TopFrog
Lifelong Frog
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Epic Finish Sends TCU To Supers
Frogs score eight runs in last three innings.
Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 1
| Photo Gallery 2
FORT WORTH - Elliott Barzilli's one-out, RBI-single capped an epic seven-run comeback to give TCU a 9-8 victory over NC State, sending the Horned Frogs to their fifth NCAA Super Regional in the last seven years.
Evan Williams ripped a lead-off single past a diving third baseman to open up the bottom of the 10th. An errant pick-off throw moved him to second with nobody out. Cody Jones walked and Jeremie Fagnan dropped down a sacrifice bunt to put the winning run on third base. Barzilli ripped the first pitch he saw past the drawn-in infield to send Lupton Stadium into a frenzy.
Entering the bottom of the eight, the Frogs found themselves in an 8-1 hole. NC State built its lead with a trio of runs in the third, a solo run in the fourth and a four-run eighth. TCU lone run came in the fourth courtesy of a Keaton Jones two-out single.
Connor Wanhanen reached on a lead-off error in the eighth inning. Another error put runners on the corners with only one out. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, the wheels came off for the Wolfpack. A walk to Keaton Jones loaded the bases. Garrett Crain legged out an infield single to make it an 8-2 ballgame. Dane Steinhagen drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in the third run of the game.
A balk closed the gap to four as Keaton Jones crossed the plate. Cody Jones drew the fourth walk of the inning to reload the bases. Fagnan lined a two-run single into left field to pull the Frogs within two, 8-6. The relay from left was wild allowing Fagnan to move to second. With a runner on third, a passed ball helped the Frogs inch closer as Cody Jones scored to make it an 8-7 ballgame. The Wolfpack got out of the inning, with the one-run lead still in tact.
Brian Trieglaff came on in the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 frame to set up the bottom of the ninth. Odell led off the frame with a base hit and moved to second on a Nolan Brown sacrifice. With one out, the Wolfpack was charged with their second balk of the game allowing Odell to move to third. Keaton Jones struck out, but a passed ball allowed Odell to score the game-tying run, setting up the thrilling finish in the 10th.
Trieglaff (2-0) retired all six batters he faced to pick up the win in relief. Alex Young got the start, allowing four runs on five hits to go along with four strikeouts in four innings of work. Trey Teakell turned in three scoreless frames, giving up four hits and striking out two.
With the victory, TCU improves to 47-12 on the season. The Frogs will face Texas A&M in the NCAA Fort Worth Super Regional beginning Saturday at Lupton Stadium.
++++++++++
TCU vs. NC State Game 7 Postgame Quotes
TCU Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
Opening Statement
“How do you even begin to describe that? The first thing I have to talk about is our crowd. The energy throughout the course of the game, the energy when we were down 4-1 and even when the guys came back in the dugout after being down 8-1. Normally, your play has to inspire the crowd, but tonight the crowd inspired our players. We’re very thankful and we hope to see them again plus all of their aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins and significant others that can pack this ballpark this weekend.”
On when the momentum shifted
“Obviously, they were having trouble throwing strikes out of the bullpen, that was a big part of the deal. You have to credit to our guys who weren’t up there chasing pitches. I thought Jeremie’s [Fagnan] hit that got us to 8-6 was huge. The thing I should’ve commented on earlier, the three guys up here [Elliot Barzilli, Brian Trieglaff and Jeremie Fagnan], Jeremie was a transfer last year who didn’t really play the last 30 games of the season. Trieglaff has been in our program forever and hasn’t had a true, significant role, more so this year than others. Elliot is a transfer who has been a part time player and Evan Williams, who is a junior college transfer and has been sitting on our bench the last three or four weeks. Look who the game came down to. We say that all the time. It’s so easy for what a coach talks about, for the player to do. That really speaks to the character of these guys and you never know when the game is going to come calling and it came calling for these guys and they were ready to go. That’s the sign of a good teammate.”
On how the eighth inning came together
“I think wild pitches more than anything. Preston Guillory didn’t have his stuff tonight, but one thing we talked about going into the tournament was that there’s really good arms in that bullpen [NC State], but there’s also a lot of walks. There’s a lot of pitches and hit batters. Low batting averages against them so you have to hang in there and fight and see if they maybe give you something. I know some things happen. We did have some good hits, but to come back from 8-1, most teams aren’t going to do it with hitting. It’s going to have to be about some of the things the other team does sandwiched around a couple big hits. And that’s what any big inning is made up of at any level of baseball.”
