TCU Baseball Loses In 12th Inning
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FORT WORTH – Kansas broke a scoreless tie with a pair of two-out runs in the 12th inning and took the series with a 2-0 win Sunday afternoon. Brandon Finnegan threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings for the Horned Frogs.
TCU’s Brandon Finnegan and Kansas’ Thomas Taylor went toe-to-toe for seven innings before turning a scoreless game over to the bullpens. Finnegan gave up just five hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out seven.
In extra innings it was the Frogs who had the first legitimate threat to win the game. With one out in the 10th, Kyle Bacak reached on a bunt single and moved to second on a throwing error. Boomer White followed with a single through the left side. TCU put the pressure on as Bacak rounded third heading for home. Jayhawk leftfielder Michael Suiter was equal to the task as he threw a strike to home plate. Catcher Ka’iana Eldredge held on to the ball to apply the tag for the second out of the inning.
Kansas got the lead off batter on in each of the extra innings, but Andrew Mitchell (0-1) was able to get out of the inning facing the minimum number of hitters. In the 10th, he started an inning-ending double play, then in the 11th, he picked off the base runner for the second out.
Mitchell wasn’t so lucky in the 12th as Eldredge reached on a bunt single with
one out. A walk to Tommy Mirabelli followed before Dakota Smith singled to load the bases.
TCU went to the bullpen and called on Alex Young. He got a key strikeout for the second out, but Jordan Dreiling punched a single through the left side to drive in the go-ahead run. Jacob Boylan followed with an RBI single up the middle for a two-run lead. TCU got a two-out base runner in the bottom of the inning, but Jordan Piche’ closed the door to secure the victory.
Mitchell was tagged with the loss after allowing two runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. He walked three and struck out four.
Kansas had the game’s first opportunity to get on the board in the fourth inning. Finnegan allowed a pair of singles to open the inning, but retired the next three batters he faced to end the inning.
In the fifth, the Frogs loaded the bases with nobody out but couldn’t push across the go-ahead run. Brett Johnson singled to open the inning and moved to second on an infield single from Keaton Jones. A walk to Cody Jones loaded the bases. Third baseman Jordan Dreiling started a 5-2-3 double play to force the runner at home and Thomas got a strikeout to end the inning unharmed.
The Jayhawks translated the momentum into a lead-off double in the sixth. Smith was standing on third with one out. Keaton Jones made a strong throw home on a grounder hit right at him for the first out in the inning. A walk and a passed ball had runners on the corners, but Finnegan got Suiter to ground out to end the inning.
Each team had runners on in the late innings, but couldn’t solve the pitchers, setting up the extra-inning finish.
TCU falls to 8-11 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 play. The Horned Frogs will play seven of their next eight games away from Lupton Stadium beginning Tuesday night. A special evening awaits as the Frogs will square off against UT Arlington at The Ballpark In Arlington. Game time for the neutral site contest is set for 7 p.m.
