TCU Rallies For 3-1 Victory Over Texas State
FORT WORTH, Texas – The 11th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs rallied from an early hole to post a 3-1 victory over Texas State Tuesday night to push their winning streak to three games. Aaron Schultz drove in the tying run as part of a 2-for-4 night at the plate.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Frogs finally found a way to push across three runs as they took advantage of a big miscue with two outs in the frame.
Jimmie Pharr’s second hit of the night with one out in the seventh got the ball rolling. Joe Weik drew a four-pitch walk to put two on with one out. Rivera beat out a potential double play ball to keep the inning alive and put runners on the corners. Schultz’s bloop single to right allowed Pharr to score the tying run.
Taylor Featherston looked like he had given the Frogs the lead as he drove the ball up the middle, but an unlucky deflection off the umpire was ruled a dead ball and instead of the go-ahead run crossing the plate, the bases were loaded. Jason Coats hit
a ground ball that the third baseman couldn’t handle, which allowed two runs to cross the plate, giving TCU the 3-1 advantage.
Texas State had claimed the early 1-0 lead in the second inning. Kyle Kubitza walked to lead off the inning and stole second. With one out, he stole third. The throw down got away from the infield and Kubitza raced home with the first run of the game.
TCU had chances to tie the game, but twice saw the tying run cut down at the plate. In the fourth inning, Jantzen Witte singled with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch. Josh Elander lined a single up the middle, but the center fielder threw a strike to home plate, gunning out Witte as he tried to tie the game.
In the sixth, Featherston found himself standing on third base after a lead-off single. A wild pitch and a ground out moved the junior to third. Texas State brought the infield in and Witte bounced the ball right at the shortstop who threw home. Featherston stayed in the run down long enough to get Witte to second, but was eventually tagged out for the second out of the inning.
After a rocky second inning that saw the Bobcats take the lead, TCU starter Andrew Mitchell settled into a rhythm. He retired 11 of the final 14 batters he faced, allowing just three singles. The bullpen shut the door for the final three innings, paving the way for the Horned Frog comeback.
Mitchell got a no-decision in the TCU victory. He allowed one run on five hits in six innings of work. The freshman walked one and struck out three. Stefan Crichton (2-1) earned the win in relief as he retired all six batters he faced in two innings of work. Erik Miller pitched around a one-out walk in the ninth to tally his fifth save of the season.
The Frogs improve to 13-7 with the victory. The homestand continues this weekend when TCU hosts Houston in a three-game series beginning Friday night at 6:30 p.m. Kyle Winkler is expected to get the start for the Horned Frogs.
