Florida ace stymies TCU
OMAHA — The Detroit Tigers’ brass must have been smiling after the performance Alex Faedo put on at TD Ameritrade Park. The Florida Gators sure were.
Faedo limited Texas Christian to two singles and struck out 11 in seven innings Sunday night, and Florida posted its first College World Series shutout since 1991 with a 3-0 win.
The Tigers’ first-round draft pick this month had at least one strikeout each inning and retired 10 in a row before turning the game over to closer Michael Byrne to start the eighth.
“There have been historic great pitchers come through — Rosenblatt and now TD Ameritrade — and tonight has to go down as a great, great performance in the College World Series history,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
Faedo mixed his slider with a mid-90s fastball during his dominant 106-pitch performance.
“Just throwing whatever Sully wanted me to throw and trusting him and Mike,” Faedo said, referring to Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan and catcher Mike Rivera.
“They know the hitters more than anyone. Just trusting them and just attacking the zone with whatever they call.”
Jared Janczak (9-1) struggled in his four innings for TCU (47-17), which will face Texas A&M in an elimination game Tuesday. The Gators (48-18) will take on Louisville, also on Tuesday.
Louisville 8, Texas A&M 4: Louisville had an early five-run lead against Texas A&M and national player of the year Brendan McKay was on the mound. It should have been game over, right?
“We knew Texas A&M wasn’t going to fold,” 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 win their Series opener.
Louisville (53-10) built a 5-0 lead in the second inning against Corbin Martin (7-4). Texas A&M (41-22) chipped away against McKay (11-3) to make it 5-4 before Bordner entered and continued to flash his postseason dominance.
Bordner has given up no runs and one hit in his last 11 innings over four appearances.
“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.”