Tuesday night’s winners bracket game finished Wednesday afternoon, but Oklahoma couldn’t use the extra hours between innings to hatch a plan of attack against the Clemson pitching staff.
As a result, the Tigers have only to win one more game either Friday or Saturday to advance to the best-of-three championship series next week in Omaha.
A strong starting effort Tuesday night by Scott Weismann (9-2) paved the way for Will Lamb, Dominic Leone, and Alex Frederick to finish Clemson’s win the next afternoon.
The Sooners can earn another shot at knocking off Clemson with a win Thursday night against Jackie Bradley Jr. and the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Finally! In a College World Series that so far has been devoid of much drama, the Horned Frogs delivered a jolt of energy through Rosenblatt Stadium in the 8th inning.
Trailing 7-2 in the 5th inning, TCU tacked on a Jerome Pena solo home run in the 7th to pull to within 4 runs. Then, a classic Rosenblatt rally began. With two outs and the bases loaded, Matt Curry sent a 3-2 pitch deep into the right-center bleachers and above the batter’s eye. The grand slam blast gave TCU a 9-7 lead, and the Frogs would find two more runs and send the Seminoles packing.
But FSU had one final chance to pull even. In the bottom of the 8th inning, after surrendering Curry’s slam, pitcher Mike McGee moved back to the outfield after coming in to pitch. He walked to the plate with the bags packed of ‘Noles, redemption on his mind. But he left on a liner to second base, ending the rally.
TCU will play a rested UCLA squad at 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. Florida State’s season ends with Mike Martin missing out on a national title once again.