TCU 9, FLORIDA 2
OMAHA, Neb. -- Evan Skoug hit a bases-clearing double, four TCU pitchers combined on a five-hitter, and the Horned Frogs beat Florida to force a second Bracket 2 final at the College World Series.
The teams will meet again tonight, with the winner advancing to the best-of-three finals starting Monday.
Skoug was 2 for 13 in the CWS when he came up in the sixth inning with two outs and the bases loaded. He lined reliever Frank Rubio's 2-2 pitch into the right-center gap for an 8-2 lead.
Charles King (1-3) pitched 3 1/3 innings of one-hit shutout relief after taking over for starter Mitchell Traver with two outs in the fourth. King, a freshman who was pitching for the first time since May 27, struck out Nick Horvath with the bases loaded to end the inning and retired nine of the next 11 batters.
Florida (49-19) got an 11-strikeout performance from ace Alex Faedo in a 3-0 victory over TCU in its CWS opener Sunday, and it looked as though Jackson Kowar (12-1) would show the same dominance against the Frogs. Kowar struck out 7 of the first 8 he faced on his way to a career-high 11 Ks, but the Frogs were able to get to him and he lost for the first time this season.
The Horned Frogs (50-17) led 2-0 in the third after Ryan Merrill's single and back-to-back doubles by Austen Wade and Zach Humphreys. The Gators tied it in the bottom half, but Josh Watson's two-run triple in the fourth gave TCU a 4-2 lead.
Garrett Milchin, who took over for Kowar starting the sixth, removed himself in the middle of facing his fourth batter because of right forearm tightness. Rubio came on and Wade made it 5-3 with an RBI grounder before Skoug broke open the game with his three-run double.
The Frogs scored seven runs with two outs.
TCU's Cam Warner didn't mean to, but he moved a couple runners up a base when he backed away from Kowar's inside fastball in the fifth inning. Warner's bat went parallel to the ground and the ball hit the bottom of the knob. Kowar threw him out at first.
Florida walked three batters in its first 21 innings at the CWS. The Gators walked five from the fourth through sixth innings against TCU.
Sports on 06/24/2017