Freshman pitcher, 6-run inning propel TCU baseball past UTA
Evan Skoug is on a hot streak, which he hopes carries over to the final series of the regular season and Big 12 tournament.
The junior catcher broke open a scoreless tie in the sixth inning with a grand slam and Josh Watson added a two-run single as No. 6 TCU beat UT Arlington 6-1 on Tuesday night in the regular season home finale at Lupton Stadium.
“Without a base open, they were going to throw Evan a strike and he got a good pitch to hit, got it through the wind and it was big,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
Making his first collegiate start, freshman lefty Haylen Green shut down the Mavericks in four innings of work while allowing two hits and striking out three.
“I got to the ballpark today and didn’t really know I was going to start, and I was walking up the field and Coach said ‘it’s your ball’ so I was real excited,” Green said. “I just kept pounding the zone and executing my pitches where and when I wanted to, and trusting in my coaches and their pitch calling, and it all worked out pretty well for me.”
Green, making his 13th appearance of the season, finished with 49 pitches, 34 for strikes.
“I think Haylen Green set the tone for the game by filling up the strike zone, really in every inning he pitched,” Schlossnagle said. “He kept the ball down and kept throwing strikes — really proud of him.”
His counterpart, another southpaw in junior Brady Vassar, also was making his first start of the season.
Vassar gave the Mavericks five solid innings before trouble arose in the sixth.
I think Haylen Green set the tone for the game by filling up the strike zone, really in every inning he pitched. He kept the ball down and kept throwing strikes — really proud of him.
TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle on Haylen Green
Michael Landestoy struck out, but reached on a wild pitch to start the frame. Austen Wade singled to shallow right and Connor Wanhanen got on with a bunt single to third.
With the bases loaded and no outs, Skoug drilled a 1-1 pitch to deep right for his second grand slam and 15th home run of the season. Watson added a two-out, two-run single to center to give the Horned Frogs a 6-0 lead.
“I slowed myself down and put a good swing on the baseball. I was really happy we were able to score that and give our pitching some relief,” Skoug said. “I was pretty much looking for the curveball because that’s what Brady was throwing me all night so I made sure I got some good height and put a nice easy swing on it.”
Skoug has hit six home runs with 16 RBIs in the past seven games.
“I’m feeling really good and confident up there so I’m going to stick with the routine and process,” he said.
After Vassar and Green faced the minimum through the first two innings, UTA (29-22) threatened in the top of the third with back-to-back singles from Phil Berthiaume and Zac Cook, but Green got a flyout to end the jam.
I got to the ballpark today and didn’t really know I was going to start, and I was walking up the field and Coach said ‘it’s your ball’ so I was real excited.
TCU pitcher Haylen Green
The Horned Frogs (37-13) looked to score in the fourth as Wade singled to right and advanced to third base on a fielding error, but Vassar produced two ground balls and a strikeout to end the inning with runners on the corners.
UTA scored in the top of the ninth on a one-out RBI sacrifice fly to right field from Noah Vaughan.
“Emotionally, it was nice to be home, it was nice to win a ballgame in front of our crowd, and UTA has a really good team,” Schlossnagle said.
TCU travels to play California in a three-game series starting Thursday before Big 12 tourney play begins May 24 in Oklahoma City. UTA starts its three-game series at Texas State on Thursday before the Sun Belt tournament begins May 23 in Statesboro, Ga.
This story was originally published May 16, 2017 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Freshman pitcher, 6-run inning propel TCU baseball past UTA."