Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle took a risk in the first game of the College World Series. Justin Lamkin was tasked with starting against Florida, hopefully pushing the Aggies into the winner’s bracket. Despite a short appearance, the job he was set out to accomplish was done by Lamkin.
Schlossnagle was happy with how the sophomore pitched after having some rough outings to close out the regular season. But injuries have Texas A&M using a lot of starting pitching depth. They will need as many arms as they can in Omaha, especially with each win.
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Lamkin only pitched three innings but Schlossnagle has plans to use him later in the week.
“He looked really good,” Schlossnagle said when speaking to ESPN’s Kris Budden. “Fastball, changeup, little cutter, slider. Thought he did a great job. We’re trying to navigate this tournament without a second or third starting pitcher, really.
“So, we took him out because we’re going to, hopefully, need him again later this week.”
In those three innings, Lamkin struck out six Florida hitters and did not see too many reach base. One hit and no walks meant the Texas A&M pitcher saw one batter over the minimum. An impressive performance when his team needed it the most.
Schlossnagle then called upon Chris Cortez is relief, handing the ball over early. Cortez has been fantastic thus far and since the interview was finished, he has wrapped up two innings of scoreless ball.
If there anything to look for, avoiding walks is at the top of Schlossnagle’s list.
“I mean, he’s up to 100 miles per hour with great run and sink,” Schlossnagle said. “He’s throwing his breaking ball for strikes. He’s got to pitch ahead of the count and can’t give up free bases.”
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