Three takeaways from TCU baseball’s season finale against WVU
The Horned Frogs will head into postseason play next with the Big 12 Tournament.
Heavy rain started to fall in the sixth inning on Saturday, which threatened to send the game to a rain delay.
The wetness hurt TCU in the eighth inning when a ball was misplayed in the infield which negated what would’ve been an out or a double play and was followed by a wild pitch that scored the game-tying run.
A second wild pitch from TCU pitcher Tanner Sagouspe resulted in what turned out to be the winning run for WVU. The Mountaineers tacked on one more run before the inning was over.
TCU got the game-tying run on base in the ninth inning with one out, but a fly out and a ground out on the next two at-bats ended the game.
Here are three takeaways from the Horned Frogs matchup with the Mountaineers.
Zak James’ start
TCU pitcher Zack James took the mound with a 6-0 record, a 3.49 ERA and looking to end his regular season with one last victory.
It was a short start for James, who gave up two runs off six hits with two walks in 2.2 innings of work. The Mountaineers did their damage in the second inning where they scored runs on a Gavin Kelly triple followed by a single by Paul Schoenfeld.
James exited the game after walking Brodie Kresser that loaded the based. Still, WVU wasn’t able to capitalize: TCU reliever Nate Stern induced a fly out to escape the inning.
Bats start early
TCU continued it’ recent home-run barrage (three homers in Friday’s game) with a two-run shot by Kyuss Gargett in the third inning. It was Gargett’s second home run in two games.
TCU scored the game’s initial run in the first inning when a Nolan Traeger double scored Colton Griffin.
After WVU tied the game 1-1, the TCU bats retook the lead in the sixth inning, with rain falling. A sacrifice bunt moved Jack Bell to second base. Noah Franco followed with a single that scored Bell and knocked starting WVU pitcher Chansen Cole out of the game.
Big 12 standings
TCU continued its fight with Oklahoma State for fifth place in the Big 12 with each team entering Saturday with a 17-12 record. The Cowboys were set to play Arizona later Saturday in their regular- season finale.
TCU will play next in the Big 12 Tournament, which begins Tuesday at Surprise Stadium in Arizona, the spring training home of the Texas Rangers.
TCU will play Arizona State on Thursday at 8 p.m. in their first game of the tournament.
