The Sooners beat the Horned Frogs in Norman today with a walk-off three-run homer in the ninth inning to earn a 9-8 victory. A win today would have clinched the Big 12 championship for TCU, so it was a tough loss for the purple and white.
The Frogs jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on the strength of a solo home from Skoug; his 13th of the season. Landestoy started at first for the injured Luken Baker and showed how effective his glove can be. There is no official news on Baker’s injury, but all indications are that it is bad, and possibly season ending. That’s a huge gut punch to TCU fans, but this team is still one of the best in the country even without their big slugger.
A single by Skoug, a double by Brown and an error by OU in the third gave the Frogs a 4-0 lead, and Brian Howard delivered a solid start to put TCU in a great position to take the series. He threw 6 1⁄3 innings allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Through five innings he had thrown just 58 pitches and allowed only two hits.
Howard gave up two one-out walks in the sixth and allowed a double and a single to OU to make it 4-3 before getting a strikeout and a fielder’s choice to end the inning. The Frogs answered to put three more on the board in the seventh as the Frogs put two on with one out on a one out single by Skoug and a double by Warner. Brown reached on a fielder’s choice which scored one run and stole second. A double by Merril made it 7-3 TCU.
The Sooners, as they did last night, would not go away without a fight. The plated two of their own in the bottom of the seventh and one in the eighth to make it 7-6 TCU. A one-out double by Brown and a single by Barzilli put two on for the Frogs in the ninth before Watson hit a ground rule double to center to give the Frogs an extra insurance run at 8-6.
Cal Coughlin, fresh off an inning of work last night, came on to relieve Howard in the seventh and pitched 1 2⁄3 innings allowing just one run on one hit. The one run was a solo homer to left. Feltman came on in the ninth and got two quick outs before allowing two Sooners on base and giving up the walk-off home run.
The Frogs will have another chance to clinch the outright Big 12 title tomorrow at 1:00pm CT.