played in Anchorage, but the Aggies' ability to stay hot in this year's SEC Tournament down in Hoover, Ala., likely has guaranteed them a spot in the field of 64 come next week. If Tuesday's 3-0 win over seventh-seeded Tennessee didn't impress the voters, Thursday's performance likely was the dealbreaker for those on the fence. 

The tenth-seeded Aggies defeated sixth-seeded South Carolina 5-0 at the Hoover Metroplex to advance to Friday's quarterfinals. With the victory, A&M is guaranteed to finish with a .500 record or better, regardless of who the program faces in another winner-take-all showdown. 

“You want to be playing your best baseball going into the postseason and at the end of the regular season,” third baseman Trevor Werner told reporters postgame. “I feel like that is where we are at right now with our pitching staff and offense, and we played great defense all year."

Toutorus pitching has been a thorn in A&M's side a year removed from making the College World Series. Through 55 games, the Aggies posted a 5.73 earned run average, ranking 125th nationally. The starting rotation has also featured at least 12 different pitchers, none of which have an ERA below 4.90. 

In Hoover, pitching has been one of the Aggies' best assets. Tuesday's victory over the No. 13 Volunteers wouldn't have been possible without Troy Wansing's one-hit performance through eight innings of work. 

Justin Lampkin did his best to duplicate Wansing's wizard-esque production but fell just an inning short of matching the total. The freshman hurled a combination of fastballs and sliders, leaving the Gamecocks chasing for a hit through the first five frames. 

Wansing allowed Tennessee to end his no-hit bid at the top of the sixth thanks to a lead-off single. Lampkin, a 6-4 lefthander from Corpus Christi, flirted with the no-no through four before giving up a lead-off single to Will Tippett at the top of the fifth. 

Lampkin worked his way out of multiple jams during his seven innings of work. He issued three two-out walks in the first, second and seventh and hit Gamecocks right fielder Ethan Petry in the sixth. Shaking off the jitters, he rebounded to record the final out. 

“Really proud of Justin,” Schlossnagle said postgame. “Had a great feeling that he was going to be ready to go when I walked down. I thought I was going to be the first guy at breakfast this morning, and he beat me there, so I knew he was ready to pitch. He's a great strike thrower for us, has a great future, building this program around guys like him.”

Lampkin's outing marks the second one-hitter thrown by A&M this tournament and third in program history. He finished with a season-high nine strikeouts on 99 pitches and issued four free bases. 

Through three games at "The Met," the Aggies have posted 2.25 ERA, the second-lowest among programs remaining. Both Lampkin and Wansing have lasted seven-plus innings, a first for the duo this season. Relief pitching has allowed all six runs, but it's also totaled 11 strikeouts in the process. 

While the bats have remained docile throughout the week, timely hitting came in clutch for the Aggies again. A&M plated at least one run in the middle innings to give Lampkin a cushion to coast late.

Werner drew first blood with an RBI triple in the third to score Hunter Haas from first. Austin Bost notched his second RBI of the tournament with a double in the fourth. Ryan Targac would come around to score on an RBI groundout from Brett Minnich while Bost would cross the plate on a sacrifice fly to left field from Max Kaufer. 

Jordan Thompson added insurance on a sac fly in the fifth to score Jack Moss. Werner and Hass each had multi-hit games while Moss and Bost finished 1-for-4.  

“Trevor has really stepped forward not just as a great player – he has always been that – but as a leader on our team, both with his words and with how he plays,” Schlossnagle said. “It does not surprise me that he is driving in runs for us.”

South Carolina had its best chance to add drama in the top of the eighth after Chris Cortez issued three consecutive two-out walks. Matthew Dillard was called from the pen and mowed down Gamcocks first baseman Gavin Casas on four pitches to leave the bases loaded. 

Dillard returned for the ninth and picked up his second save with two flyouts and a strikeout. The Gamecocks left nine runners on base and finished 1-for-28 (.036) at the plate. 

A&M now plays two waiting games: The first will determine who it plays between the loser of second-seeded Arkansas and third-seeded LSU on Friday at 3 p.m. The second is figuring out which local regional the program will travel to next week. 

Left-hander Will Johnston is expected to start Friday. Schlossnagle said his previous two starts have been considered quality outings since moving out of the bullpen. 

"If we can get a good one out of him tomorrow, regardless of who we play, then I like our chances," said Schlossnagle. 

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Cole Thompson
COLE THOMPSON

Cole Thompson is a sports writer and columnist covering the NFL and college sports for SI's Fan Nation. A 2016 graduate from The University of Alabama, follow him on Twitter @MrColeThompson

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