Infielder Elliot Barzilli
On hitting the walkoff
“Yea, you know. Coach Schlossnagle always tells me that I have a big role on this team and it’s hard to see when you’re not playing as often, but I know that the whole game I have to keep my mind right and cheer on my teammates. They’re doing their best and I have to do my best to help them out.”
On what his mindset was going into that final at-bat
“Just to see something up and try to hit it the other way. Their infield was in, you don’t really need to try to do too much. When the hit went through, it was awesome. It was awesome to see my teammates who battled it out the whole game, and I just tried to contribute what I could. It was just a great feeling and I was fired up. I was just thinking, it was a hard hit and it’s going through. I wasn’t thinking too much at the plate.”
On facing a seven-run deficit
“It was really tough but like we always say, there’s no end in sight and throughout the game we just wanted to have more energy and we had more energy than the whole game and I think that was the difference right there.
Pitcher Brian Trieglaff
On coming in relief to pitch the final two innings
“It was pretty crazy. That sort of a game where we’re down 8-1, we’re just trying to string stuff together. When he told me I was coming in, as a bullpen pitcher you just try to stop the bleeding and throw quality pitches and whatever happens, happens. I was fortunate enough that our hitters put together a great inning and put us back in the ballgame and I just tried to throw quality pitches over and over and we came out on top.”
On what Riley Ferrell means to them in the bullpen
“Riley is actually one of my roommates, so I know him pretty well. Having him back in the bullpen, whenever Riley comes in, we know he’s going to pound strikes. He’s done it for three years. Having a guy like Riley is a huge advantage, especially knowing that he’s going to come in and throw strikes and have a chance to put the game away.”
On if it was hard to see Riley performance tonight
“It is, because he’s always so dominating. Luckily, tonight we were able to pick him up and win the ballgame.”
First Baseman Jeremie Fagnan
On laying down the bunt
“Well, I knew the situation would call for it. I was actually kind of shocked that coach didn’t give me the hit sign after I swung and missed at the first pitch. I was trying to do too much there, but I knew I was going to have bunt it. If I had to bunt it with my face, I would have. I was just trying to get it down.”
NC State Head Coach Elliott Avent:
Opening Statement
“I have been a head coach 27 years and been in this game a long time as an assistant as well and this is probably the most proud I have ever been of any ball club I have ever been associated with. I love them all to death. They came into a stacked house tonight. It was a loud environment. TCU plays so well here. You never have the game in hand in this game, but we had a good check and things just kind unraveled a little bit. I am extremely of this ball club. To me, that’s what college athletics is all about — to see people grow up and get better and have pride in themselves and pride in the school. That’s what this bunch does. It was kind of neat to see what they did. It’s disappointing that it didn’t end the way we wanted to as well as we played, but that’s the game. This game will give you a lot of enjoyment, and this game will give you a lot of disappointment too.”
On the eighth inning
“The eighth inning unraveled for both sides. We were fortunate to get some of our stuff. And TCU put the ball in play and uncharacteristically we didn’t make a couple of plays.”
On taking out Gilbert
“He was tired. He pitched Friday. He gave us all he had. His velocity had gone down from 89 to 84-85. More than that he wasn’t locating his fastball. He could have of given us more. We had so much left (in the bullpen).”
Right Fielder Bubba Riley
On getting to Alex Young in the third inning
“I wouldn’t say we can figure out a guy that good. He has really good stuff. I think we made a conscious effort to put good at-bats together and swing at pitches we could hit.”
Shortstop Logan Ratledge
On the eighth inning
“In that situation we got as many runs as we could. We got a lot of runs, and we thought it probably would have been enough. Obviously, the tables turned.”
++++++++++
Game Notes:
• TCU improves to 34-28 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.
• TCU moves to 14-3 in NCAA Regional games at Lupton Stadium.
• TCU won a regional for the second time coming out of the loser's bracket (2012 at College Station).
• TCU improved to 3-2 in extra inning games this season.
• TCU recorded double-digit hits for the 31st time this season.
• TCU was outhit for the 14th time this season.
• TCU recorded its first win when trailing after eight this season.
• TCU improved to 10-5 in one-run games this season.
• TCU improved to 31-3 at home this season.
• Cody Jones has reached base safely in 31 straight games.
• Jeremie Fagnan has reached base safely in nine straight games.
• Jeremie Fagnan recorded his seventh multiple-RBI contest of the season and the 11th of his career.
• Evan Skoug notched his 16th multi-hit game of the season.
• Derek Odell picked up his 18th multi-hit game of the season and the 63rd of his career.
• Keaton Jones notched his 10th multi-hit game of the season and the 43rd of his career.
