TCU reaction: Above-and-beyond relief nothing new for Sean Wymer

For a second consecutive game, TCU stayed alive at the College World Series. The Horned Frogs are on to the semifinals against Florida, needing to win twice to advance to the championship series next week.

Some postgame reaction from Thursday night’s 4-3 victory against Louisville:

1. Sean Wymer has done this before for TCU. His 4.1-inning relief performance against Louisville was outstanding, but not the first extraordinary outing for the sophomore right-hander from Flower Mound. He pitched five perfect innings in the Frogs’ 15-inning victory against Texas A&M at the Shriners Classic in Houston on March 4. “He’s a guy that can pitch in any role,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “We plan on him being a starting pitcher next year. To be able to throw three pitches for strikes, that’s what a good starter looks like.” That’s what a good anything looks like.

2. For a third consecutive CWS game, closer Durbin Feltman did not pitch. His 17 saves this year are tied for first in the nation and a school record. But Schlossnagle opted to stay with Sean Wymer for the ninth because of his effectiveness and pitch economy. Schlossnagle said his plan was to have Wymer get the Frogs through the eighth. “His stuff was still crisp enough, and I had burned him. So I might as well, if I’m going to go down, let’s at least start the inning with Sean,” Schlossnagle said. “If he can finish it great, because he’s not going to be able to pitch the next day or two anyway.” Feltman? He’ll certainly be needed now. “Still have awesome confidence in him,” Schlossnagle said. “He’s definitely going to have to pitch, and he may have to pitch more than just one inning.”

3. The safe call on Josh Watson’s slide at the plate in the second inning was simply immense. With an out call, TCU leads 2-0 but the inning is over. With the safe call, it was 3-0 and TCU added a fourth run. “Completely different ballgame,” Louisville’s Logan Taylor said. “It deflates you to a degree,” Louisville pitching coach Roger Williams said. It wasn’t the only close play that went TCU’s way. There were plays at second and first that favored the Frogs. They didn’t apologize for the breaks. “We happened to play a tick better and had some things go our way for sure,” Schlossnagle said. “That’s why this game is awesome, and that’s why it’s miserable at the same time.”

4. TCU got back in the stolen-base business. The Frogs tied a CWS record with four in one inning, when Elliott Barzilli stole second and third and Josh Watson and Connor Wanhanen pulled off a double steal for the 104th, 105th, 106th and 107th swipes of the year. It was part of a four-run inning that knocked out Louisville freshman Nick Bennett. “The running game got the best of him there a little bit. Just wasn’t able to regroup,” Louisville pitching coach Roger Williams said. TCU was 1-for-2 to that point in the CWS. “Baserunning is a huge part of our offense,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “You see our batting averages. That’s part of who we are because we’re not hitting .300 as a club.”

5. Nick Lodolo got a valuable experience — starting a game at the College World Series. No doubt, a chance to play in Omaha played a part in TCU’s recruiting effort for the left-hander drafted 41st by MLB last summer. But Lodolo earned the start on his merits and proved competitive against one of the country’s top lineups. But the second time through, he gave up an RBI single and two solo home runs in the span of eight batters. “He handled the situation well, he handled the quality of our opponent really well,” Schlossnagle said. “He kept us in the ballgame. Obviously, we’d like for it to be a little cleaner. But that’s a good experience for Nick.”

This story was originally published June 23, 2017 at 12:52 AM with the headline "TCU reaction: Above-and-beyond relief nothing new for Sean Wymer."