Stormin in Norman
Fansided

TCU sends Sooners packing in Big 12 Baseball Championship

By Chip Rouse

Nov 28, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; An Oklahoma Sooners fan in the crowd against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium. The Sooners defeated the Cowboys 58-23. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; An Oklahoma Sooners fan in the crowd against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium. The Sooners defeated the Cowboys 58-23. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Big 12 co-champion TCU made fairly short work of Oklahoma in the Big 12 Baseball Championship on Thursday, defeating the Sooners 9-4 and ending OU’s tournament run after just two games.

The No. 2-seeded Horned Frogs scored three times in the bottom of the second, piecing together two singles, a double and three walks to go up 3-0 early in the second of two elimination games in the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City on Thursday.

The Sooners, the No. 3 seed in the conference postseason tournament, managed just three hits, all singles, off of Texas starter Jared Janczak and Charles King through the first seven innings and ended the game with a total of seven, only one of which was for extra bases. Blake Brewster pinch hit for Steele Walker in the ninth and doubled to right field for OU’s only extra base hit.

TCU added a run in the sixth, three in the seventh and two more in the eighth to go up 9-0 at the end of eight innings.

Oklahoma scored four meaningless runs in the ninth, but by that time the damage was long done.

Sophomore right-hander Jake Irvin started the game for the Sooners. He went 5 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on six hits. He struck out three, but yielded four free passes. Connor Berry and JB Olson gave up three more runs on three hits in an inning and a third in relief of the starter Irvin. Dylan Grove pitched the eight for OU, but fared no better, allowing two more runs on two hits and three bases on balls.

Oklahoma’s middle infielders, shortstop Brandon Zaragoza and second baseman Kyle Mendenhall, and left fielder Cade Harris, each had two hits apiece for the Sooners. All were singles. The only other hit by an OU player belonged to Brewster.

Playing at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in nearby Oklahoma City, just a 20-to 30-minute drive from the Norman campus, has not been kind to the Sooners over the last five days. They were swept by Oklahoma State in a doubleheader last Saturday, and dropped both of their games in the Big 12 Championship the last two days on the same field.

The Sooners are 36-35 all-time in the Big 12 Baseball Championship. They are 9-6 over the past five seasons, dating back to 2013, when they won their second postseason conference championship.

At 34-24 for the season and ranked in the top 25 in RPI (ratings percentage index), OU is a virtual lock to make the NCAA Tournament, but the Sooners will now have to sit by and wait until Monday, when the 64-team field for the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship will be announced.

The Sooners have made 36 postseason appearances in the NCAA Baseball Championship, but have been absent from the postseason the past three years.

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