Click Here For Boxscore
Fort Worth, TX -- The Sacred Heart baseball team opened play in the 2015 NCAA Tournament with a 10-0 loss to national seventh seeded Texas Christina on Friday night at Lupton Stadium. The Pioneers, now 23-31-1, will look for their first ever Tournament win tomorrow in the loser's bracket game against Stony Brook, who lost 3-0 to North Carolina State earlier in the afternoon, at 3:30 pm ET. The two teams met earlier in the season on March 25 with the Seawolves winning 8-4 in a rain shortened seven-inning game.
Zack Short and
Victor Sorrento both went 1-3 with a walk, while
Jesus Medina,
Cody Doyle, and
Kenny Byram each had a hit. Aside from the leadoff home run and three run third,
James Cooksey did well to keep the Horned Frog lineup at bay. Giving way to
Dan Wertz in the fifth, Cooksey ended with a final line of four innings pitched, allowing four earned on five walks and four hits. Wertz gave up two earned on three in his one inning of work, while
Matt Cooney allowed just one hit and one earned in the sixth and seventh.
Alex Perry then pitched the eighth with out giving up an earned run.
TCU (44-11) starter Mitchell Traver pitched the first seven innings of the shutout, allowing just four hits and striking out seven against three walks. Brian Trieglaff finished the game with five strikeouts in two innings while giving up just one hit and walking one. Offensively, the Horned Frogs were let by Big 12 Player of the Year Cody Jones, who led off the bottom of the first with a homer and finished 2-3 with two runs, two walks and a stolen base. Nolan Brown was the only player with two hits, going 2-3 with a run, RBI and walk. Jermie Fagnan scored three runs, walking three times, stealing two bases and going 1-2, while Derek Odell drove in a game-high three runs.
Control issues led to the three run third for the Horned Frogs, who were already leading 1-0 thanks to a leadoff home run, as three straight walks followed an inning opening ground out. Evan Skoug made the Pioneers pay with a single to center to double the lead before a sacrifice fly by Odell extended it to 3-0. Brown capped the scoring with a first pitch single through the right side, putting TCU ahead 4-0 through the first three.
The Pioneers looked to answer the three runs in the next at bat, their first of three straight innings advancing a runner into scoring position. Short walked with one out before reaching second on a fielder's choice. Traver used a strikeout to work around any potential damage. Shaw then drew a full count base on balls and would reach second on a wild pitch with two outs in the fifth. This set up a RBI opportunity for Byram, who roped a 1-0 pitch to the right side right at the second basemen. In the sixth, Medina singled with one away and after moving up to second on a wild pitch, Sorrento walked with two outs. With the count worked full, Traver ended yet another threat with a punch out.
Two singles with a 0-2 count by Jones and Garrett Crain stretched the TCU advantage to 6-0 in the fifth before Fanan manufactured a run himself in the sixth. He singled with one out before stealing both second and third on two straight pitches. This allowed Connor Wanhanen's grounder to second to bring him in for a 7-0 score. Those three unearned runs in the eighth capped the scoring.