Game 10: #7 TCU 8, #2 LSU 4
Free bases handed out by LSU pitching and timely hitting were the keys for TCU in their win over the Tigers. The Horned Frogs drew five walks and brought four them around to score to help them survive another day in Omaha.
“We just didn’t pitch quite well enough today,” LSU head coach Paul Mainieri said. “They got a few big hits … we talked too many batters tonight. That was really our undoing. I don’t know how many walks we had, but we must have had five or six. Against a team like TCU you don’t want to give them those kinds of opportunities, because they know how to take advantage of them.”
LSU walked five TCU hitters on the night, four of them came around to score. Along with the five free passes, the Horned Frogs also had 10 hits. All night long they only left four men on base. The heart of the order was particularly productive as clean-up hitter, freshman catcher Evan Skoug, went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs batted in, and two runs scored. Right behind him in the five-hole was junior left fielder Dane Steinhagen, who went 3-for-4 against LSU with three runs batted in and a run scored of his own. Either running the bases or at the plate, the duo contributed in some way on seven of TCU’s eight runs scored.
“I just felt confident,” Steinhagen said. “Before every at-bat, [TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle] told me to eliminate the curveball every time, and that’s what I did. It allowed me to be on time with that fastball, and I was ready for it every time.”
On the mound, the Horned Frogs got a major contribution out of Trey Teakell. The senior right-hander needed only 36 pitches to retire all 13 batters he faced in four and 1/3 perfect innings as he carried an 8-3 lead into the 8th inning to earn his third win of the season.
“The story of the game for us, two fold, is Trey Teakell doing the things that he’s done for us all season, or his entire career,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “He comes in and he completely changes the pace of games.”
Teakell entered with the game tied at 3-all in the top of the fourth inning. He retired the top of the LSU lineup twice, including star shortstop and No. 2 overall draft pick Alex Bregman and departed with a five-run lead with two outs in the top of the eighth.
“Trey, as usual, was remarkable,” TCU’s young backstop, Skoug, said. “I mean, we ask so much of Trey. For him to come in and be Mr. Reliable, and come in and give us several good innings to keep us in the ballgame is amazing. He’s been doing it all year. He’s really been a big part of my development as well as the rest of the freshman. He’s just Mr. Do It All. Without Trey we would be a completely different ball club.”
LSU’s season comes to an end with their second loss to TCU at the 2015 College World Series. The Tigers, the No. 2 overall national seed, finished their season with a record of 54-12.
TCU will get a rematch tomorrow with reigning champion Vanderbilt. The Commodores beat the Horned Frogs, 1-0, on Tuesday night. TCU will need to beat Vanderbilt twice to advance to the College World Series Finals.
Photos
WBR’s Brad Williams captured another set of stunning photos at TD Ameritrade park. Get copies of your own favorites here or enjoy the gallery below:
Game 10 Highlights
Top of the 1st: The Bayou Bengals used a free base handed out by TCU starting pitcher Mitchell Traver to take a quick lead in this elimination game. Sophomore left fielder Jake Fraley fell behind 0-2 to Traver, but ended an 11-pitch at-bat by drawing a base on balls. Fraley then stole second base for his 23rd theft of the season in 29 attempts. Senior catcher Kade Scivicque drove Fraley in from second base with a base hit to right field that gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Bottom of the 2nd: The LSU lead didn’t last long once the heart of the TCU order came up to bat. Freshman catcher Evan Skoug and junior left fielder Dane Steinhagen each singled, and senior third baseman Derek Odell drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out against LSU starting pitcher Zac Person. The next TCU hitter, senior shortstop Keaton Jones, followed Odell’s free pass with one of his own to bring in the tying run. A call to the bullpen by LSU head coach Paul Mainieri brought in sophomore right-hander Hunter Newman, but Horned Frogs senior second baseman Garrett Crain smacked the first pitch thrown by Newman into right field for a two-run single to give TCU a 3-1 lead.
Top of the 3rd: It took TCU six hitters and two pitchers to take the lead, it took LSU three hitters to tie it back up. Junior shortstop Alex Bregman reached with one out on an infield single to Keaton Jones, who made a nice diving stop going to his right, but couldn’t beat the speedy Bregman with the throw to first base. Two pitches later, Jake Fraley blasted an RBI triple to right center field. He tied it up quickly on a wild pitch by Traver on the first offering to Kade Scivicque.
Bottom of the 5th: The Horned Frogs jumped back in front when the top of the order came up to bat against LSU freshman reliever Austin Bain. Senior center fielder Cody Jones and freshman designated hitter Connor Wanhanen reach via base on balls with one out. Then Evan Skoug lined an RBI double down the right field line to put two men in scoring position, and give TCU a 4-3 lead with one out. A pitching change didn’t stop the bleeding as Dane Steinhagen brought in both runners with a two-run single to right field off Tigers freshman right-hander Jake Godfrey to extend the lead to 6-3 for the Horned Frogs.
Bottom of the 7th: Evan Skoug and Dane Steinhagen came through here again to build on the TCU lead. With runners on the corners and one out, Skoug hit a weak roller to the first base side that allowed Cody Jones to score to make it 7-3. Steinhagen followed up his freshman catcher with an RBI single to center field that scored Connor Wanhanen from second base to put LSU in an 8-3 hole with six outs remaining.
Top of the 9th: LSU made things interesting in their final at-bat. Junior center fielder Andrew Stevenson line an RBI double just inside the third base line to cut TCU’s lead to 8-4 with one out. However, TCU junior right-hander Preston Guillory bounced back to strike out Mark Laird and Jared Foster to end the game with star shortstop Alex Bregman standing in the on-deck circle representing the tying run.
