TCU baseball coach, umpire get into heated exchange as Frogs fall again
TCU baseball coach Kirk Saarloos got into a heated exchange with umpire Mark Winters during the Frogs’ 5-2 loss to West Virginia on Sunday afternoon at Lupton Stadium.
The disagreement happened in the top of the fifth inning when the umpiring crew headed to the TCU dugout to review whether West Virginia’s Grant Hussey was hit by a pitch by TCU starter Brett Walker. Video of the incident has gone viral on social media, pushing 40,000 views as of Sunday night.
“I was just making sure, because I had talked to (home-plate umpire Doug Williams) about it being his replay and not mine,” Saarloos told FrogsToday.com afterward. “They had pointed to our dugout, so I was just making sure it wasn’t my review but the umpire’s review. And he got upset that I asked that.”
Saarloos was not ejected following the exchange. Hussey was ruled to have been hit by the pitch.
TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati declined comment for now as the school is gathering more information.
Frustration between Saarloos and Winters had been brewing since Friday night, though. Winters, who worked behind the plate in the series opener, made a questionable strike three call on TCU’s David Bishop to end what became a 3-2 victory by West Virginia. If a ball instead of a strike would have been called, TCU would have walked in the game-tying run.
Saarloos and Winters reportedly had some words for each other before Saturday’s game, too. TCU won the middle game 5-4.
Regardless of the questionable calls, the Frogs had a forgettable homestand. They went 1-4 on the week, dropping consecutive midweek games to Abilene Christian and UT San Antonio and then losing two of three from West Virginia.
“Bad week. Played bad,” Saarloos said. “This week will help define what the season is going to be about. How they show up tomorrow in terms of getting treatment, going to class, and how they show up ready to play on Tuesday. We’ve just got to play better in all three areas.
“We’re 6-3 in conference. Would we like to be better? Absolutely, but everything is still out ahead of us. It’s not like we’re chasing anything. We’ve just got to play better baseball and take care of what we do, and the rest will take care of itself. We have a good schedule coming up. The opportunities are going to be there for us to play better baseball and and just play better.”
TCU (19-9, 6-3 Big 12) starts a five-game road trip with a game at UT Arlington on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Clay Gould Ballpark.
The Frogs then travel to Austin for a three-game series against Texas this weekend before returning to DFW for a game at Dallas Baptist on April 12.
