TCU relief combo leaves no doubt against Wichita State
.JPG "TCU’s Cody Jones slides home safely to give the Horned Frogs a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning Saturday as Wichita State catcher Gunnar Troutwine loses the ball while trying to apply the tag.")
There are some days Cody Jones doesn’t have to do much in center field.
Like Saturday in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, when relievers Trey Teakell and Riley Ferrell finished TCU’s 8-4 victory against Wichita State at Lupton Stadium.
“Teakell comes in, and I just kind of sit back and enjoy,” Jones said. “I’m playing defense still, but I’m watching balls just drop and rise and go in circles for all I know. That was just so much fun to watch — I mean, all of our pitchers. I have a great view from center field.”
Here’s what the view showed when Teakell entered in the seventh inning in relief of Preston Morrison with a 6-4 lead, one out and a runner at second base: a strikeout on 1-2, a single to right and a fly ball to left.
In the eighth: a ground ball to second, a ground ball to third (that turned into a throwing error), a strikeout and a lineout to center.
In the ninth when Ferrell entered with an 8-4 lead: a strikeout looking on 1-2, a strikeout looking on 1-2, a strikeout looking on 1-2.
Jones just smiled.
“With Trey setting up Riley, I’m just kind of out there,” he said. “I’m out there in case anything happens — in case the catcher overthrows the pitcher.”
Of course, Jones is exaggerating just a tad. But he is right about the effectiveness of the Horned Frogs’ set-up pitcher and closer. Teakell has set up a save for Ferrell four times this year, and they have pitched in that order seven times, including Saturday’s non-save situation.
“No stats go next to his name,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said of Teakell, a senior right-hander from Weatherford. “He’s as unheralded a player as there is in college baseball — ever.”
But the Teakell-Ferrell combination first needs a lead, which they got thanks to an offense that delivered 13 hits.
Designated hitter Connor Wanhanen collected four hits Saturday and is now 10 for his last 12, and Jones added two hits and has now reached base in 38 of his past 78 plate appearances, hitting .417 in 16 March games.
Evan Skoug and Keaton Jones drove in two runs apiece, and Nolan Brown had two more hits as the Frogs (20-4) continued to shake out their offense against the Missouri Valley Conference’s Shockers (11-15).
Morrison (6-0) struck out six and walked none in 6 1/3 innings, but he was hit hard in the seventh by the Shockers’ No. 4 and 5 hitters, Ryan Tinkham and Sam Hilliard. Tinkham’s double and Hilliard’s home run cut the TCU lead to 6-4 and triggered Teakell’s entrance.
Not that Schlossnagle was displeased with Morrison’s performance. It wasn’t bad at all, he said.
“I thought he had really good stuff,” Schlossnagle said. “The weather’s starting to turn a little bit; maybe he got a little bit tired. The two guys in the middle of the order are swinging the bat really well. When we make bad pitches, they hammer baseballs.
“But I thought his stuff was really good. His breaking ball was a lot better this week than maybe it has been in two or three weeks. The ball was sinking, and I thought he did a great job. Sometimes you have to tip your cap to the hitter.”
Carlos Mendez, 817-390-7407
This story was originally published March 28, 2015 at 8:52 PM with the headline "TCU relief combo leaves no doubt against Wichita State."