TCU Rally Falls Short in 4-3 Extra-Inning Loss To Kansas
FORT WORTH, Texas – A two-out, two-run double by Zac Elgie broke a 2-2 tie in the 14th inning and Kansas held on for the 4-3 victory over No. 1 TCU Sunday afternoon. The Horned Frogs had battled back to tie the game at two in the eighth, but couldn’t break through to get the victory. Joe Weik and Jantzen Witte homered for the Frogs.
Jimmy Waters singled and Chris Manship drew a walk to open the 14th inning and moved up 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt. Erik Miller got a big strikeout of Alex DeLeon, but Elgie connected for the two-run double with two outs in the frame to give the Jayhawks a 4-2 lead.
TCU had its chance to get the game knotted and possibly win in the bottom of the inning, but left the bases loaded. Weik blasted a one-out home run to pull the Frogs within one, 4-3. With two outs, Jimmie Pharr and Aaron Schultz collected back-to-back singles. Jantzen Witte worked a walk to load the bases, but Jayhawk pitcher Colton Murray got the strikeout he needed to end the game.
The Frogs had struck first as they got on the board in the second inning on a two-out home run off the bat of Witte.
Kansas manufactured a run in the third to get the game knotted at
one. Jason Brunansky doubled with one out and stole third. He scored on a base knock off the bat of Casey Lytle.
A one-out home run off the bat of Elgie gave Kansas its first lead of the series in the fifth inning.
TCU had numerous opportunities to get the game tied, but couldn’t break through as they stranded two runners each in the fourth through sixth innings.
After battling, the Frogs finally broke through in the eighth inning, tying the game on a two-out single by Jerome Pena. Witte delivered a one out single and Brance Rivera was hit by the pitch to put two on with one out. Pena came through with the base hit to center that plated Witte with the tying run. Rivera was thrown out at home trying to give the Frogs the lead.
Trent Appleby relieved Steven Maxwell in the seventh inning and tossed 3 2/3 scoreless frames. He allowed a hit and struck out two. He gave way to Erik Miller with a runner on second and two outs in the tenth inning. Miller did his job, striking out Kaiana Eldredge to end the inning.
TCU’s best chance to win the game came in the 13th inning when Witte reached on a lead-off error by the shortstop. He moved to second on a Rivera sacrifice and raced to third on a flyball out off the bat of Zac Jordan. He was left stranded at third after the center fielder tracked down a base hit bid off the bat of Pena.
Maxwell was solid in the no-decision. He limited the Jayhawks to a pair of runs on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Miller (0-1) was the tough-luck loser after tossing 4 1/3 innings. He surrendered two runs on two hits, walked two and struck out three.
TCU falls to 2-1 on the young season. The Horned Frogs will hit the road for the first time in 2011 when they travel south to take on Baylor. First pitch at Baylor Ballpark is set for 4 p.m.
