Texas A&M
TCU
Texas A&M Baseball
Texas A&M falls to TCU in supers for second consecutive season, 4-1
Super Regional Game #3: TCU 4, Texas A&M 1
RECORDS: TCU 47-16; Texas A&M 49-16
WP: Brian Howard (9-2)
LP: Andrew Vinson (4-3)
S: Durbin Feltman (8)
BOX SCORE
Revenge stories in sports are great. A team getting a monkey of its back is incredibly fun to watch. For 64 games, Texas A&M looked like a squad on the way to a storybook season.
But that monkey is still there.
For the second consecutive year, Texas A&M fell at the hands of the TCU Horned Frogs in the third game of super regional play. TCU held the Aggies hitless after the second inning and tagged them for three runs in the seventh en route to a win that clinched its third straight College World Series berth, 4-1.
J.B. Moss singled to lead off the bottom half of the frame. An error by TCU shortstop Ryan Merrill and two sacrifice hits later, Moss crossed home plate and gave the Aggies the lead, 1-0.
The score stayed that way for a while, because Aggie sophomore Turner Larkins was dealing. In his 4.2 innings, the right-hander gave up five hits and walked one while striking out four. He didn't give up an earned run either, but TCU managed to tie the game late in the fifth.
With runners on the corners and two outs, catcher Michael Barash had a pitch sneak under his glove. The man on third came home on the passed ball, and all of a sudden, the game was tied, 1-1.
Senior Andrew Vinson took the ball from Larkins, finished the inning and got the Aggies through the next frame, as well.
But everything unraveled in the seventh.
Vinson gave up a lead-off single, which was quickly followed by a Boomer White error. Two batters later, Vinson walked a man to load the bases with one out and gave a free pass to another, allowing TCU to take the lead.
Aggie head coach Rob Childress went to closer Mark Ecker to get out of the inning, but the nightmare wasn't quite over. Ecker recorded a quick out, but the sac fly allowed another run to score. TCU plated one more on yet another passed ball to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
The crooked number in the seventh was more than enough for the Frogs, because Brian Howard was electric. After giving up the run in the first inning, Howard gave up just one more hit – a single in the second – through the seventh.
"In the first inning, we were pretty good," Childress said. "We took advantage of a mistake and capitalized on it. From that point on, he was really good ... He made the (pitches) when it mattered most, and he's the story of the night."
Howard handed the ball to closer Durbin Feltman in the eighth, and it was more of the same for Texas A&M.
Feltman threw two innings, holding the Aggies hitless the rest of the way. A&M's season ended in disappointing fashion, a 4-1 loss, while the Horned Frogs celebrated on Olsen Field.
"It's a tough one, especially losing to the same team two years in a row," said second baseman Ryne Birk. "Watching them dogpile is tough, especially on our home field. We felt like we had a great team, a good enough team to make it to Omaha. It just didn't happen for us this year."
RECORDS: TCU 47-16; Texas A&M 49-16
WP: Brian Howard (9-2)
LP: Andrew Vinson (4-3)
S: Durbin Feltman (8)
BOX SCORE
Revenge stories in sports are great. A team getting a monkey of its back is incredibly fun to watch. For 64 games, Texas A&M looked like a squad on the way to a storybook season.
But that monkey is still there.
For the second consecutive year, Texas A&M fell at the hands of the TCU Horned Frogs in the third game of super regional play. TCU held the Aggies hitless after the second inning and tagged them for three runs in the seventh en route to a win that clinched its third straight College World Series berth, 4-1.
TexAgs
Texas A&M almost got to the Horned Frog's starter, Brian Howard, in the first inning.J.B. Moss singled to lead off the bottom half of the frame. An error by TCU shortstop Ryan Merrill and two sacrifice hits later, Moss crossed home plate and gave the Aggies the lead, 1-0.
The score stayed that way for a while, because Aggie sophomore Turner Larkins was dealing. In his 4.2 innings, the right-hander gave up five hits and walked one while striking out four. He didn't give up an earned run either, but TCU managed to tie the game late in the fifth.
With runners on the corners and two outs, catcher Michael Barash had a pitch sneak under his glove. The man on third came home on the passed ball, and all of a sudden, the game was tied, 1-1.
Senior Andrew Vinson took the ball from Larkins, finished the inning and got the Aggies through the next frame, as well.
But everything unraveled in the seventh.
Vinson gave up a lead-off single, which was quickly followed by a Boomer White error. Two batters later, Vinson walked a man to load the bases with one out and gave a free pass to another, allowing TCU to take the lead.
Aggie head coach Rob Childress went to closer Mark Ecker to get out of the inning, but the nightmare wasn't quite over. Ecker recorded a quick out, but the sac fly allowed another run to score. TCU plated one more on yet another passed ball to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
The crooked number in the seventh was more than enough for the Frogs, because Brian Howard was electric. After giving up the run in the first inning, Howard gave up just one more hit – a single in the second – through the seventh.
Alex Parker, TexAgs
Striking out eight over the course of his outing, Howard walked just two men, dominating the entire Aggie lineup from start to finish. The Aggies had nothing but praise for the stellar performance."In the first inning, we were pretty good," Childress said. "We took advantage of a mistake and capitalized on it. From that point on, he was really good ... He made the (pitches) when it mattered most, and he's the story of the night."
Howard handed the ball to closer Durbin Feltman in the eighth, and it was more of the same for Texas A&M.
Feltman threw two innings, holding the Aggies hitless the rest of the way. A&M's season ended in disappointing fashion, a 4-1 loss, while the Horned Frogs celebrated on Olsen Field.
"It's a tough one, especially losing to the same team two years in a row," said second baseman Ryne Birk. "Watching them dogpile is tough, especially on our home field. We felt like we had a great team, a good enough team to make it to Omaha. It just didn't happen for us this year."
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