Late rally edges Frogs past Oklahoma State 7-5

TCU 360
Print ArticleA four run eighth inning, consisting of two solo home runs and a two-run double, rallied TCU (15-5, 3-1) from behind to steal game one from the Oklahoma State Cowboys (15-7, 0-1) on Friday night at Lupton Stadium.
Down 5-3 headed to the bottom of the eighth, the Frogs were in familiar territory. Coming into Friday’s game, the Frogs had trailed in 14 of 19 outings, compiling a 9-5 record in those games.
Luken Baker led off the Frogs’ half of the eighth with his team-leading fifth homerun, pulling the Frogs within one. The homer was his first since March 3 against LSU in Houston, and it erased a 0-14 slump at the plate. Baker did not have a hit since game three against UC-Irivine, 12 days ago.
Josh Watson followed Baker and was retired for the first out on one pitch. Nolan Brown stepped in the box next and hit a no-doubt line drive well over the right field fence, tying the game at five. Brown’s round-tripper was his second of the year and the team’s third of the night, marking the fifth multi-homer game this season for the Frogs.
“[The homerun] helped a lot. It helped the team and it helped my confidence a lot,” Brown said. “Early on in the game I was missing fastballs a lot, so it helped a lot for my confidence of getting that off my chest.”
Elliott Barzilli came up with the game knotted at five and grounded out for the second out of the eighth. Ryan Merrill followed Barzilli with a strikeout, but reached on a costly third-strike passed ball.
With new life in the inning and a runner on first with two outs, Michael Landestoy pinch-hit for Connor Wanhanen and drew a walk. Austen Wade then batted with two runners on and smashed the first pitch to the left field ...


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