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[SIZE=14pt]TCU completes sweep of Cougars with extra-inning win [/SIZE]
Neil K. Warner - Daily Herald
BYU's Stephen Wells homered once, Alex Wolfe homered twice, second baseman Dane Nielsen made a game-saving diving catch, and left fielder Mark Anderson was officially on the Rawlings Gold Glove award watch, but as well as BYU played in certain areas of the game on Saturday afternoon, it wasn't enough.
Beating the 11th ranked team in the nation isn't so easy.
TCU took advantage of a BYU throwing error in the 11th inning to score the winning run as the Horned Frogs finished off a three-game sweep of BYU with a 6-5 win in 11 innings.
"The thing that I was really pleased with is we didn't fold up after two terrible losses where we didn't play well. We came out and competed extremely well today," said BYU coach Vance Law. "Today our pitching performance was so much better. I'm overall pleased. I think this will make us a better team having competed in this type of game."
TCU's Jimmie Pharr led off the 11th inning with a pinch-hit double off BYU reliever Justin Shutt. Leadoff hitter Brance Rivera then sacrifice bunted Pharr to third.
Shutt got just what he wanted, a ground ball to shortstop Brandon Relf, who was playing up on the grass to cut off the run. But Relf rushed the throw and it sailed over Bryce Ayoso's head at home allowing the go-head run to score.
"I'm not sure he (Relf) even got the right grip. Maybe with the infield in he wasn't expecting them to go on contact. I'm not sure, he feels so badly right now, I haven't felt like this is the right time to talk to him," Law said. "They like to put pressure on you and we know that. They like to try and force mistakes which they do."
BYU had one more chance. Wolfe led off the bottom of the 11th with a walk. Ayoso bunted him to second, but TCU reliever Kaleb Merck struck out Ryan Bernal and then got Jonathan Cluff to ground out to end the game.
TCU had a chance to take the lead in the ninth when it loaded the bases, Nielsen made a diving catch up the middle on a Matt Curry line drive. He got up and stepped on second base to get the double play and end the inning.
Nielsen's big play looked like it might fire up BYU's offense, but Merck held BYU scoreless in the final three innings to pick up the win.
BYU trailed 5-2 in the eighth before Wells homered to start a rally. It looked like that's all the Cougars would get out of the inning when TCU retired the next two batters, but Wolfe wouldn't let the Cougars go quietly. He homered to center. Ayoso followed with a single and Bernal doubled to left-center. The Frogs tried to throw out Ayoso at home. The throw was too late, but they did catch Bernal getting greedy when he tried to take third on the throw home. He was tagged out to end the inning, but not before BYU had tied the game.
Wolfe put BYU on top in the fourth when he homered for the second straight game. He homered to center to give BYU a 1-0 lead.
TCU answered with two runs the sixth and two more in the seventh to chase BYU starter Chris Capper from the game. TCU's Aaron Schultz drew a one-out walk in the seventh and Jantzen Witte doubled to left to score Schultz to give the Frogs a 3-1 lead. Capper was replaced by Kevin Sloan got BYU out of the inning when he came in and struck out Rivera, but not before Holaday singled in another run to push the lead to 4-1.
The Cougars rallied in the seventh. Ayoso led off with a single and Bernal singled to right that allowed Ayoso to reach third. BYU got a run, but it cost the Cougars two outs. Cluff hit into a 5-4-3 double play that scored the run.
Wolfe went 3-for-5 to lead BYU. Ayoso and Bernal each had two hits for the Cougars.
The sweep left BYU at 4-8 in conference play. TCU maintained its lead at the top of the conference by improving to 8-3.
The Cougars will now try to make up some ground next week when they open a three-game series against Utah.
"What we need to understand is we've played the toughest part of our conference schedule," Law said. "I think what we'll do with our guys is let them know we have TCU behind us and let them know we can play with anybody. When we executed offensive and on the mound we're right in it against some of the best teams in the country."
• Neil Warner can be reached at nwarner@heraldextra.com.
