If pitching wins ballgames, then the TCU Horned Frogs are quickly paving the way to Omaha. After taking two out of three games from the Brigham Young University Cougars, where Horned Frog starting pitchers allowed just one run, TCU is now 12-2 in the Mountain West Conference.Saturday night was a solid outing for starting pitcher Chance Corgan (5-1) who went seven innings and allowed three hits while striking out six as the Horned Frogs pulled out a 7-0 shutout victory.
“It was the best start he had against a good offensive team,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
Corgan said his strategy was to keep pitches inside on the left handed batters. BYU’s biggest powerthreat, Apana Nakayama was the first lefty to see Corgan’s work. He was hit by a pitch in the knee, but did not reach base the rest of the night.
The three-run homer by Austin Adams in the first inning proved to be all the offense Corgan would need the entire night. Adams had been struggling against the Cougars pitching all weekend, and was 0 for 5 going into the at-bat. A 1-2 pitch at the knees ended up being lined out of Lupton Stadium and put the Horned Frogs on top for good.
During the second inning the TCU defense managed to keep the shutout in tact on a difficult double play turned by Ben Carruthers and Bryan Kervin. A groundball in the hole toward the right side of the infield was picked up by Carruthers, then an off-balance pivot to second base managed to get the lead runner and Kervin’s turn was in time for the second out.
“Ben Carruthers is the best secondbaseman I have had behind me,” Corgan said, “He can hit and he makes plays in the field I sometimes can’t imagine.”
Carruthers is now errorless in 24 consecutive games and has been flawless on more than 130 chances.
Corgan began to make quick work of the BYU lineup when he retired 11 straight batters from the top of the third inning until a leadoff double in the seventh inning broke the streak.
The bottom of the seventh gave the Horned Frogs a little more insurance when Matt Vern drove in two runs with his team leading fourth triple of the season.
Closer Sam Demel worked a scoreless ninth inning and clocked 96 mph on the radar gun.
The next game will be against Big 12 opponent, Texas Tech at Lupton Stadium on Tuesday night.
