TCU
41-17
Utah
26-28
Frogs defeat Utah to advance to MWC title game
5/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 23, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Andrew Cashner tossed 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for his ninth save of the year as No. 21 TCU advanced to the championship game with a 6-3 victory over Utah Friday afternoon at the Phillips 66 Mountain West Conference Baseball Championship at Lupton Stadium.The MWC regular-season champion and top seed Frogs will play their second game of the day when they take on No. 2-seed New Mexico at 7 p.m. A TCU victory would force another title contest on Saturday at 3 p.m. with the winner earning the league's automatic bid.
The fifth-seeded Utes (26-28), who won three games in the MWC Tournament, saw their season come to a close.
TCU (41-17), in winning for the 12th time in its last 13 games, improved to 27-5 since April 1. The Frogs have also won 16 of their last 17 conference tournament games, including 8-of-9 in the MWC.
Cashner entered the game with the Frogs holding a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh and the Utes having runners on first and third with one out. The junior from Montgomery, Texas, promptly induced Austin Jones to hit into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.
Cashner allowed just one hit while striking out two to earn his sixth multiple-inning save of the season.
TCU starter Seth Garrison (2-3) went 6 1/3 innings for the victory. Both his wins this season have come in his last two appearances. He won in relief in a 13-4 victory last week at New Mexico.
Garrison surrendered three runs on seven hits. He walked three and struck out one. The junior from Dallas went at least six innings for the sixth time in his last nine starts.
Seven Frogs in the starting lineup had at least one hit with Steve Ellington, Clint Arnold and Matt Vern all having two base knocks.
For the third straight game in the tournament, TCU saw its opponent score first. A Nick Kuroczko RBI triple in the second and a run-scoring single by Jesse Shriner in the third gave the Utes a 2-0 lead.
The Frogs got on the board in the bottom of the third, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Bryan Kervin led off the inning with a double down the right field line. After advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Hunt Woodruff, Kervin scored on a double by Vern.
TCU took the lead for good with two runs in the fourth. Arnold led off with an infield single and stole second. Matt Carpenter then tripled off the wall in right center to plate Arnold and even the game. It also chased Utah starter Kerr Foster (0-2) who was replaced by Bennett Askew.
One out later, a Bryan Holaday double to the gap in left center scored Carpenter to put TCU on top 3-2. It was the first time in 13 innings the Frogs held a lead.
TCU extended its margin to 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth on an Arnold RBI double.
Arnold also contributed in the field. In the top of the sixth, with Cooper Blanc on second and one out, Nick Ferguson singled up the middle. Arnold gunned down Blanc at the plate.
The Utes cut the deficit to 4-3 in the seventh. Corey Shimada walked and Cody Guymon was hit by a pitch to open the inning. After a Jesse Shriner sacrifice bunt advanced the runners, Dustin Hennis singled up the middle to score Shimada and put runners on first and third with one out.
Cashner then escaped the jam with the double-play grounder from Jones.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Garrison, Seth (2-3)
L: FOSTER (0-2)
S: Cashner, Andrew (9)
Batting:
2B: GUYMON 1
3B: KUROCZKO 1
RBI: SHRINER 1 ; HENNIS 1 ; KUROCZKO 1
SH: SHRINER 1 ; BELTRAN 2
Base Running:
RUNS: SHIMADA 1 ; GUYMON 1 ; FERGUSON 1
HBP: GUYMON 1
Batting:
2B: Ellington, Steve 1 ; Arnold, Clint 1 ; Holaday, Bryan 1 ; Kervin, Bryan 1 ; Vern, Matt 1
3B: Carruthers, Ben 1 ; Carpenter, Matt 1
RBI: Ellington, Steve 1 ; Arnold, Clint 1 ; Carpenter, Matt 1 ; Holaday, Bryan 1 ; Vern, Matt 1
SH: Carruthers, Ben 2 ; Woodruff, Hunt 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Arnold, Clint 1 ; Carpenter, Matt 1 ; Holaday, Bryan 1 ; Kervin, Bryan 1 ; Vern, Matt 2
SB: Arnold, Clint 1
HBP: Vern, Matt 1
