Vandy's Pfeifer and
Wright combine to shut out TCU
By Phil Stanton
CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder
@roadtoomaha
OMAHA,
Neb. - It was another great pitching
duel at the 2015 College World Series.
After Virginia edged fourth-seeded Florida 1-0
on Monday night, Phillip Pfeifer (right) and Kyle Wright
combined on a five-hit shutout as Vanderbilt nipped No. 7 TCU
1-0 on Tuesday evening in front of 24,156 fans at TD
Ameritrade Park.
The Commodores (49-19) will play on Friday at 7
p.m. CT in the finals of Bracket 2. The Horned Frogs (50-14)
will meet No. 2 LSU on Thursday at 7 p.m. in an elimination
game.
"It felt like a championship-style game in
every way," VU head coach Tim Corbin said. "I think once we
got through the third or fourth, you felt like one run could
possibly make the difference. And that's the way it shaped
up."
Pfeifer (6-4) worked seven strong innings with
four hits, three walks and seven strikeouts. He threw 111
pitches, 67 for strikes.
"He made a lot of good pitches," Keaton Jones
of TCU said. "He used his curveball. He was throwing that for
strikes, and using his fastball and his curveball kept us
off-balance. The use of the curveball was good for him,
especially against the lefties."
TCU put two on with two away in the first, but Pfeifer coaxed
a groundout to end the rally. The Horned Frogs again put two
on in the second with one away, but a groundout and flyout
kept TCU off the scoreboard. The Horned Frogs put runners in
scoring position again in the six and seventh, but Pfeifer
kept TCU from scoring.
Wright pitched the final two innings, allowing
one hit and one walk with four punchouts in earning his fourth
save. He allowed a two-out walk and a single in the eighth,
but got a come-backer to end the threat. Wright worked a
perfect ninth with two strikeouts to preserve the victory.
TCU made several mistakes in the top of the
third. Jeren Kendall of Vanderbilt struck out to lead off the
inning, but reached base on a passed ball. Karl Ellison
reached first on an errant throw on a sacrifice bunt. Tyler
Campbell did sacrifice to put a pair in scoring position
Leadoff hitter Ro Coleman drew a walk to load the bases with
one away. Young fanned Rhett Wiseman and Dansby Swanson to
keep the contest scoreless.
Through six innings, TCU's Alex Young already
had a career-high 12 strikeouts and had not allowed a hit.
That changed in the seventh. Zander Wiel belted his 15th home
run of the season to lead off the top of the seventh, a long
fly to left to give the Commodores a 1-0 advantage.
"He just did a great job against us," Wiel
said. "He was locating the fastball in and out. He was able to
backdoor the slider and he would throw them low and we were
going after them today. So he was really able to keep us off
balance. In that at-bat, he threw me a changeup and it had
been higher than the rest of the ones he had thrown. It still
wasn't a terrible pitch. But it was hittable. And I just put a
good swing on it."
It was the lone blemish on Young's excellent
effort.
"It was just one mistake and his bat just ran
into the ball," Young said. "Every other pitch I was throwing
for a strike. And it's bad luck."
Young (9-3) hurled 7.2 innings with three hits,
one run, one walk and 12 strikeouts.
"Alex was just outstanding, as good as he's
been all year long," TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
"Never been more proud of him. Had an opportunity to fold
early in the game against some of the very best hitters in the
country and made great pitches."
TCU was shut out for the first time this
season. The Frogs stranded nine, including six in scoring
position.
"We had some opportunities," Schlossnagle said,
"and either Pfeifer made pitches or Wright, or they made
plays."
Pfeifer redshirted a year ago and did not pitch
in Omaha during Vandy's championship run.
"It's lived up to expectations so far," Pfeifer
said. "It's obviously the best venue for college baseball in
the country hands down. I was just trying to soak in every
minute of it that I could while I was out there on the mound.
I've been looking forward to this moment for a long time and
playing it over and over in my head and I feel like taking
advantage of today's game was kind of what kept me at peace. I
had seen that game before. So it was just enacting what had
been playing in my head."
Even though he wasn't with the team, Pfeifer
was in Omaha a year ago.
"I've got a lot of feelings about what Philip
did today," Corbin said. "I think that this kid drove to Omaha
last year by himself just to watch this thing because he
wasn't a part of it. So him pitching the way he did tonight
and him basically at peace -- all I remember tonight was him
walking back and forth from the dugout with a smile on his
face saying, 'Hey, fellas, we're in Omaha.' He continually
said that. I think it showed. He was very tranquil on the
mound, he was at peace with himself and he was executing his
pitches. And I don't think that there was anyone here that
enjoys being in Omaha, the moment more than he does. I credit
him. I'm so happy for the kid in so many different ways."
That experience from 2014 aided the junior.
"I had no idea what Ameritrade Ballpark looked
like until I drove up here and saw it," Pfeifer said, "other
than through TV. But TV tends to distort things a little bit.
Secondly, coming to terms with the fact that they didn't need
me to win last year, as selfish as that is, I think once I
swallowed that, my ego deflated and I had a realistic
appreciation of myself, my skills. And lastly, I think just
visualizing being in this scenario, in the situation like it
was tonight. From one side of the ball, you would love to have
20 runs scored just because it makes things easy. But you know
from a competitive side, you want that 1-0 ballgame. And they
gave it to us. They really did. That's a very strong team. So
I think just visualizing what playing in the College World
Series is like is probably the biggest thing that helped me."
For the second consecutive year, Vanderbilt and
Virginia both went 2-0 through their first two games in Omaha.
They reached the championship series, with the Commodores
taking two of three from the Cavaliers to claim their first
national title.
Also for the second straight year, TCU suffered
a one-run loss in its second game after winning its first. The
Horned Frogs dropped a 3-2 decision to Virginia in 15 innings
in 2014 to fall into the losers' bracket.
This is just the second time there have been
multiple 1-0 games in a single College World Series. In 1972,
there were three: Arizona State over Oklahoma, Arizona State
over Temple and USC over Arizona State in the title game.