By Phil Stanton
CBI Co-Founder/Editor
OMAHA, Neb. – In a game that had some bizarre plays, it was the TCU pitching staff that made the difference.
Cam Brown and three relievers combined to allow one run as the Horned Frogs eliminated Oral Roberts in the 2023 College World Series.
TCU (44-23) advances to face Florida in the bracket finals on Wednesday, June 21 at 1 p.m. CT. The Frogs must beat the Gators twice to advance to the championship series.
The Golden Eagles ended their season at 52-14.
Brown tossed three scoreless innings with one hit, three walks and three strikeouts.
I thought Cam, out of the gate, gave us nine good outs and got out of a key situation in the second inning,” TCU head coach Kirk Saarloos said. “And I thought he threw the ball well.”
Luke Savage (6-4) went 1.2 innings with three hits, one run, two walks and two punchouts to record the victory. Hunter Hodges (2.1 IP, H, BB, 2 K) and Cohen Feser (2.0 IP, 2 BB, 2 K) pitched scoreless baseball to secure the win.
TCU started the scoring in the top of the second. Cole Fontenelle (2 for 3) drew a leadoff walk and went to third on a one-out double by Kurtis Byrne (2 for 4). With two away, Logan Maxwell walked to load the bases and Austin Davis also walked to force in a run as the Frogs took a 1-0 edge.
The Frogs added a run in the fourth as Byrne had a one-out single, went to third on a double by Maxwell and scored on a balk to make it 2-0.
TCU got some breathing room in the fifth. Elijah Nunez (2 for 5) had a leadoff single. went to second on a groundout and stole third. On a 3-1 pitch to Brayden Taylor, pitcher Joshua Caravalho stepped off the rubber and threw to third baseman Holden Breeze, who was several feet away from the bag. The home plate umpire called a balk. The umpires huddled and reviewed the play. They ruled there was no balk but called a pitch clock violation for ball four that put Taylor on first.
Fontenelle had a base hit up the middle to allow Nunez to finally touch home to make it 3-0. A single by Tre Richardson loaded the bases before a sacrifice fly by Byrne knocked in Taylor to raise the advantage to 4-0. Fontenelle tagged on the sac fly and moved to third. Richardson stole second and both runners scored on a single by Anthony Silva to extend the lead to 6-0.
“I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Silva said. “And he did make a good pitch low and away. I stuck my bat out there and found some grass.”
ORU scratched for a run in the bottom of the fifth. Jacob Godman had a leadoff single and went to second on a one-out walk to Jake McMurray. A two-out single by Jonah Cox (3 for 5) plated Godman to make it 6-1. The Eagles stranded two in the inning and left 12 on base in the contest.
The Frogs had five base runners in the sixth but did not score. Davis had a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a base hit by Nunez. Cade Denton took over on the mound and threw a wild pitch to allow both runners to move up a base. Karson Bowen hit a grounder to short. Mac McCroskey looked Davis back at third and realized Nunez was well off second base. He threw to second baseman Blaze Brothers, who ran Nunez toward third. Brothers made a diving tag on Nunez and bumped Davis off the bag while still holding the ball in his glove. Third baseman Holden Breeze immediately started calling for Davis to be called out. Another review ensued. The review confirmed that Brothers did tag Nunez. Davis was also called out for being off the base.
“The umpire told me that the call on the field was they got Elijah out and he called Austin safe,” Saarloos said. “When they went back and reviewed the play, they saw that Austin was off the back. And it didn’t really matter that he was forced off the bag because the umpire on the field did not say there was obstruction.”
Bowen reached second on the fielder’s choice and went to third on a base hit by Taylor. Fontenelle walked to load the bases before a strikeout ended the inning.
“Not the way we want it to end,” ORU head coach Ryan Folmar said. “But a little bittersweet in the fact that it does end in Omaha. I think if it’s ever going to end, this is where you want it to end.
“It was a weird game. You look throughout the game, and it was just an awkward game. There was no rhythm. There was no flow. There were long breaks, on and on and on. There was just nothing to the game, couldn’t get going, couldn’t get any rhythm. You couldn’t establish anything. So it was a strange game.”