TCU
Utah
Utah Halts TCU's Win Streak in 9-7 Loss
5/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 20, 2009
FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle felt the Utah Utes were a dangerous opponent for his top-seeded team.
Schlossnagle's fears came to life Wednesday at Lupton Stadium in the second round of the Conoco Mountain West Conference Tournament.
The Utes pulled off their second consecutive upset and dealt the home Frogs a 9-7 loss to become the first No. 6-seed to knock off the league's No. 1 seed MWC tournament history. Utah pounded out 15 hits and were carried by a six-run fourth inning for the unexpected victory before 2,112 fans.
"This is a good club and we got snake-bitten for about three weeks where we had no luck and we didn't get it done," Utah coach Bill Kinneberg said. "Maybe it's our turn right now."
Utah (23-28) withstood several wild rallies down the stretch to stun the nation's No. 10-ranked team by Baseball America. The Utes advance to meet San Diego State at 7 p.m. Thursday and the winner advances to the championship round. The Frogs (35-15) fall into the loser's bracket and will play at 3 p.m. Thursday against the winner of an 11 a.m. elimination game between No. 2 New Mexico and No. 3 BYU.
"They played really well and we did a lot of things really bad," said Schlossnagle, whose team had three errors. "I really like their team and I've always liked their team. ...We sure did lay an egg in front of a good crowd."
Utah trailed 4-2 but overcame the deficit exploding with a six-run fourth inning and knocked out TCU starter Paul Gerrish (5-2) and was also effective against all-conference reliever Trent Appleby. The Utes started the inning with three consecutive singles and after a fielder's choice RBI by Nick Kuroczko, freshman C.J. Cron blasted a two-run double off Appleby. Later in the inning, Cooper Blanc added a two-run single as five different Utes drove in runs during the game.
TCU, which is 4-3 against the Utes this season, chipped away at Utah's lead with two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth.
Utes starter Brian Budrow went six innings and allowed 11 hits and had six strikeouts. Reliever Greg Krause finished the game going 2 1/3 innings and allowed one unearned run and had four strikeouts to earn his fourth save of the season.
But the Frogs battled down the stretch and a Utah miscue in the eighth sent the tying run to the plate with two outs. Blanc misplayed Matt Carpenter's flyout in center field which could have ended the inning. Instead, Taylor Featherson scored and Carpenter advanced to third. Matt Vern then struck out looking to end the inning against Krause, who retired the Frogs in order in the ninth.
The Frogs were led at the plate by right fielder Chris Ellington, who went 3-for-5 with three RBI.
