TCU
27-7, 8-3
BYU
16-19, 4-8
Extra Inning Victory Leads No. 10 TCU To Sweep
4/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 17, 2010
PROVO, Utah - The 10th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs need extra innings to tally their seventh straight win as they defeated BYU 6-5 in 11 innings Saturday afternoon. The Cougars third error of the game proved costly as the Frogs tallied an unearned run to break the tie in the top of the 11th. Kaleb Merck held the Cougars scoreless for 3 1/3 innings to pick up the win. Bryan Holaday led the offensive attack with three hits.In a game full of errors and base running mistakes, it was an error that decided the outcome of the contest. Jimmie Pharr battled Cougar reliever Justin Shutt to a 3-2 count and delivered a line-drive double to the gap in left center. Brance Rivera sacrificed pinch runner Kyle Von Tungeln to third with only one out.
Holaday hit a hard bouncer right to the shortstop and von Tungeln was off on the crack of the bat. Brandon Relf air-mailed the throw to the backstop allowing von Tungeln to score the go-ahead run. Merck (2-1) pitched around a lead-off walk in the bottom of the 11th to secure the victory.
On the mound, Steven Maxwell was solid in his seven innings of work. He allowed three runs on eight hits, struck out five and didn't walk anybody in the no-decision. Tyler Lockwood was touch for a pair of runs in 2/3 of an inning. Merck allowed just one hit, walked one and struck out two in 3 1/3 innings.
Along with Holaday's three hits, Matt Curry and Josh Elander also tallied two hits. Curry drove in two runs and hit his ninth home run of the season.
The teams battled through a scoreless game through the first three innings. Both had threats in the first inning erased by a double play ball. The Cougars worked around a one-out error in the third and Maxwell retired eight in a row to get to the fourth inning.
Alex Wolfe broke the scoreless tie with a solo home run to straight away center field with one out in the fourth inning.
TCU wasn't able to put together a rally until the sixth inning when Holaday led off the inning with a double to left field. Curry tied the game with a double down the right field line. Elander put the Frogs on top, 2-1, with his first hit of the game.
In the seventh, the Frogs added two more runs to their lead to make it a 4-1 contest. Aaron Schultz worked a one-out walk and scored on a Jantzen Witte double. Holaday delivered again with a two-out base hit up the middle to drive in Witte.
The Cougars cut the lead in half in the bottom of the seventh, picking up a run on three hits. Maxwell did a good job limiting the damage as the Cougars had runners on the corners with nobody out. He got Jonathan Cluff to bounce into a double play that allowed the run to score.
Curry led off the eighth inning with a solo home run to push the Frog lead back to three, 5-2.
Stephen Wells matched Curry's feat with a lead-off home run in the bottom of the eighth. Lockwood came on in relief and retired the first two batters he faced before Wolfe touched him for another solo home run. Bryce Ayoso followed with a base hit and scored on a Ryan Bernal double to tie the game at five.
TCU had opportunities in both the ninth and 10th innings but couldn't find the big hit. In the ninth, the Frogs loaded the bases with one out only to see the Cougars snare a line drive and turn it into an inning-ending double play. Merck did his part retiring the side in order in both the ninth and tenth innings, setting up TCU's 11th inning run.
The Frogs improve to 27-7 overall and 8-3 in league play. The Frogs return to action Monday night as they host Dallas Baptist at 6:30 p.m.
Game Notes:
* Taylor Featherston's 11-game hit streak came to an end with a 0-for-4 day.
* Brance Rivera extended his hitting streak to nine games.
* TCU has matched its season-high winning streak of seven games. The Frogs won seven straight from March 9-19.
* Bryan Holaday notched seven hits in the final two games of the series.
* The sweep is the Frogs second straight on the road and the fourth of the season (Sam Houston State, Texas Tech and Houston).
* TCU improves to 2-0 in extra innings this season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Merck, Kaleb (2-1)
L: SHUTT, Justin (3-5)
Batting:
2B: Holaday, Bryan 1 ; Curry, Matt 1 ; Witte, Jantzen 1 ; Pharr, Jimmie 1
HR: Curry, Matt 1
RBI: Holaday, Bryan 1 ; Curry, Matt 2 ; Elander, Josh 1 ; Witte, Jantzen 1
SH: Rivera, Brance 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Holaday, Bryan 1 ; Curry, Matt 2 ; Schultz, Aaron 1 ; Witte, Jantzen 1 ; Von Tungeln, Kyle 1
CS: Elander, Josh 1
HBP: Pena, Jerome 1
Batting:
2B: BERNAL, Ryan 1
HR: WOLFE, Alex 2 ; WELLS, Stephen 1
RBI: WOLFE, Alex 2 ; BERNAL, Ryan 1 ; WELLS, Stephen 1
SH: AYOSO, Bryce 1
Base Running:
RUNS: WOLFE, Alex 2 ; AYOSO, Bryce 2 ; WELLS, Stephen 1
