NCAA Baseball Super Regionals: TCU Wins Game One
It was a hot day in Fort Worth for Game One of the Fort Worth Super Regional. The TCU Horned Frogs (41-22) weren't as hot at the plate as they have been this postseason, but hot enough to win their 10th straight.
TCU defeated No. 14 Indiana State (45-16) 4-1 on Friday evening in the first game of best of three Super Regional.
The Horned Frogs got the win in front of a record 8,812 fans. The previous record was 7,383, set on June 7, 2015, in Game Two of the Fort Worth Super Regional against Texas A&M.
Offensively, both teams had two hits and no runs going into the third inning. While playing as the visiting team, TCU sent Austin Davis to the plate to begin the third inning. He bolted one over the left field wall to give the Frogs a 1-0 lead. Four batters later, Cole Fontenelle came to the plate with two outs and a runner on first. He hit it over the center field fence on his first pitch to put the Frogs up 3-0.
The score would stay that way until the ninth inning. The Frogs weren't getting the plethora of hits they had been accustomed to getting. "It was fun to win a new way," said TCU head coach Kirk Saarloos postgame. "We had to manufacture a run in the 9th inning."
In that ninth, Fontenelle doubled with a hit into the right-field corner. Tre Richardson would use the sac bunt to advance Fontenelle to third base. Kurtis Byrne would then fly out to center field, scoring Fontenelle.
The Sycamores would avoid the shutout with a bottom-of-the-ninth solo home run by Keegan Watson, making the final score 4-1.
Defensively, TCU started ace pitcher Kole Klecker. He pitched 7.0 innings, throwing 101 pitches. He only allowed three hits, no runs, and only walked one batter. He threw a career-high nine strikeouts to secure his 10th win of the season. Luke Savage came in to pitch the last two innings, throwing 27 pitches. He only gave up that one home run while adding two strikeouts to the total on the day.
TCU RHP Kole Klecker got his 10th win of the season in Game One of the Fort Worth Super Regional.
Next up: TCU will face No. 14 Indiana State in Game Two of the Fort Worth Super Regional on Saturday, June 10. The first pitch is at 5 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on ESPNU. The Sycamores have announced ace Connor Fenlong will get the start. TCU has yet to announce a starting pitcher for Game Two.
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