Corvallis Regional: TCU's Season Comes to a Close in Corvallis

The Horned Frogs left a regional winless for only the 2nd time in program history.

May 31, 2025; Corvallis, OR, USA; TCU pitcher Braeden Sloan (32) throws the ball during the third inning against Oregon St. at the NCAA Corvallis Regional at Goss Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

466. 5/31 BB ORST. 7. 516. Final. 2

On Saturday, the TCU Horned Frogs played their final game of the 2025 season, as they fell to the Oregon State Beavers by a score of 7-2. The Frogs exited the tournament early despite being in serious conversations to be one of the nation's top 16 seeds. Instead, Kirk Saarloos and his squad would see an unfortunate end to a season on the road in Corvallis.

The Recap

For the 2nd day in a row, the Frogs weren't the ones setting the tone from the very first pitch. In the TCU's first at-bat in the top of the 1st, all three Frog hitters went down via the strikeout. Mason Brassfield, who had become a reliable arm for the TCU pitching staff, ran into trouble early with a 1-out double and a walk.

When runners get on with less than two outs, especially in the postseason, baseballs just seem to find their way out of the ballpark more often than not. That's exactly what happened as Beaver's catcher, Wilson Weber, smashed a home run over the center-field fence to put up a crooked number on the scoreboard.

Dax Whitney, the Oregon State starting pitcher, settled in on the mound from the very beginning as he made the first six outs himself via the punchout. Whitney would eventually accumulate a career-high number of strikeouts (12) against the Frogs.

In the 2nd, the Beavers extended their lead with a solo-homerun by Trent Caraway. Once again, Whitney struck out the side despite a Chase Brunson double and a Nolan Traeger walk.

Midway through the 2nd inning, Brassfield left the game with Braeden Sloan taking over on the mound. Despite Sloan limiting the Beavers to one run, things would only get worse in the 3rd as the Beavers nearly doubled their lead with another 3-run inning that included homers by AJ Singer and Tyce Peterson.

It wasn't until the 5th inning that the Frogs found the scoreboard as Isaac Cadena launched a ball over the scoreboard to cut the deficit to 5.

No. 8 on the year for @isaaccadena05 pic.twitter.com/OGwpaTBZjC

— TCU Baseball (@TCU_Baseball) May 31, 2025

Unfortunately, that's all the scoring either team would see in the elimination game. Despite struggling in the 3rd, Sloan was otherwise phenomenal out of the bullpen as he ended his day with 5.0 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, and 9 Ks. The lefty worked out of multiple jams and seemed to get better as the game continued.

After his five innings of relief work, Sloan handed the ball off to Caedmon Parker, who continued the trend of quality pitching with two scoreless innings against the Beavers.

Offensively, it was Cadena and Anthony Silva who led the way for the Frogs. Cadena had the 2-run homerun, while Silva provided good at-bats all day with three singles. Sawyer Strosnider and Brunson doubled, but when the Frogs had runners in scoring position, they couldn't find the big hit they needed.

For only the second time in program history, TCU Baseball left a regional without a win. While this does speak to how good the program has been in the school's history, it is unfortunate that the final two games of the season were some of the 2025 squad's worst of the season. Like Coach Saarloos and many in a position similar to his have said, "Sometimes, that's just baseball."

With the two losses, the Horned Frogs moved to a 65-46 record in NCAA Tournament play, and also moved to 39-26 in NCAA regional rounds.

TCU On SI will write another article later this week. It’ll talk about what fans can look forward to, like young players to watch, who might be coming back, and what to keep an eye on during the offseason. There’s still a lot to be excited about despite the bitter end to the 2025 season.

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