TCU eliminates Texas A&M, Florida tops Louisville at the College World Series

Brian Howard matched his career high with 12 strikeouts in seven-plus innings, Omaha native Ryan Merrill homered to start a three-run third and TCU beat Texas A&M 4-1 in a College World Series elimination game on Tuesday.

The Horned Frogs (48-16) avoided going 0-2 for the first time in five all-time CWS appearances. The Aggies (41-23) have gone two-games-and-out in their last three appearances and have lost eight in a row in Omaha.

Howard (12-3), the Oakland Athletics’ eighth-round draft pick, flummoxed the Aggies with pinpoint location of his fastball and cutter. He struck out six of the first seven batters he faced and held the Aggies scoreless until Braden Shewmake’s RBI groundout in the sixth inning.

Texas A&M starter Stephen Kolek (4-5) was knocked out in 2 2/3 innings, matching his shortest start of the season. Kaylor Chafin held the Frogs to three singles the rest of the way.

Howard left after George Janca doubled leading off the eighth. Sean Wymer came on and retired six straight to end the game and earn his second save.

Merrill graduated from Millard West High School in Omaha and passed on a chance to walk on at Nebraska, opting instead to play two years at nearby Iowa Western Community College. The St. Louis Cardinals drafted him in the 15th round in 2015, but he opted to go to TCU for the possibility of someday returning to his hometown to play in the CWS.

He became the starting shortstop last year and the Frogs made the CWS, where he batted .300 with a .462 on-base percentage and made the all-tournament team. In the Frogs’ first game in this year’s CWS he went 1 for 3 in a 3-0 loss to Florida on Sunday.

In his first at-bat Tuesday he drilled Kolek’s 1-2 pitch off the back wall in the right-field bullpen for his sixth homer of the season and seventh of his TCU career. Evan Skoug doubled in a run and Elliott Barzilli had an RBI single to make it 4-0.

Since the Big 12 Tournament, Howard is 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 30 innings. He struck out 12 for the second time in four starts.

The game matched teams located 175 miles apart and rivals since their days in the old Southwest Conference. TCU won three-game super regionals against the Aggies in 2015 and ‘16, and beat them 11-10 in 15 innings in their regular-season meeting. The Aggies still lead the all-time series 162-94-4.

Florida cruises past Louisville 5-1

Brady Singer pitched seven strong innings and Austin Langworthy and Deacon Liput homered to lead Florida to a 5-1 win over Louisville in the College World Series on Tuesday night.

The Gators (49-18) have won their first two CWS games for the first time in four appearances since opening 3-0 and reaching the finals in 2011.

Louisville (53-11) managed one run on six hits and struck out nine times against Singer (8-5). Florida pitchers finished with 10 strikeouts, making it their fifth straight game with double-digit Ks.

The left-handed-swinging Langworthy sliced a ball just inside the left field foul pole in the third and Liput hit a three-run homer to right in the fourth. Both homers came against Louisville starter Kade McClure (8-4), who otherwise was impressive in striking out nine and walking one in six innings.

The 6-foot-7, 230-pound McClure had kept the game close until there were two outs in the fourth. He walked Nelson Maldonado and Jonathan India singled before Liput drove a low 1-2 pitch into the bullpen for his second homer in four games and third of the season. He celebrated in the dugout by dumping a bucket of ice water over the head of a Gators staff member.

Singer hummed along through six innings, striking out eight, walking none and limiting the Cardinals to three singles. Louisville broke through for a run in the seventh when Brendan McKay doubled and scored on Colin Lyman’s two-out single. A base hit and walk followed, but the Cardinals left the bases loaded when Logan Taylor grounded out.

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