by FORT WORTH — TCU got a clutch, go-ahead base hit from Elliott Barzilli (Nooksack Tribal Member) in the eighth inning and beat Gonzaga, 4-3, taking control of the NCAA Fort Worth Regional at Lupton Stadium on Saturday night.
Jeffrey Bohling’s three-run home run in the sixth inning gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead, but Barzilli delivered a two-out, two-RBI single with the bases loaded in the eighth inning to give the Horned Frogs the lead.
The Rundown
Barzilli’s heroics were set up by one-out singles from Austen Wade and Cam Warnerand a two-out, infield single from Luken Baker that loaded the bases. Barzilli then laced an 0-1 pitch into right field to give the Frogs a 4-3 lead.
TCU (44-15) starter Jared Janczak cruised through the first five innings, allowing just one hit, but in the sixth Gonzaga (36-20) got two solid singles from Nick Brooks and Sam Brown, putting two runners on base for Bohling, the WCC Player of the Year. The junior then sent his eighth home run of the year onto the right field terrace, giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.
The Frogs pulled Janczak two batters later, ending his night after 5.2 innings in which he allowed three runs on five hits and struck out seven.
Ryan Burnett (2-1) pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball in relief of Janczak and was the beneficiary of Barzilli’s go-ahead base hit as he grabbed his second win of the season.
Durbin Feltman came out of the TCU bullpen and grabbed a two-inning save as he induced a game-ending double play groundball to erase the only base runner he allowed. The save was the seventh of the season for Feltman.
Gonzaga starter Eli Morgan (10-3) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on nine hits in 7.2 innings pitched in which he struck out eight Frogs. Wyatt Mills threw 1.1 innings in relief without allowing a run on two hits.
Barzilli also played a big part in TCU’s first run as he doubled off the top of the left center wall with one out in the second inning. He then advanced to third on a Josh Watson single and scored when Dane Steinhagen beat out a high throw on the back end of a potential double play ball.
Wade’s triple off the right field wall set up TCU’s second run as Warner followed with a single through the left side of a drawn in Gonzaga infield, doubling the Frogs’ lead at 2-0 in the third inning.
Stats of the Game
5 — TCU won for the fifth time this season when trailing after seven innings.
20 — TCU is now 20-5 at Lupton Stadium in NCAA postseason play, including 16-3 in NCAA Regional play.
Next Up
Gonzaga will take on Arizona State in Sunday’s 2 p.m. elimination game. The Bulldogs defeated the Sun Devils, 5-1, in the first game of the regional back on Friday.
TCU will take on the winner of that game in Sunday’s NCAA Fort Worth Regional championship at 6:30 p.m. If TCU losses the game, Monday’s “if necessary” game would be played at 3 p.m.
