TCU baseball’s historic season ends with home loss to Oregon State in NCAA regionals
TCU baseball made history in 2021, winning both the Big 12 regular-season title and the tournament championship for the first time in program history. But the Frogs had a short stay in the NCAA Tournament.
TCU fell to Oregon State 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Lupton Stadium, ending its season in disappointing fashion. TCU finished with a record of 41-19.
“Certainly a disappointing day,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Anytime your season ends it never feels good.”
The Frogs found themselves in the elimination bracket after blowing a four-run lead and falling to Dallas Baptist 8-6 on Saturday night.
Oregon State kept its postseason dreams alive by defeating Dallas Baptist 5-4 in walk-off fashion Sunday night. Dallas Baptist defeated Oregon State 6-5 on Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Fort Worth Regional. The championship game for the regional between DBU and OSU will take place at 3 p.m. Monday.
For TCU, it’s a frustrating finish to a season in which it earned the No. 6 national seed.
The Frogs had their chances to extend the season on Sunday, including in the eighth inning.
With the game tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the eighth, TCU’s Gene Wood reached on a one-out single through the right side off OSU reliever Bryant Salgado. Wood stole second and advanced to third on a flyout by Phillip Sikes.
Gray Rodgers then drew a walk to put runners at the corners. OSU brought in Jack Washburn to face Luke Boyers, who drew a walk to load the bases. But Washburn got out of it, courtesy of a diving catch by Oregon State left fielder Joe Casey on a liner hit by Tommy Sacco.
Oregon State carried that momentum into the ninth inning against TCU closer Haylen Green. The Beavers’ leadoff man that inning, Kyle Dernedde, reached on a hit by pitch and then stole second.
Green retired the next batter before surrendering an RBI single to Justin Boyd up the middle that brought in the go-ahead run.
TCU had the top of its lineup going for the ninth, but it went down in order against Oregon State right-hander Mitchell Verburg.
The Frogs, which led the Big 12 in hits and runs scored this season, had just three hits and struck out 15 times combined against Oregon State’s staff.
“They punched us out 15 times, so they obviously executed a lot of good pitches,” Schlossnagle said.
Added TCU catcher Zach Humphreys: “Their pitchers were competitive and threw multiple pitches for strikes. It’s hard to lock in on one pitch when they do that.”
Oregon State starter Jake Pfennigs allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits with four walks and six strikeouts over five innings. The Beavers’ bullpen combined for four scoreless innings between Nathan Burns, Salgado, Washburn and Verburg.
TCU reliever Charles King started the game for the Frogs, allowing two runs on nine hits with one walk and four strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings.
Schlossnagle praised his team’s effort throughout the season but they were never able to establish consistent starting pitching as in years past. That, Schlossnagle said, is what has to improve going forward.
Still, Schlossnagle is proud of what this year’s team accomplished by winning two conference championships, earning a national seed and hosting the NCAA Tournament.
“The line between winning and losing in these things is so small, but they put us back in that situation,” Schlossnagle said. “It’s an honor to be with them every day.”
This story was originally published June 6, 2021 at 5:06 PM.
