TCU notes: Odell, Wanhanen spark Frogs’ offense against Texas A&M
With TCU’s offense struggling in the second inning Monday against Texas A&M, Derek Odell worked the count to full and drew a walk with two outs. Then he got picked off, stranding himself off the bag before getting tagged out on a dive. He stood up and was visibly frustrated.
But he redeemed himself in the fifth, when he poked a ground ball single into left field to drive home Evan Skoug and tie A&M 1-1. It was TCU’s first hit of the game. The next batter, Keaton Jones, doubled to center field, scoring Odell and putting the Frogs in the lead.
An inning later, Connor Wanhanen hit his first career home run, a two-run shot to right field that extended TCU’s lead to 4-1.
Wanhanen, a Flower Mound native and the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, powered a 1-1 pitch to just below the scoreboard to score Cody Jones. Skoug then followed with a double down the right field line, and legged it to third when the cutoff throw was bobbled. The freshman — his face beet red, sweaty and smudged with eye black — stood on the base and let out a yell, much to the pleasure of the home crowd.
Young settles in
After stranding three A&M runners in the first and giving up a homer in the second, TCU starter Alex Young settled in. He retired nine of 10 batters from the fourth through the sixth, including striking out the side in the fifth.
His slider helped him in a big way early on, using the pitch for inning-ending strikeouts in the first, second and third innings. He stranded six batters during that span. Michael Barash’s solo homer was the only run that scored.
The junior went 62/3 innings, giving up one run on six hits and striking out 10. Reliever Trey Teakell, who delivered four shutout innings Saturday, recorded the final out of the inning.
Briefly
▪ A&M starter Tyler Stubblefield was solid in his fourth appearance of the season. The lefty lasted five-plus innings and gave up two hits, taking a no-hitter into the fifth, when TCU scored twice. Stubblefield’s season was limited by a preseason knee injury.
▪ Aggies football coach Kevin Sumlin was at the game, watching from the upper deck along the third base line.
▪ Per usual, the Lupton Stadium gates opened an hour before the game, at 6 p.m. By 6:04, most of the general admission sections were full, as fans ran to claim a spot after waiting in long lines at each entrance. The 7,294 in attendance was the second-most in stadium history behind Sunday’s crowd. The three-day total was 21,876.
Ryan Osborne, 817-390-7760
Twitter: @RyanOsborneFWST
This story was originally published June 8, 2015 at 10:22 PM with the headline "TCU notes: Odell, Wanhanen spark Frogs’ offense against Texas A&M."