TCU Tops Baylor In 15 Innings
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FORT WORTH – With two outs in the 15th inning, Kyle Bacak lined a double to the gap to give TCU a 2-1 victory over Baylor Saturday afternoon. The 15-inning contest was the longest in TCU’s baseball history.
The combination of Riley Ferrell and Alex Young (5-4) were outstanding in relief as the duo allowed just three hits in six innings pitched. Ferrell gave up two hits and struck out two in 3 1/3 innings, while Young fanned five in 2 2/3 innings.
In the bottom of the 15th, Josh Michalec retired the first two batters of the inning before Keaton Jones stepped to the plate. Jones battled Michalec to a 3-2 count before taking a pitch high to draw a walk. Bacak wasted no time getting a pitch he liked as he drove the first offering to the gap in left center. Jones scored easily as the ball made it to the wall and TCU had a 2-1 victory.
Brandon Finnegan turned in a solid performance, but didn’t factor into the decision. He tossed 6 2/3 innings, allowing a run on seven hits. He walked two and struck out seven. Justin Scharf pitched a scoreless inning. He gave up two hits and hit a batter. Travis Evans was solid in his outing, striking out three of the five batters he faced.
The Frogs loaded the bases with nobody out in the third inning and opened up a 1-0 lead. Jerrick Suiter led off the inning with an infield single. A walk to Keaton Jones and a bunt single by Bacak followed. With one out, Boomer White hit a sacrifice fly to give TCU an early lead.
Finnegan flirted with danger in each of the first four innings as the Bears had a base runner in each frame. He pitched around a two-out triple in the first and a pair of lead-off singles in the second and fourth innings. A strong defensive play by Paul Hendrix on a ball ticketed for center field saved TCU’s lead in the fourth.
Baylor once again threatened in the fifth and for the second consecutive inning, the Frogs’ defense came through to thwart the Bears attack. Finnegan walked Nate Goodwin and surrendered a hit to Lawton Langford with
one out. Nathan Orf hit a chopper to third. Witte fielded the tough hop at the bag and threw across the diamond to complete the inning-ending double play.
The base runners finally caught up the Frogs as Baylor tied the game in the top of the sixth inning. Cal Towey blooped a single into left center and stole second. He was standing on third with one out when Jake Miller dropped a single into center field to tie the game at one.
TCU dodged a big bullet in the eighth as the Bears loaded the bases with one out. Derek Odell threw out the go-ahead run at home for the second out and Travis Evans came on to get the final out of the inning, striking out Adam Toth to leave the bases loaded.
Neither team had much in way of offense in the early parts of extra innings, but the game picked up in the 13th. Both teams traded errors and both teams made outstanding defensive plays to get out of the jams. TCU’s Young came on and got last night’s hero, Mitch Price, to ground into an inning-ending double play.
In the bottom of the 13th, Dylan Fitzgerald reached on a two-base error to open the inning. With one out, the second baseman made a diving save to keep the ball from going to the outfield, leaving the Frogs with runners on the corners. White’s bid for a game-winning hit was stolen on a diving catch in right field.
TCU improved to 18-21 overall and 6-8 in Big 12 play. The rubber match of the series is slated for Sunday afternoon at Lupton Stadium. Andrew Mitchell will make the start for the Frogs at 1 p.m.
