OMAHA, Neb. — Nathan Dettmer pitched three-hit ball over seven shutout innings, and Texas A&M capitalized on Notre Dame’s mistakes to beat the Irish 5-1 in a College World Series elimination game Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Aggies (44-19) will play Oklahoma in the Bracket 1 final. They need to beat the Sooners on Wednesday and again Thursday to reach the CWS finals this weekend.
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The Irish (41-17) ended the season with their most wins since 2006 and their first Omaha appearance since 2002.
Dettmer (6-3) was working on three days’ rest after giving up seven runs and getting pulled in the second inning of Texas A&M’s 13-8 loss to Oklahoma on Friday.
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He bounced back with his best performance of the season. He got Notre Dame batters to swing over the top of his sinker, mixing in a changeup and breaking ball.
The Irish reached base on an error and a hit batter but didn’t get their first hit until David LaManna singled with one out in the fourth.
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Dettmer, who struck out six and walked none, had his longest outing since he went seven innings against Vanderbilt on April 28. He threw 99 pitches, 68 for strikes.
The Aggies converted two walks, a balk, two singles and a throwing error into three runs in the third, the first two off Irish starter Liam Simon (2-1).
Trevor Werner homered leading off the fifth against Jack Findlay, and Dylan Rock later had an RBI single, ending his 0-for-14 spell and making it 5-0.
Findlay, the Irish’s star freshman left-hander, had allowed only one earned run over his 14⅓ innings in the NCAA Tournament before giving up the two in the fifth.
Brad Rudis took over for Dettmer starting the eighth, and Brooks Coetzee drove Rudis’ second pitch more than 400 feet over the left-field fence for his 12th homer.
After Rudis walked the next batter, the Aggies brought in lefty Joseph Menefee, who allowed one hit in two innings for his second save.
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The game was the ninth of the CWS, and all were decided by four or more runs. That was a first in the event’s 75-year history.