Epic Finish Sends TCU To Supers
Frogs score eight runs in last three innings.
Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 1
FORT WORTH - Elliott Barzilli's one-out, RBI-single capped an epic seven-run comeback to give TCU a 9-8 victory over NC State, sending the Horned Frogs to their fifth NCAA Super Regional in the last seven years.
Evan Williams ripped a lead-off single past a diving third baseman to open up the bottom of the 10th. An errant pick-off throw moved him to second with nobody out. Cody Jones walked and Jeremie Fagnan dropped down a sacrifice bunt to put the winning run on third base. Barzilli ripped the first pitch he saw past the drawn-in infield to send Lupton Stadium into a frenzy.
Entering the bottom of the eight, the Frogs found themselves in an 8-1 hole. NC State built its lead with a trio of runs in the third, a solo run in the fourth and a four-run eighth. TCU lone run came in the fourth courtesy of a Keaton Jones two-out single.
Connor Wanhanen reached on a lead-off error in the eighth inning. Another error put runners on the corners with only one out. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, the wheels came off for the Wolfpack. A walk to Keaton Jones loaded the bases. Garrett Crain legged out an infield single to make it an 8-2 ballgame. Dane Steinhagen drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in the third run of the game.
A balk closed the gap to four as Keaton Jones crossed the plate. Cody Jones drew the fourth walk of the inning to reload the bases. Fagnan lined a two-run single into left field to pull the Frogs within two, 8-6. The relay from left was wild allowing Fagnan to move to second. With a runner on third, a passed ball helped the Frogs inch closer as Cody Jones scored to make it an 8-7 ballgame. The Wolfpack got out of the inning, with the one-run lead still in tact.
Brian Trieglaff came on in the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 frame to set up the bottom of the ninth. Odell led off the frame with a base hit and moved to second on a Nolan Brown sacrifice. With one out, the Wolfpack was charged with their second balk of the game allowing Odell to move to third. Keaton Jones struck out, but a passed ball allowed Odell to score the game-tying run, setting up the thrilling finish in the 10th.
Trieglaff (2-0) retired all six batters he faced to pick up the win in relief. Alex Young got the start, allowing four runs on five hits to go along with four strikeouts in four innings of work. Trey Teakell turned in three scoreless frames, giving up four hits and striking out two.
With the victory, TCU improves to 47-12 on the season. The Frogs will face Texas A&M in the NCAA Fort Worth Super Regional beginning Saturday at Lupton Stadium.
++++++++++
TCU vs. NC State Game 7 Postgame Quotes
TCU Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
Opening Statement
“How do you even begin to describe that? The first thing I have to talk about is our crowd. The energy throughout the course of the game, the energy when we were down 4-1 and even when the guys came back in the dugout after being down 8-1. Normally, your play has to inspire the crowd, but tonight the crowd inspired our players. We’re very thankful and we hope to see them again plus all of their aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins and significant others that can pack this ballpark this weekend.”
On when the momentum shifted
“Obviously, they were having trouble throwing strikes out of the bullpen, that was a big part of the deal. You have to credit to our guys who weren’t up there chasing pitches. I thought Jeremie’s [Fagnan] hit that got us to 8-6 was huge. The thing I should’ve commented on earlier, the three guys up here [Elliot Barzilli, Brian Trieglaff and Jeremie Fagnan], Jeremie was a transfer last year who didn’t really play the last 30 games of the season. Trieglaff has been in our program forever and hasn’t had a true, significant role, more so this year than others. Elliot is a transfer who has been a part time player and Evan Williams, who is a junior college transfer and has been sitting on our bench the last three or four weeks. Look who the game came down to. We say that all the time. It’s so easy for what a coach talks about, for the player to do. That really speaks to the character of these guys and you never know when the game is going to come calling and it came calling for these guys and they were ready to go. That’s the sign of a good teammate.”
On how the eighth inning came together
“I think wild pitches more than anything. Preston Guillory didn’t have his stuff tonight, but one thing we talked about going into the tournament was that there’s really good arms in that bullpen [NC State], but there’s also a lot of walks. There’s a lot of pitches and hit batters. Low batting averages against them so you have to hang in there and fight and see if they maybe give you something. I know some things happen. We did have some good hits, but to come back from 8-1, most teams aren’t going to do it with hitting. It’s going to have to be about some of the things the other team does sandwiched around a couple big hits. And that’s what any big inning is made up of at any level of baseball.”