[SIZE=14pt]TCU completes sweep of Cougars with extra-inning win [/SIZE]
Neil K. Warner - Daily Herald
BYU's Stephen Wells homered once, Alex Wolfe homered twice, second baseman Dane Nielsen made a game-saving diving catch, and left fielder Mark Anderson was officially on the Rawlings Gold Glove award watch, but as well as BYU played in certain areas of the game on Saturday afternoon, it wasn't enough.
Beating the 11th ranked team in the nation isn't so easy.
TCU took advantage of a BYU throwing error in the 11th inning to score the winning run as the Horned Frogs finished off a three-game sweep of BYU with a 6-5 win in 11 innings.
"The thing that I was really pleased with is we didn't fold up after two terrible losses where we didn't play well. We came out and competed extremely well today," said BYU coach Vance Law. "Today our pitching performance was so much better. I'm overall pleased. I think this will make us a better team having competed in this type of game."
TCU's Jimmie Pharr led off the 11th inning with a pinch-hit double off BYU reliever Justin Shutt. Leadoff hitter Brance Rivera then sacrifice bunted Pharr to third.
Shutt got just what he wanted, a ground ball to shortstop Brandon Relf, who was playing up on the grass to cut off the run. But Relf rushed the throw and it sailed over Bryce Ayoso's head at home allowing the go-head run to score.
"I'm not sure he (Relf) even got the right grip. Maybe with the infield in he wasn't expecting them to go on contact. I'm not sure, he feels so badly right now, I haven't felt like this is the right time to talk to him," Law said. "They like to put pressure on you and we know that. They like to try and force mistakes which they do."
BYU had one more chance. Wolfe led off the bottom of the 11th with a walk. Ayoso bunted him to second, but TCU reliever Kaleb Merck struck out Ryan Bernal and then got Jonathan Cluff to ground out to end the game.
TCU had a chance to take the lead in the ninth when it loaded the bases, Nielsen made a diving catch up the middle on a Matt Curry line drive. He got up and stepped on second base to get the double play and end the inning.
Nielsen's big play looked like it might fire up BYU's offense, but Merck held BYU scoreless in the final three innings to pick up the win.
BYU trailed 5-2 in the eighth before Wells homered to start a rally. It looked like that's all the Cougars would get out of the inning when TCU retired the next two batters, but Wolfe wouldn't let the Cougars go quietly. He homered to center. Ayoso followed with a single and Bernal doubled to left-center. The Frogs tried to throw out Ayoso at home. The throw was too late, but they did catch Bernal getting greedy when he tried to take third on the throw home. He was tagged out to end the inning, but not before BYU had tied the game.
Wolfe put BYU on top in the fourth when he homered for the second straight game. He homered to center to give BYU a 1-0 lead.
TCU answered with two runs the sixth and two more in the seventh to chase BYU starter Chris Capper from the game. TCU's Aaron Schultz drew a one-out walk in the seventh and Jantzen Witte doubled to left to score Schultz to give the Frogs a 3-1 lead. Capper was replaced by Kevin Sloan got BYU out of the inning when he came in and struck out Rivera, but not before Holaday singled in another run to push the lead to 4-1.
The Cougars rallied in the seventh. Ayoso led off with a single and Bernal singled to right that allowed Ayoso to reach third. BYU got a run, but it cost the Cougars two outs. Cluff hit into a 5-4-3 double play that scored the run.
Wolfe went 3-for-5 to lead BYU. Ayoso and Bernal each had two hits for the Cougars.
The sweep left BYU at 4-8 in conference play. TCU maintained its lead at the top of the conference by improving to 8-3.
The Cougars will now try to make up some ground next week when they open a three-game series against Utah.
"What we need to understand is we've played the toughest part of our conference schedule," Law said. "I think what we'll do with our guys is let them know we have TCU behind us and let them know we can play with anybody. When we executed offensive and on the mound we're right in it against some of the best teams in the country."
• Neil Warner can be reached at nwarner@heraldextra.com.
