Boomer White started the season like most freshmen, on the bench waiting his turn.
Once he got the chance, however, he made the most of it.In his fourth consecutive start Friday night, White singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh inning as TCU won Game 1 of a three-game series against Pacific, 2-1 at Lupton Stadium.White scored the Horned Frogs’ first run in the first inning after reaching on a fielders’ choice and came home on Jerrick Suiter’s two-out, bases-loaded single up the middle. Suiter had two hits Friday, suggesting he may be snapping out of a slump after entering the game with three hits on the season.After being used primarily off the bench the first eight games, White has started the last four and has a five-game hit streak.“It’s a challenge to be on the bench and they preach it: always stay ready,” said White, who graduated from Houston Memorial. “It’s staying in the game at all times and when you get your chance to be called on, you help the team out and get the job done.”He did that with two outs in the seventh with the game tied 1-1, sending a 3-2 pitch back up the middle to score Keaton Jones from second.“They left the middle open and I knew they weren’t going to pitch to Jantzen [Witte] behind me,” he said. “So I kind of knew I was going to get a fastball. I was just trying not to be too antsy and play pepper with it.”Preston Morrison flirted with trouble through the first four innings, each time allowing runners in scoring position after getting two quick outs. Pacific tied it 1-1 in the fourth after a two-out double, a passed ball, and an infield single to second. Morrison ended the inning with a pick-off throw to first.Morrison’s change-up and sinker weren’t as effective as usual, so he was forced to rely more on his slider. He settled down after the fourth and retired the side in the fifth. He picked off his second runner at first to end the sixth. Andrew Mitchell pitched a perfect ninth for his first save of the season and first since April 2011. Morrison hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 16 innings and has allowed just three runs in 30 innings this season.“I knew early on I didn’t have my best stuff,” Morrison said. “If you try to work too hard you’re going to get yourself into deeper trouble so I just trusted my defense and made a good pitch instead of a perfect pitch.”Despite three errors, including two by Morrison in the first inning that allowed Pacific’s Dustin Torchio to reach base and later move to third on a failed pick-off throw to first, TCU flashed some serious leather with great plays made by infielders Witte, Keaton Jones and Kevin Cron. Cron made a back-handed stop and throw to Morrison covering first in the second inning. Cron also made two digs in the dirt on throws from Jones, who made several nice stops deep in the hole at short to end the fifth and start the seventh.“We worked hard the past two days on nothing but hitting the ball hard on the ground,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “I thought we had some results from that tonight. [White] is one of those guys that college baseball is all about. He ain’t pretty in the uniform, he’s just a dirtbag, he’s competitive, and he’s a good hitter.”Stefan Stevenson, 817-390-7760 Twitter: @FollowtheFrogs
