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College  | Story  | 6/21/2016

CWS: Raiders, Frogs advance

Mike Rooney     
Photo: Texas Tech




CWS Day 1 Recap | CWS Day 2 Recap | CWS Day 3 Recap

Red Raiders, Gutierrez send Gators home

OMAHA, Neb. – Game seven featured two national seeds squaring off in an elimination game yet it was TD Ameritrade Park that made the biggest statement in this contest. Ultimately, Florida’s stellar defense lost its footing for one inning and that was the difference in Texas Tech’s 3-2 victory.

This beautiful ballpark altered game seven in the bottom of the first when J.J. Schwarz hit a moon shot to left-center field.  This was a ball that would have left any of the parks that hosted a Regional or Super Regional this year. The result at TDAP was Red Raider center fielder Tanner Gardner making a spectacular catch while crashing into the wall. Florida never seemed to recover from the loss of what would have been a two-run home run.

The Red Raiders took the lead in the fourth inning and it started with Cory Raley’s drag bunt single. Two batters later, senior Eric Gutierrez hit a two-run home run to left field to take a 2-0 lead, proving that it’s not impossible to leave this yard on the fly.

Starters Davis Martin and Alex Faedo were outstanding and that has been the case in virtually every game in this year’s College World Series. Martin is an outstanding fielding pitcher and he used three double plays to keep the Gators at bay. Faedo flashed his high-upside arsenal and used a mid-80s slider to strike out nine Texas Tech hitters (and he didn’t walk anyone) in 7 2/3 innings.

The final damage was done in the top of the eighth when Raley led off with a swinging bunt single and Tyler Neslony reached on a fielder’s choice. With one out, Gators freshman third baseman Jonathan India threw a ball in the dirt on a routine ground ball off the bat of Gutierrez and first baseman Peter Alonso couldn’t make the pick. Alonso then compounded the problem by retrieving the baseball and made an errant throw while falling to the ground to try and prevent Neslony from taking third base. Alonso’s throw went under India’s glove, which allowed Neslony to score what proved to be the winning run.

Texas Tech had scored this run without the benefit of single or even a ball leaving the infield.

The Gators made it a 3-2 game in the bottom of the ninth when Peter Alonso hit a massive two-run home run that was clearly the furthest hit baseball of this year’s CWS. Alonso’s ball landed on the concourse behind the left field bleachers.

Moving forward, Texas Tech is a hard-nosed veteran team that has sneaky pitching depth while lacking elite shutdown arms. They look like a legitimate factor in this year’s losers’ bracket.

Tim Tadlock summed up his team, and their effort, rather simply after the game.

“That’s kind of what we have,” Tadlock said. “We’ve got a bunch of guys that like to play and like to show up and (we’re) looking forward to Thursday.”

Florida will once again end an outstanding season in Omaha without a national title. Kevin O’Sullivan has taken the Gators to Omaha in five of the last seven years and that is something that no other program has accomplished in that same time frame. One gets the feeling that the Gators’ plan is to keep returning to Omaha until they capture that coveted national championship.

Florida is also the second team to be eliminated, following Miami, two of the three teams in this year’s CWS that hosted a Super Regional (Texas Tech is the third).


Frogs take fortuitous winners’ bracket path

TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle has turned the Horned Frogs offense over to associate head coach Bill Mosiello and this unit has been the class of the field this year in Omaha. TCU’s 11 runs to this point lead the CWS by a wide margin and the quality of the at-bats have been even more eye-popping.

Luken Baker continues to be the only hitter in the field consistently slaying TD Ameritrade Park and he added to his legend in the first inning with an unbelievable opposite field home run. Baker added two more hits and a walk to his perfect 3-for-3 night.

The diversity of the TCU offense also stands out and Tuesday night's effort included six singles, four walks and a hit-and-run that turned into an RBI triple. The Horned Frogs are a unique mix of swinging for big impact coupled with a disciplined strike zone management approach.

Brian Howard did a nice job neutralizing Coastal Carolina’s powerful lineup, scattering six hits and three walks, which led to only one run, over 5 2/3 innings while picking up his third win of the postseason in as many starts.

For as effective as Howard was lefthander Ryan Burnett stole the show with 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. In fact, Burnett retired all 10 of the hitters he faced. After the game Schlossnagle spoke about the considerable adversity Burnett had faced during his first two years in Fort Worth.

“Can I say something to that. (I’m) just so proud of Ryan,” Schlossnagle said after the game. “The guy's been through two surgeries. He's pitching with a torn ACL. That will more than likely get fixed after the season. For him to hang around and gut it out, it's just an awesome testament to his character and strength. And just couldn’t be more proud of him.”

In four postseason appearances Burnett has picked up a pair of wins and a save, allowing just one base hit (and no walks) over six innings.

Coastal Carolina played with their signature energy in this game but two errors from team leader Zach Remillard at the hot corner led to two unearned runs. TCU catcher Evan Skoug threw out two Chanticleers on stolen base attempts as Coastal’s explosive offense wasn’t quite able to find their momentum in this game. 

The Big 12 now claims both of the 2-0 teams in the College World Series. This has been an outstanding NCAA Tournament for this league as all three of the Big 12 teams that qualified for Regionals are among the last six teams standing.

Coastal lacks pitching depth so the losers’ bracket is not ideal. Having said that, this team continues to play with a flair that the fans of Omaha have enjoyed. Ironically, TCU and Coastal seem to be the two offenses least affected by the run suppression of TD Ameritrade Park.

Coastal Carolina will play Texas Tech in an elimination game on Thursday as a result, with the winner set to take on the Horned Frogs on Friday.
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