Infielder Elliot Barzilli
On hitting the walkoff
“Yea, you know. Coach Schlossnagle always tells me that I have a big role on this team and it’s hard to see when you’re not playing as often, but I know that the whole game I have to keep my mind right and cheer on my teammates. They’re doing their best and I have to do my best to help them out.”
On what his mindset was going into that final at-bat
“Just to see something up and try to hit it the other way. Their infield was in, you don’t really need to try to do too much. When the hit went through, it was awesome. It was awesome to see my teammates who battled it out the whole game, and I just tried to contribute what I could. It was just a great feeling and I was fired up. I was just thinking, it was a hard hit and it’s going through. I wasn’t thinking too much at the plate.”
On facing a seven-run deficit
“It was really tough but like we always say, there’s no end in sight and throughout the game we just wanted to have more energy and we had more energy than the whole game and I think that was the difference right there.
Pitcher Brian Trieglaff
On coming in relief to pitch the final two innings
“It was pretty crazy. That sort of a game where we’re down 8-1, we’re just trying to string stuff together. When he told me I was coming in, as a bullpen pitcher you just try to stop the bleeding and throw quality pitches and whatever happens, happens. I was fortunate enough that our hitters put together a great inning and put us back in the ballgame and I just tried to throw quality pitches over and over and we came out on top.”
On what Riley Ferrell means to them in the bullpen
“Riley is actually one of my roommates, so I know him pretty well. Having him back in the bullpen, whenever Riley comes in, we know he’s going to pound strikes. He’s done it for three years. Having a guy like Riley is a huge advantage, especially knowing that he’s going to come in and throw strikes and have a chance to put the game away.”
On if it was hard to see Riley performance tonight
“It is, because he’s always so dominating. Luckily, tonight we were able to pick him up and win the ballgame.”
First Baseman Jeremie Fagnan
On laying down the bunt
“Well, I knew the situation would call for it. I was actually kind of shocked that coach didn’t give me the hit sign after I swung and missed at the first pitch. I was trying to do too much there, but I knew I was going to have bunt it. If I had to bunt it with my face, I would have. I was just trying to get it down.”
NC State Head Coach Elliott Avent:
Opening Statement
“I have been a head coach 27 years and been in this game a long time as an assistant as well and this is probably the most proud I have ever been of any ball club I have ever been associated with. I love them all to death. They came into a stacked house tonight. It was a loud environment. TCU plays so well here. You never have the game in hand in this game, but we had a good check and things just kind unraveled a little bit. I am extremely of this ball club. To me, that’s what college athletics is all about — to see people grow up and get better and have pride in themselves and pride in the school. That’s what this bunch does. It was kind of neat to see what they did. It’s disappointing that it didn’t end the way we wanted to as well as we played, but that’s the game. This game will give you a lot of enjoyment, and this game will give you a lot of disappointment too.”
On the eighth inning
“The eighth inning unraveled for both sides. We were fortunate to get some of our stuff. And TCU put the ball in play and uncharacteristically we didn’t make a couple of plays.”
On taking out Gilbert
“He was tired. He pitched Friday. He gave us all he had. His velocity had gone down from 89 to 84-85. More than that he wasn’t locating his fastball. He could have of given us more. We had so much left (in the bullpen).”
Right Fielder Bubba Riley
On getting to Alex Young in the third inning
“I wouldn’t say we can figure out a guy that good. He has really good stuff. I think we made a conscious effort to put good at-bats together and swing at pitches we could hit.”
Shortstop Logan Ratledge
On the eighth inning
“In that situation we got as many runs as we could. We got a lot of runs, and we thought it probably would have been enough. Obviously, the tables turned.”
++++++++++
Game Notes:
• TCU improves to 34-28 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.
• TCU moves to 14-3 in NCAA Regional games at Lupton Stadium.
• TCU won a regional for the second time coming out of the loser's bracket (2012 at College Station).
• TCU improved to 3-2 in extra inning games this season.
• TCU recorded double-digit hits for the 31st time this season.
• TCU was outhit for the 14th time this season.
• TCU recorded its first win when trailing after eight this season.
• TCU improved to 10-5 in one-run games this season.
• TCU improved to 31-3 at home this season.
• Cody Jones has reached base safely in 31 straight games.
• Jeremie Fagnan has reached base safely in nine straight games.
• Jeremie Fagnan recorded his seventh multiple-RBI contest of the season and the 11th of his career.
• Evan Skoug notched his 16th multi-hit game of the season.
• Derek Odell picked up his 18th multi-hit game of the season and the 63rd of his career.
• Keaton Jones notched his 10th multi-hit game of the season and the 43rd of his career.
