TCU’s Teakell hasn’t forgotten the 22-inning game: ‘I thought I had lost it’

Relief pitcher Trey Teakell both smiles and shudders when he remembers the 22-inning regional game that TCU played against Sam Houston State a year ago.

“Yeah, I have a lot of good memories,” he said. “Also have a couple of nightmares, though, because I thought it was over a couple of times while I was pitching.”

Teakell pitched 6.1 innings of scoreless relief – basically a start – in taking the Horned Frogs from the ninth inning to the 16th in a 2-2 game before they won the regional game 3-2, remaining in the winner’s bracket en route to winning the tournament.

He especially remembers the throw from center fielder Cody Jones to shortstop Keaton Jones to catcher Kyle Bacak that cut down the winning run in the 13th inning. Teakell had given up a single with two outs, and a double to center field looked like it was going to score the run.

“Keaton made just a perfect relay throw right on time to save the game,” Teakell said. “I was just giving him hugs and jumping for joy, because I thought I had lost it. It was great. That was definitely a really good memory and something everybody talks about.”

Alex Young, Travis Evans, Brian Howard, Brian Trieglaff and Riley Ferrell also pitched in relief. Howard went four innings. Trieglaff got the win with 1.1 innings, and Ferrell got the save.

Could Teakell go 6-plus innings again?

Sure. But ...

“Hopefully we can avoid it this time around,” he said. “Yeah, I definitely think I could. But hopefully not. That’s not what we’re trying to do. But if that comes up, then yeah, we’ve got to be ready.”

Teakell, a fifth-year senior from Weatherford, is the Horned Frogs’ most experienced postseason pitcher with seven appearances. He is 1-1 with a 3.52 earned-run average, one walk and nine strikeouts over 15.1 innings.

This story was originally published May 29, 2015 at 1:00 AM with the headline "TCU’s Teakell hasn’t forgotten the 22-inning game: ‘I thought I had lost it’."