No. 6 TCU rallies late, pulls away for 12-4 win over McNeese in Fort Worth Regional

FORT WORTH, Texas – McNeese had Texas Christian against the ropes for the first six innings, leading 2-1 against the No. 6 national seeded Horned Frogs, but a 6-run seventh opened the doors for the host team en route to a 12-4 win over the Cowboys in the opening round of the NCAA Fort Worth Regional.

McNeese (32-29) will play Oregon State (34-23) at noon on Saturday in an elimination game with Will Dion expected on the mound.

The Cowboys came out swinging with its first three batters picking up singles and took a 1-0 lead on a Nate Fisbeck RBI single through the right side. A sacrifice fly by Jake Dickerson scored Clayton Rasbeary from third to put the Pokes up 2-0.

TCU (41-17) cut the McNeese lead in half in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run over the right center field wall by Brayden Taylor for his 11th of the season.

Cowboy starter Jonathan Ellison was effective on the mound, giving up only three hits, one earned run with three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Ellison got out of several jams during his time on the mound. Ellison struck out the side in the second inning to leave the tying and go ahead runners stranded. The Cowboys’ defense also helped Ellison out of a few jams including a double play in the third with the tying and go ahead runners on base again.

McNeese missed an opportunity to add to its lead in the sixth when the Cowboys had runners on first and third with one out but a double play ended the threat.

Neither team managed to push any runs across the plate until TCU scored six runs in the seventh. The Horned Frogs added five more runs in the eight and the Cowboys scored two more runs in the ninth off a two RBI pinch hit single by Cooper Hext.

McNeese used five pitcher in the game with Cameron Foster picking up the loss to fall to 1-4 on the year. Foster allowed five earned runs on three hits with two walks and one strike out in one inning.

TCU’s Austin Krob improved to 8-1 on the year with the win. Krob allowed all four Cowboy runs on seven hits in 8.0 inning. He ended the game with 13 strike outs.

Game Notes
(T1) McNeese began the game with three straight hits and took an early 2-0 lead
(B1) TCU cut the Cowboy lead in half with a two out solo homerun to right center in the
(B2) Ellison struck out the side that left the tying and go ahead runners stranded
(B3) After back-to-back walks, the Cowboys got out of the inning on a double play
(B5) Brad Kincaid replaced Ellison with runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs…Kincaid struck out Hunter Wolfe to leave the runners stranded
(T6) McNeese had a chance to add to its lead with runners on 1st and third with one out but the threat ended when TCU turned a double play
(B6) Cameron Foster came into the game to relieve Kincaid with runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs…got Tommy Sacco to pop out to catcher Kade Morris for third out
(B7) A bases loaded single through the left side by Hunter Wolfe scored two runs to give the Horned Frogs a 3-2 lead. Then a two out single to right center field by Gray Rodgers scores two more runs for a 5-2 lead.
A two-run home run to Luke Boyers extend the TCU lead to 7-2…TCU scored six runs on four hits
(B8) TCU Scored five runs in the inning to take a 12-2 lead
(T9) Cooper Hext hit a two RBI single