Texas A&M
TCU
Texas A&M Baseball
Texas A&M drops super regional opener to Horned Frogs, 8-2
Super Regional Game #1: TCU 8, Texas A&M 2
RECORDS: TCU 46-15; Texas A&M 48-15
WP: Jared Janczak (7-3)
LP: Brigham Hill (9-2)
BOX SCORE
Everyone has seen the cartoons. A comical character begins rolling down a mountain and winds up in a giant white snowball before crashing into a wall and getting hurt. It's a classic.
TCU was the wall on Friday night. The Aggies were in the snowball.
Texas A&M struggled in every phase of the game on Friday night, letting mishaps snowball for nine innings on the way to a super regional-opening loss to TCU, 8-2.
Usually steady pitcher Brigham Hill got the start for the Aggies and struggled throughout his 4.2 inning outing, giving up a total of seven earned runs to the potent Horned Frog offense.The sophomore stumbled from the outset and didn't receive much help from his defense.
Kirby Clarke, TexAgs
Texas A&M ace Brigham Hill had one of his worst outings of the season against TCU.
Hill gave up two singles and walked a man to load the bases with one out in the first inning and induced what looked like a double-play ball to first baseman Hunter Melton from the next hitter.
It wasn't that kind of night for the Aggies, however.
Melton threw to second for the force-out, but the throw back to first base from shortstop Austin Homan skipped past Hill who was covering the bag. Two runs scored, and the play seemed to set a dismal tone for the evening.
Texas A&M plated two runs to tie the game on adouble by catcher Michael Barash in the bottom half of the frame, but TCU wasn't finished.
The Horned Frogs got to Hill again in the fourth inning, putting two runners on with no outs for standout freshman Luken Baker. The 6-4, 265-pounder made the Aggies pay in a big way with a three-run home run off the scoreboard in left field. TCU took a 5-2 lead into the bottom half of the inning.
"As a freshman, he's got a very advanced approach," A&M head coach Rob Childress said of the phenom. "He's very tough to pitch to and doesn't chase pitches out of the zone. His approach is very much that of a junior or senior in college, and I think that's what sets him apart."
Hill and the Aggies ran into even more trouble in the fifth. The sophomore gave up a single, hit a man, threw a wild pitch, allowed a run and issued a walk with two outs before Childress pulled him in favor of Corbin Martin.
Martin gave up a walk to the only batter he saw, which loaded the bases once again for the Frogs. Mitchell Kilkenny entered the game and managed to stop the bleeding, but not before allowing a two-run double that pushed the score to 8-2.
Kilkenny and resurgent closer Ryan Hendrix were able to hold the Frogs scoreless the rest of the way, but they didn't look back after going up by six in the fifth.
They didn't need to with freshman Jared Janczak on the mound.
Kirby Clarke, TexAgs
TCU freshman Jared Janczak silenced the Aggies' high-powered offense, allowing just six hits.
Though he was making just his fifth career start, Janczak was magnificent. He threw a total of 119 pitches in 7.2 innings and was absolutely dominant after giving up the two first-inning runs.
On the flip-side, the nationally respected Texas A&M offense looked lost at the plate. Generating just four hits after the first frame, Aggie hitters struck out five times, often hitting the ball right at TCU defenders.
"Through the middle innings," said Barash, "we got away from our approach and what we do as a team as a whole. When we do that, we're very average, as you can see by tonight."
Janczak carried the Horned Frogs deep into the seventh before giving the ball to Brian Trieglaff, but the pitching change didn't trip up the team from Fort Worth. Nor did the second one. Ryan Burnett took over for Trieglaff and shut Texas A&M's bats down to finish the game in the ninth, helping TCU take the first game of the weekend, 8-2.
One loss from elimination, the Aggies aren't going to lie down and let the Horned Frogs have the series, though they'll have to play much better tomorrow. Barash, at least, is ready for tomorrow's challenge.
"I'm not ready to be done," he said. "This is my last go-round as a senior here at Texas A&M. We're not done yet. I'm not ready to be done playing with these guys. These are my brothers (and) best friends. I'm not ready to take this uniform off."
RECORDS: TCU 46-15; Texas A&M 48-15
WP: Jared Janczak (7-3)
LP: Brigham Hill (9-2)
BOX SCORE
Everyone has seen the cartoons. A comical character begins rolling down a mountain and winds up in a giant white snowball before crashing into a wall and getting hurt. It's a classic.
TCU was the wall on Friday night. The Aggies were in the snowball.
Texas A&M struggled in every phase of the game on Friday night, letting mishaps snowball for nine innings on the way to a super regional-opening loss to TCU, 8-2.
Usually steady pitcher Brigham Hill got the start for the Aggies and struggled throughout his 4.2 inning outing, giving up a total of seven earned runs to the potent Horned Frog offense.The sophomore stumbled from the outset and didn't receive much help from his defense.
Kirby Clarke, TexAgs
Texas A&M ace Brigham Hill had one of his worst outings of the season against TCU.
It wasn't that kind of night for the Aggies, however.
Melton threw to second for the force-out, but the throw back to first base from shortstop Austin Homan skipped past Hill who was covering the bag. Two runs scored, and the play seemed to set a dismal tone for the evening.
Texas A&M plated two runs to tie the game on adouble by catcher Michael Barash in the bottom half of the frame, but TCU wasn't finished.
The Horned Frogs got to Hill again in the fourth inning, putting two runners on with no outs for standout freshman Luken Baker. The 6-4, 265-pounder made the Aggies pay in a big way with a three-run home run off the scoreboard in left field. TCU took a 5-2 lead into the bottom half of the inning.
"As a freshman, he's got a very advanced approach," A&M head coach Rob Childress said of the phenom. "He's very tough to pitch to and doesn't chase pitches out of the zone. His approach is very much that of a junior or senior in college, and I think that's what sets him apart."
Hill and the Aggies ran into even more trouble in the fifth. The sophomore gave up a single, hit a man, threw a wild pitch, allowed a run and issued a walk with two outs before Childress pulled him in favor of Corbin Martin.
Martin gave up a walk to the only batter he saw, which loaded the bases once again for the Frogs. Mitchell Kilkenny entered the game and managed to stop the bleeding, but not before allowing a two-run double that pushed the score to 8-2.
Kilkenny and resurgent closer Ryan Hendrix were able to hold the Frogs scoreless the rest of the way, but they didn't look back after going up by six in the fifth.
They didn't need to with freshman Jared Janczak on the mound.
Kirby Clarke, TexAgs
TCU freshman Jared Janczak silenced the Aggies' high-powered offense, allowing just six hits.
On the flip-side, the nationally respected Texas A&M offense looked lost at the plate. Generating just four hits after the first frame, Aggie hitters struck out five times, often hitting the ball right at TCU defenders.
"Through the middle innings," said Barash, "we got away from our approach and what we do as a team as a whole. When we do that, we're very average, as you can see by tonight."
Janczak carried the Horned Frogs deep into the seventh before giving the ball to Brian Trieglaff, but the pitching change didn't trip up the team from Fort Worth. Nor did the second one. Ryan Burnett took over for Trieglaff and shut Texas A&M's bats down to finish the game in the ninth, helping TCU take the first game of the weekend, 8-2.
One loss from elimination, the Aggies aren't going to lie down and let the Horned Frogs have the series, though they'll have to play much better tomorrow. Barash, at least, is ready for tomorrow's challenge.
"I'm not ready to be done," he said. "This is my last go-round as a senior here at Texas A&M. We're not done yet. I'm not ready to be done playing with these guys. These are my brothers (and) best friends. I'm not ready to take this uniform off."
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