FORT WORTH, Texas – It took 22 innings before an outcome could be reached in the second-longest game in NCAA postseason history.
TCU scored a run in the top of the 22nd inning and held the Bearkats off the board in the bottom half to hold on for a 3-2 win in a game that took 6 hours and 54 minutes to complete.
After the Bearkats scored a tying run in the bottom of the eighth inning to knot the game at 2, Sam Houston and the Horned Frogs followed with 12 scoreless frames.
In the bottom of the 21st, the game looked to be over. With the bases loaded and just one out, Travis Lee hit a chopper to short scoring Carter Burgess for the win. Keaton Jones, the TCU shortstop, flipped the ball to second to force out Luke Plucheck. The relay throw never made it to first and the Bearkats stormed out of the dugout in apparent celebration. However, the second-base umpire called interference on Plucheck, ruling Lee out on the play, thus ending the inning.
In the chaos that ensued, Plucheck was ejected, meaning the senior will miss Sunday’s elimination game against Siena at 2:30 p.m., CT, on ESPN3. Sam Houston coach David Pierce also was thrown out.
Freshman pitcher Dylan Ebbs, who was the hard-luck losing pitcher, nearly worked out of a jam in the top of the 22nd, but Boomer White delivered a two-out single, bringing home the winning run for the Horned Frogs.
TCU got on the board first after center fielder Cody Jones led off the game with a double and scored on an RBI-groundout by left fielder Boomer White. Jason Simms struck out first baseman Kevin Cron to end the first.
Sam Houston tied it right back up and had the opportunity for a few more in the bottom of the first. Designated hitter Hayden Simerly singled with one out and catcher Anthony Azar walked. First baseman Ryan O’Hearn popped up the first pitch he saw to centerfield, but Cody Jones slipped and the ball dropped for a base hit.
Burgess also popped one up and Jones dropped the ball when White crashed into him, allowing Simerly to score from third.
Two more runs would have come across to score on a groundball hit by shortstop Corey Toups, but Burgess was called out on runner’s interference to end the inning.
Jason Simms had retired 10 straight batters before outfielder Dylan Fitzgerald singled up the middle with one out in the fifth. Fitzgerald was then thrown out trying to steal second. He was Azar’s 21st runner thrown out this season.
TCU catcher Kyle Bacak walked to lead off the sixth inning and was sacrificed to second base. After a fly out to left field the Horned Frogs took a 2-1 lead. White hit a tough groundball to shortstop that Toups sailed into the TCU dugout, allowing Bacak to score from third.
Simms worked seven innings as the starter for the Kats, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits while recording seven strikeouts. Andrew Godail worked an inning of relief, recording a strikeout. Nolan Riggs came on for two innings of work, fanning four TCU hitters.
Ryan Brinley, the Sam Houston State closer, turned in 6.1 of brilliant work, striking out six, allowing four hits. Logan Boyd gave up just a single hit in his three innings of work. Ebbs, who took the loss, went 2.2, allowing one run on one hit, striking out one. The Bearkats as a staff, fanned 19 TCU hitters.