No. 12 TCU Evens Series With 5-4 Victory Over WVU Baseball

The second game of West Virginia Baseball’s TCU series went to the Horned Frogs, but the Mountaineers didn’t make it easy.

WVU (15-10, 1-0) entered Lupton Baseball Stadium today high off last night’s last-minute 3-2 victory.

No. 12 TCU (18-8, 5-2) found the 3-2 game’s final call highly questionable, and off the bat today, head coach Kirk Saarloos got into a heated argument with the umpires.

WVU has only won one series with the Horned Frogs, and the Fort Worth hosts tallied a 23-7 all-time record with the Mountaineers. When the first inning’s action opened, it appeared as though WVU might add a second series victory.

With TCU’s sophomore right-handed pitcher Cam Brown on the mound, the WVU bats were ready, but not needed. Brown back-to-back-to-back walked senior Austin Davis, freshman JJ Wetherholt, and junior Victor Scott to load the bases. Redshirt senior Vince Ippoliti came up in the 5-hole and used a chopped double down the right field line to empty the bases. Davis scored. Wetherholt scored. Scott scored. Suddenly, the Mountaineers were off to a rousing 3-0 start. After 0.1 innings pitched, three runs, one hit, and a K, Brown was retired and junior right-handed reliever Marcelo Perez topped the mound for the Horned Frogs.

The Mountaineer appeared to take the pitching change in stride, adding a fourth run in the top of the second through stitched-together small ball singles and walks. Redshirt junior Tevin Tucker singled and then advanced to second and third on a Davis line drive and wild pitch. Scott got on base with a fielder’s choice and scored Tucker from third for the Mountaineers’, and the game’s, fourth run.

The Horned Frogs battled back against Mountaineer ace, sophomore left-handed pitcher Ben Hampton, squeezing him into a bases loaded, one out scenario in the third. Hampton allowed junior Bobby Goodloe to score, and retired a perilous inning of base path action with a single unearned run.

The Horned Frogs, now down 4-1, closed the deficit with another run in the third inning. A lead-off single from senior clean-up guy Gray Rodgers and a stolen second base placed the TCU runner in scoring position. Teammate Kurtis Bryne sent a double to right field, and the sophomore logged an RBI when Rodgers scored from second.

Perez pitched outstanding relief innings in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh; he saw the minimum batters during that four-inning stretch, combining for 3 Ks. Meanwhile, Hampton was dealing a similar fashion. He faced four batters in the fourth and three in the fifth before the TCU Horned Frogs’ sophomore contingent staged an attack in the sixth.

Hampton began the inning by hitting sophomore Luke Boyers and allowing the right fielder to score off an RBI single from fellow sophomore Elijah Nunez. With the deficit cut to a single run, sophomore Brayden Taylor caught a Hampton pitch and flew it handedly into right field. Nunez came in from first and Taylor swept the bases for the go-ahead run, and the game’s final score. After 116 pitches, Hampton stayed in the game and secured the inning’s final out, but the damage had been done.

The Mountaineers attempted a last-stitch redemption effort in the ninth, but couldn’t bring Nathan Blasick in from second, officially dropping the team’s 11th game and evening the series.

The Horned Frogs secured the victory after converting nine hits into five runs; WVU’s loss came courtesy of four runs on as many hits. TCU’s Perez got the win after an astounding 6.2 relief innings pitched, two hits, five Ks, and 93 pitches thrown. Closer River Ridings earned the save, coming in to shut down WVU sophomore McGwire Holbrook for the game’s final out. Hampton’s 6.0 innings pitched, seven hits, seven Ks, and 118 pitches was sufficient to add a loss to his 4-1 record.

The final game of the series will see its first pitch at 1 p.m. EST on ESPN+ tomorrow from Fort Worth.