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Top Seeded TCU Advances to MWC Baseball Championsihp Game TCU advances to the championship game at 3:00 pm PT Saturday
May 25, 2007
CLICK HERE for recaps, box scores, live stats, photos and MORE! LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The top-seeded TCU Horned Frogs (45-12) needed two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to survive an upset bid by the second-seeded BYU Cougars (36-19) Friday afternoon in the Mountain West Baseball Championship. TCU won the see-saw affair by an 8-7 margin. TCU advances to the championship game at 3:00 pm PT Saturday, while BYU must turn around and face the sixth-seeded UNLV Rebels at 7:00 pm PT Friday night in an elimination game.
BYU jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the second on an RBI-double by Steve Parker. Kent Walton opened the inning with a walk issued by TCU's Chris Johnson.
TCU waited an inning before taking its first lead of the game with two runs in the bottom of the third. The Horned Frogs got four hits in the inning to take a one-run lead. Bryan Kervin led off the inning with a single, took second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a triple to center by Keith Conlon. Austin Adams followed with a single of his own to score Conlon.
The Cougars tied the game at 2-2 with a run in the fourth. Walton opened the inning with a single to center and came around to score on a single by Kasey Ko.
TCU opened up the game with three runs in the fifth off of three hits and three Cougar errors. Conlon led off with a single and took third on a stolen base and an error. Andrew Walker stepped up and broke the 2-2 tie with a double and then took third on an error by BYU's Stephen Wells in center. Clint Arnold followed with a single to short that plated Walker. Matt Vern then reached on an errant throw by BYU pitcher Jesse Craig and took to second base, while Arnold scored when the ball went into foul territory.
BYU turned the tide with five runs in the sixth on four hits and one error. Apana Nakayama and Walton reached on a fielding error and a walk, respectively. With two runners on, TCU brought Donald Furrow in to the game to relief pitch. Parker took Furrow's offering to left for a single to load the bases. Ko delivered a two-run single to left. With two runners on base, Leon Johnson hit a bunt single to load the bases, once again. Tyler Lockwood was summoned from the bullpen for TCU and surrendered a two-run single to Austin Hall. Wells plated the final run of the rally on a fielder's choice grounder.
TCU cut the two-run deficit in half with a single run in the sixth on a ground out by Adams. Conlon nailed a triple to left with one out to get on base.
Trailing by one, in the eighth, TCU got a two-run single to left by Walker. J.D. Stambaugh pitched himself into a jam by giving up a single, a hit-by-pitch and a walk. Michael Ward replaced Stambaugh on the mound and got a strike out before offering up Walker's game-winning hit.
In the top of the ninth, BYU tried to rally for the tying run as they got an inning-opening double by Wells off of Sam Demel, who has just entered the game in relief. Wells advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, but was left stranded there when the next two batters struck out and line out to end the game.
Lockwood improved to 5-2 on the year with 3.0 innings of relief work. He allowed no runs on two hits, while striking out three.
Demel notched his 13th save of the season in 1.0 inning of work.
Stambaugh falls to 0-1 with the loss. He pitched only two-thirds of an inning and gave up two runs on one hit. He walked on and struck out one. |
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