TCU win streak ends at 13 on sacrifice fly in ninth

TCU saw its 13-game winning streak come to an end Friday as West Virginia scored three times on sacrifice flies, including Ivan Gonzalez’s second of the game in the bottom of the ninth, for a 5-4 victory in the opener of a three-game weekend series.

The Big 12 Conference teams meet again Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m.

Third-ranked TCU (27-6, 8-2) got off to a good start in the top of the first when Luken Baker’s two-out double to deep right field scored Cam Warner, who had reached on an error.

But the Mountaineers (20-12, 7-3) rebounded with a run in the bottom of the inning, two in the fourth and one in the fifth for a 4-1 lead. That held until the ninth when TCU rallied with a leadoff homer by Evan Skoug, one-out singles by Josh Watson and Nolan Brown, an RBI single by Ryan Merrill and a wild pitch that allowed Brown to score the tying run.

West Virgina led off the ninth with a double by Jimmy Galusky, who moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. An intentional walk preceded the deciding swing by Gonzalez, who lifted a 3-0 pitch to left that scored Galusky.

TCU starter Jared Janczak allowed six hits and four earned runs in  4 2/3 innings but did not figure in the decision. Charles King pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and retired 10 of 12 batters he faced before Sean Wymer came on in the bottom of the ninth and was pinned with the loss.

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 8:48 PM with the headline "TCU win streak ends at 13 on sacrifice fly in ninth."