Justin Lamkin, Jim Schlossnagle react to Texas A&M's one-hit shutout of South Carolina in SEC Tournament

Texas A&M survived to see Friday at the SEC Tournament thanks to a 5-0 shutout over South Carolina this morning in Hoover. While a lot when the way of the Aggies, a big key to the victory was the pitching performance from freshman LHP Justin Lamkin.

Following the win, Lamkin was interviewed on the SEC Network about his seven innings of solid work. He said he felt very good for his entire day in large part to a nice variety as well as trust in the growth he has gone through over the course of his year.

“(I) felt really good throughout the whole game. (I was) really mixing pitches and the three-pitch mix was really working well for me,” Lamkin said. “It really helped me get deeper in the game.”

“It’s just great having great coaches like this A&M staff does. That’s the first part of it,” said Lamkin. “Just getting stronger mentally, knowing what pitch to throw, and where you are at with the lineup really helps with that.”

Aggie head coach Jim Schlossnagle shared similar sentiments in his own interview after the win. He recognized that the Gamecocks weren’t at full strength but, still, Lamkin did more than enough to get the job done this morning inside Hoover Met. Stadium.

“I thought Lamkin was outstanding today,” Schlossnagle said. “I know South Carolina’s down some players but he took advantage of that by just filling up the strike zone.”

Lamkin finished with a career-high of 99 pitches in his outing. In his seven innings of pitching, he allowed just one hit while also not giving up a single run or earned run. He also finished with nine strikeouts in total which tied a season-high that he recorded earlier this month.

Lamkin’s numbers from his one-hitter were significant, especially when you look at the history of the SEC Tournament. According to research from the SEC Network, he is the second pitcher to go for at least seven innings while allowing one or fewer hits during this conference tournament and just the seventh to do so all-time. The other was fellow Aggie pitcher Troy Waning earlier this week against Tennessee. Only two other pitchers SEC pitchers achieved that feat this whole past campaign.

Schlossnagle has been very complimentary of Texas A&M’s pitching over their three games in the conference tournament. That didn’t change with Lamkin today as he’s now hoping for that trend to continue against their eventual opponent tomorrow.

Schlossnagle jokes with SEC Network crew as multiple Aggie outfielders make diving catches

Jim Schlossnagle has not been a fan of the SEC Network interviews during the conference tournament. That’s because things were always going the other way for Texas A&M whenever he put on the headset.

However, those tables seemed to turn today during his interview with the broadcast crew in the fourth inning. First, he reminded the announcers that they owed him some pricey meals for what they’d already cost him and his team in Hoover this week.

“Mike Andersons. Baton Rouge,” said Schlossnagle. “And, (Dave) Neal, when you come to College Station? (The) Republic.”

Then, soon after, the run of bad luck was ended by a diving catch from Jace LaViolette. At that point, Schlossnagle conceded that they had finally found some good luck even though his roster was pleading for him to skip the interview.

“We broke the streak,” Schlossnagle said. “Our players were just telling me, ‘No, don’t talk to them!’”

Moments later, Jordan Thompson had a similar diving catch in the outfield. That’s when Schlossagle himself suggested that the interview continue if things were going to keep rolling that way for his defense.

“You guys want to keep this going?,” he asked.