College World Series: TCU Moves On To Semifinals

The Horned Frogs moved past Oral Roberts to make the College World Series semi-final on Wednesday.

Carson Wersal | Jun 20, 2023

TCU pulled away from Oral Roberts early in the game and never looked back as the Frogs moved to 2-1 in the College World Series. A big 4-run fifth inning helped push the Frogs to eliminate Oral Roberts from the tournament.

MCWS Game Nine - 1st Inning

The Frogs came to bat in the first but couldn’t get anything started due to a couple of strikeouts. Elijah Nunez and Brayden Taylor put together some long at-bats, but that was all.

ORU got a baserunner courtesy of a walk by Jake McMurray, but Cam Brown rebounded quickly with a flyout to left field and then a 4-6-3 double-play, hit into by Jonah Cox.

(TCU-0, ORU-0)

MCWS Game Nine- 2nd Inning

The Frogs got on the board in the second when Brooks Fowler walked three Horned Frogs, and Kurtis Byrne doubled down the left field line. Nunez ended the inning with a hard ground ball that almost snuck through the infield, but the ORU second baseman makes the play up the middle for the final out.

Brown made his second inning look easy with back-to-back strikeouts to lead off the inning. Holden Breeze grounded out to third to finish the job.

(TCU- 1, ORU-0)

MCWS Game Nine - 3rd Inning

In the third, Bowen and Taylor both lined out to centerfield, Taylor on the 9th pitch of the at-bat. Cole Fontenelle struck out swinging to end the inning.

Drew Stahl and Jacob Godman were both walked by Brown to begin the inning. ORU attempted to play small ball with a Blaze Brothers sac bunt to move the runners over, but a shallow fly ball hit by McMurray to right field and a big strikeout by Brown stopped any chance of ORU getting on the board.

(TCU-1, ORU-0)

MCWS Game Nine - 4th Inning

Tre Richardson struck out swinging to begin the fourth, but Byrne singled to centerfield, and Logan Maxwell doubled down the right field line, giving the Frogs runners on second and third. Anthony Silva lined out to right field, and Byrne scored from third base due to a balk by Joshua Caravalho. Austin Davis lasered one towards the left-centerfield wall, but Quinn put his body on the line to make the catch and end the inning.

Luke Savage took over on the mound after a walk issued by Brown. Cox attempted to steal second but was called out after a hitters interference on Matt Hogan. A base hit by Mac McCroskey, a wild pitch, and a walk issued by Savage gave ORU runners at the corners with two outs. Stahl flew out to left field, getting the Horned Frogs out of trouble.

MCWS Game Nine- 5th Inning

Nunez singled into left field to get things started for TCU. Karson Bowen grounded into a fielder’s choice at first, moving Nunez to second, who then stole third. Due to a confusing turn of events,

· A balk was called on the pitcher, moving Nunez across the plate.

· That balk was later deemed illegitimate, moving Nunez back to third.

· A pitch clock violation was called on the pitcher, giving a ball to Taylor.

· Taylor, because he was in a 3-1 count, moved to first.

Singles by Fontenelle and Richardson scored Nunez. Byrne flew out to right field to score Taylor, and Silva singled into left to score Fontenelle and Richardson. Maxwell grounded out to second base to end the inning, but the damage was done by the Frogs pushing 4 runners across the plate in the 5th inning.

Godman singled into left field to begin the fifth for ORU. Brothers popped out to first base, followed by McMurray being walked to give the Eagles two runners on with one out. Savage picked up another strikeout against Quinn, but Cox singling into right field brought Godman home and pushed the Horned Frogs to go to the bullpen. Hunter Hodges took the mound and struck out Hogan on a great pitch down in the zone for the final out.

MCWS Game Nine - 6th Inning

The beginning of the 6th looked promising, with a walk by Davis and a single by Nunez. Bowen grounded into a fielder's choice, and due to some rare contact and interesting calls at third base, both Nunez and Davis are called out. Taylor singled up the middle, and Fontenelle walked to load the bases again, but Richardson struck out to end the rally.

The sixth was a quick inning for Hodges as McCroskey grounded out to third base to start. Richardson made a great play on the left side of the infield to get Breeze for the second out. Stahl singles into left field to give ORU a baserunner, but that’s all, as Hodges got Godman to fly out to the shortstop, Anthony Silva.

MCWS Game Nine - 7th Inning

The Horned Frogs went quietly in the top of the 7th with two flyouts from Byrne and Silva, and a strikeout by Maxwell to end it.

Brothers grounded out to third for the first out in the 7th. McMurray walked, and Quinn struck out looking. Taylor made an amazing catch and throw for the final out in the 7th.

MCWS Game Nine- 8th Inning

Davis singled into right to lead the Horned Frogs off in the 8th, but that’s all for the Horned Frogs as, surprisingly, Nunez, Bowen, and Taylor strikeout for all three outs.

Cohen Feser took the mound for the Horned Frogs in the 8th and only allowed one baserunner. Feser struck out Hogan swinging and got McCrosky to fly out to center field. Feser walked Breeze in a long at-bat but found the final out on a fly ball to left field.

MCWS Game Nine - 9th Inning

Fontenelle singled to right field to start the 9th, and a Richardson sacrifice bunt moved Fontenelle over to second. Byrne hit a laser over to 3rd base, but a good play by Breeze gave ORU two outs. Silva struck out swinging to end the inning.

Godman flew out to shallow centerfield to start off the bottom of the 9th. Brothers popped out to Cohen Feser for the second out. McMurray and Quinn both walked to give ORU runners at first and second. Cox hit a shallow pop-up that ended up finding grass and loaded the bases for ORU. Feser struck out Matt Hogan for the final out of the game. Frogs Win!

Final Score: TCU-6, Oral Roberts-1

As always in postseason baseball, good pitching and timely hitting ruled in this game. Nunez, Fontenelle, and Byrne all had two hits while Silva had two RBIs, while the pitching staff for the Horned Frogs was nothing short of exceptional, with Brown, Savage, Hodges, and Feser combining for 7 hits with only one run crossing the plate. As Oral Roberts is eliminated from the College World Series, TCU will take on Florida tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Omaha.

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Published Jun 20, 2023

CARSON WERSAL

Carson is a student currently at TCU studying journalism with a sports focus. He graduated from Aledo High School and played baseball for Frank Phillips College before attending TCU in 2022. Carson follows local Fort Worth sports but is excited to start writing about TCU sports.