Lamkin's 12-strikeout quality start seals series victory for No. 7 A&M
Game #24: No. 7 Texas A&M 6, No. 21 Mississippi State 1
Records: Texas A&M (21-3, 3-3), Mississippi State (17-8, 3-3)
WP: Justin Lamkin (2-0)
LP: Jurrangelo Cijntje (4-1)
Box Score
The rubber match was won by the Aggie who toed the rubber.
Behind a stellar start from Justin Lamkin, No. 7 Texas A&M (21-3, 3-3) defeated No. 21 Mississippi State (17-8, 3-3), 6-1, in the series finale to claim its first SEC series of the year.
"One weekend isn't going to define any team, positive or negative, in this league, but it was huge for us since we lost Game 3 last weekend on the road," A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "Obviously, winning at home is even more important."
Lamkin, who carried a perfect game into the fifth, tossed 7.1 innings, allowing one run on two hits and a walk. The sophomore also struck out 12 Bulldogs as he commanded his fastball and off-speed pitches.
"I was trying to ride him as much as we could because I felt like he'd earned it, and sometimes, that helps boost the pitcher's ego when you do that," Schlossnagle said.
Two of Lamkin's strikeouts came against Mississippi State's leader in average — Dakota Jordan, who was frozen twice by Lamkin's off-speed.
"The thing he did all for us last year was have really good fastball command, and his off-speed pitches were a little short," Schlossnagle said. "This year, his off-speed pitches have been much better, but his fastball command kind of went away from him and today he had that fastball command, especially in on those good righthanded hitters like Jordan."
Lamkin said the command on all his pitches was something his coaches really wanted to work on, especially his fastball.
"I took it very seriously in catch play, kind of ran with it, went back to myself and have full confidence in it," Lamkin said.
Evan Aschenbeck finished the job for Lamkin, taking over with one out in the eighth inning. Achenbeck's command was less sharp than it's been throughout his career, but it didn't matter as he shut the door by working out of a jam in the eighth and facing the minimum in the ninth.
The Bulldogs had 30 at-bats in total. Fourteen ended in a strikeout, and Mississippi State mustered up just three hits.
That's dominating stuff from the Aggie staff.
A&M's lineup also backed up its pitching staff, facing switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje.
In the first inning, Braden Montgomery launched a ball off the scoreboard to put the Aggies ahead 1-0. Three innings later, Montgomery homered again, smashing a two-run shot to right field, scoring Jace LaViolette, who led the inning off with a double.
"I got a lot of fastballs, and that's what I enjoy swinging at, so it was a lot of fun," Montgomery said.
A&M's two- and three-hole hitters combined to go 4-for-7 with two homers, two doubles, a walk and three RBI.
Another performance worth noting is that of Caden Sorrell, who started in left field.
The true freshman had a great day defensively, tracking down a line drive in the first at-bat of the game and reaching over the wall in foul territory to make a catch later in the game.
Batting in the nine-hole, Sorrel went 2-for-3, including a double and a solo home run in the fifth inning.
"Caden is a super talented player," Schlossnagle said. "Being a freshman in this league, it's tough to get going, and maybe that'll help him get going.
"Definitely makes us better in the outfield. Hayden [Schott] is competitive out there, but he's not Sorrell, and Sorell can move around the bases, so we're still trying to figure things out to give us the best lineup. Depth on a team is always good."
Even with a late-inning cushion, the rubber match saw its share of dramatics.
Following a double from Jackson Appel in the seventh inning, A&M's first base coach Michael Earley appeared to get into a screaming match with Bulldogs assistant coach Jake Gautreau.
"Just competitive things happen in the game," Schlossnagle explained. "I think their pitching coach thought we had their pitches, which we didn't. If we did, we would have scored a lot more runs, I'd hope.
"There's no ill will between us and them. This just happens in these games. It happens in intense environments."
It was an intense environment, no doubt, as 7,159 people packed the stands at Blue Bell Park.
The Aggies will need a similar showing the rest of the week as they play host to Houston Christian during the week before hosting Auburn next weekend.
