Cards hold off Aggies in Omaha
OMAHA, Neb. — Louisville had an early five-run lead against Texas A&M and national player of the year Brendan McKay was on the mound. Game over?
“We knew Texas A&M wasn’t going to fold,” Cardinals coach Dan McDonnell said.
The Aggies didn’t. They pulled within a run in the sixth inning before Sam Bordner shut them down with three innings of no-hit relief, and the Cardinals went on to an 8-4 victory Sunday afternoon in the opening round of the College World Series.
“It wasn’t the best game of the year, but we understand now — as we’ve seen two on TV and played in one — that these games aren’t always the cleanest,” McDonnell said. “There’s too much competition. Everybody is playing too hard. It’s not supposed to be smooth and easy.”
The Cardinals (53-10) used six singles and a walk to build a 5-0 lead in the second inning against Corbin Martin (7-4). Texas A&M chipped away against McKay (11-3) to make it 5-4 before Bordner entered and continued to flash his postseason dominance.
The sophomore has given up no runs and one hit in his past four appearances, a stretch of 11 innings.
“I think Sam’s been the X factor, a little under the radar,” McDonnell said. “When you’re in that first-out-of-the-bullpen or middle relief role, it’s just not as sexy, and you don’t get as much attention. But clearly Sam’s been hot all year.”
With Bordner doing his thing, the Cardinals added two runs in the bottom of the sixth and another when Colby Fitch doubled in the eighth for his fourth RBI.
Louisville was 0-5 in its previous three CWS berths. The Aggies (41-22) have lost seven straight games in Omaha and face going two-and-out for the third straight time.
“It’s about going out there and playing the game like it’s your last one,” Aggies freshman infielder Nick Choruby said, “because now it could be.”
The Cardinals knocked Martin out of the game in the five-run second — the 26th time this season they have scored four or more runs in an inning — and the Aggies called on season-long ace Brigham Hill to settle things down.
Hill gave up no runs until the sixth, but the Aggies couldn’t overcome the big lead Louisville had built. No team has overcome a five-run deficit to win at the CWS since the event moved to TD Ameritrade Park in 2011.
“Very proud of our guys (after) finding themselves down 5-0 after two,” Texas A&M coach Rob Childress said. “From that point on you have to be perfect to have a chance to beat McKay and to beat a team like Louisville, and we certainly had a shot.”
McKay lasted five innings, matching his shortest outing of the season. The No. 4 overall pick by Tampa Bay and the first college player taken in last week’s MLB draft allowed four runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out six.
“I worked out of a lot of jams,” McKay said. “It’s hard to pitch effectively when you’re in jams like that.” › Florida 3, TCU 0: Alex Faedo limited the Horned Frogs to two singles and struck out 11 in seven innings as the Gators posted their first CWS shutout since 1991.
Faedo retired 10 in a row before turning the game over to closer Michael Byrne to start the eighth. Byrne earned his 17th save this year.
Faedo (8-2) has been part of seven of the nine shutouts recorded by Florida (48-18) this season.
Jared Janczak (9-1) took the loss for TCU (47-17).