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GoFrogs: Stellar Pitching Leads TCU Back To Omaha
Final Stats | Highlights | Quotes
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The pitching duo of Brian Howard and Durbin Feltmanretired 17 straight Texas A&M hitters and the TCU offense rallied with four unanswered runs to win the NCAA College Station Super Regional with a 4-1 victory.
TCU is making its third consecutive trip to the College World Series and the fourth in program history. The Horned Frogs won their second road Super Regional, having done so for the first time in 2010 at Texas. TCU has needed to win game three all four times it has advanced to Omaha.
The Rundown
Brian Howard picked up where he left off last week with another dominating performance on the mound. He twirled seven strong innings en route to earning his ninth win of the season. The junior allowed just one unearned run on two hits, walked two and struck out eight. He retired 16 of the last 17 batters he faced, including a stretch of 11 to close out his outing.
For the second straight day, the Aggies opened the game’s scoring with a run in the first. J.B. Moss led the game off with a base hit. An error put two on with nobody out. With one out and two runners in scoring position, Ryne Birk hit a sacrifice fly to make it a 1-0 game in favor of the Aggies.
Texas A&M’s final threat came with two outs in the second after a walk and a base hit put two runners on. Howard got Moss to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the frame. From there, the Aggies had just one base runner, which was a one-out walk in the fourth.
TCU had the lead-off batter reach in four of the first five innings, but it wasn’t until the fifth that the Frogs were able to make it count. Josh Watson opened the frame with a base hit to right. A one-out single from Ryan Merrill put two on. The Aggies got a ground ball for the second out, moving Watson to third. A passed ball allowed Watson to score the game-tying run.
In the seventh, TCU struck for a trio of runs on just one hit, three walks and an error. Watson again led off the inning with a base hit. An error on a ball hit by Steinhagen had the Frogs in business. With one out, Connor Wanhanen worked a walk to load the bases. Austen Wade worked the count full and drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in Watson for a 2-1 lead. Cam Warner hit a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch added two more runs as TCU lead 4-1 going to the bottom of the seventh.
Howard pitched a scoreless seventh before turning the game over to Feltman in the eighth. The freshman retired all six batters he faced to pick up his eighth save of the season.
Stat of the Game
4 —Â TCU advanced to its fourth College World Series in the last seven years.
Notes
• TCU improved to 4-1 in game three of the NCAA Super Regional.
• TCU improved to 43-32 in the NCAA Tournament.
• TCU improved to 9-8 in NCAA Super Regionals.
• TCU improved to 6-2 in NCAA Tournament games played in College Station.
• TCU allowed the first run in a game for the 30th time this season.
• TCU allowed a first inning run for jus the 15th time this season.
• TCU improved to 39-0 when leading after eight innings.
• TCU outhit its opponent for the 43rd time this season.
• TCU held an opponent to one or fewer runs for the 17th time this season.
• TCU has scored two or more runs in an inning 109 times this season.
• Luken Baker has reached base safely in 35 straight games.
• Luken Baker stretched his hitting streak to 11 games.
• Cam Warner has reached base in eight straight games.
• Ryan Merrill has reached base safely in seven straight games.
• Josh Watson has reached base safely in nine straight games.
• Josh Watson posted his 17th career multi-hit game.
Next Up
With the victory, TCU improves to 47-16 overall. The Horned Frogs will square off against Texas Tech in its first game of the College World Series.