Baylor stuns TCU in first round of Big 12 Tournament

By Tim Ahrens

CollegeBaseballInsider.com

 

TULSA, Okla. – Only two teams in the Big 12 can feel safe about their postseason fate as the conference tournament goes on in Tulsa this weekend.

 

TCU, the top seed, is one of them. But even the Horned Frogs aren’t safe from the possibility of an early exit from their appearance at ONEOK Field, and Baylor brought them to that realization Wednesday afternoon in a 6-5 upset.

 

The win marked the ninth time a No. 8 seed has knocked off the top seed in the Big 12 Tournament.

 

“Maybe we were effectively wild…,” Baylor coach Steve Smith said. “They got a lot of guys on, and we dodged a lot of bullets. Offensively, we got some pretty big at-bats and some timely hits. We showed a little pop today, and that hasn't been our way much of the year…To me it was about a team that was resilient and just competed.”

 

The game seemed poised to excite fans when Kameron Esthay hit a two-run blast to left-center that TCU right fielder Nolan Brown flipped over the wall trying to catch but failed. Esthay’s home run in the first was one of three hits, and one of two runs. His final hit saw him advance around the bases in the top of the eighth before he scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 5.

 

TCU (43-10) scored two runs in the second and fourth innings, and one in the sixth to gain a 5-3 lead that the bullpen seemed more than capable of keeping.

 

But Baylor continued to claw its way back into contention. Logan Brown hit a solo shot in the seventh, Esthay scored in the eighth and Lane Kelly scored on a sac fly to deep right in the top of the ninth, which proved to be the game-winning run.

 

Riley Ferrell and Brian Trieglaff combined for 1.1 innings of work, three walks and two wild pitches. Catcher Evan Skoug also had a passed ball for the Horned Frogs in the ninth that advanced runners around for Adam Toth to bring in Kelly.

 

Despite the collapse, Frogs coach Jim Schlossnagle has unwavering faith in the two pitchers.

 

"I haven't seen them yet, but I'm sure they are disappointed,” Schlossnagle said. “I can tell you this Riley Ferrell has been here for three years. I don't think he has blown a save or anything like that. He's 32 of 33, I'll take those numbers every day.

 

“I hate to have him learn a lesson because we'd rather win a game, but when you're in this game long enough those things are going to happen. I'd rather it happen now then next week.”

 

With the loss, Baylor (22-30) advances to play Texas at 4 p.m. Thursday; the Horned Frogs are expected to start ace Preston Morrison against Texas Tech in an elimination game at 9 a.m. Tech was the only team to hand Morrison a loss this season.

 

"My money is on TCU,” Schlossnagle said. “...We've played 52 games going in to this game. We want to win the tournament, and we're going to try and do that. We have the luxury of not having to stress anybody out to do that. Our mindset is to win tomorrow and that's all that it is. We need to play better baseball tomorrow."