The season for the No. 8 Texas A&M baseball team came to an unexpected end Sunday afternoon with a 10-2 loss at the hands of the TCU Horned Frogs.
We didn’t play good enough to win today, A&M head coach Rob Childress said after the defeat. [Starting pitcher Stefan] Crichton and TCU’s hitters didn’t allow us to do that. You have to have a great performance on the mound if you are going to try to come through the loser’s bracket and TCU did.
From the start, TCU pitcher Stefan Crichton was sharp and the TCU offense kept rolling after putting up 28 runs on the board against the Dayton Flyers in Saturdays elimination game.
A&M starting pitcher Rafael Pineda was able to get the first batters out but then TCU first baseman Kevin Cron singled to center field and then advanced to second when Aggie center fielder Jace Statum. That error was costly as Cron would score on an RBI single by TCU third baseman Jantzen Witte.
The Horned Frogs would add a second run in the bottom of the second on a single to center field to put TCU ahead of A&M 2-0.
Statum got things going for the Aggie offense when he got an infield hit. Shortstop Scott Arthur would double to center field to put runners on third and second with A&Ms hottest hitter coming up to bat. Junior All-American Tyler Naquin would bring both runners home with a double to right center field tying the game 2-2.
That would be all the offense could muster as Crichton continued to go through the Aggie lineup with ease as he was keeping the Aggie hitters off-balanced.
Meanwhile, Cron continued to show his strength as he powered the TCU offense with a two-run home run to put the game away as the Horned Frogs plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings.
The Horned Frogs would add their 10th and final run in the seventh inning off of A&M reliever Jason Freeman.
By then however, the game had been well out of reach as the Aggies committed four errors and allowed seven stolen bases while the Aggie offense was shut out for the final six innings.
Crichton pitched all nine innings allowing six hits, two runs, striking out four while only issuing one walk.
No one expected the Aggies to be eliminated this early in the tournament.
Not at home.
Not in front of the Aggie faithful who had come out for three days expecting the eighth ranked team in the nation to move through.
Such is the game of baseball and in a hot and muggy afternoon in Aggieland, the Aggie baseball team not only exited the NCAA baseball playoffs earlier than expected, but is also bidding farewell to five seniors who have helped maintain the Aggie baseball program as an elite one.
First baseman Jacob House, starting pitcher Ross Stripling, third baseman Matt Juengel, second baseman Scott Arthur and reliever Estevan Uriegas all will hang up their Aggie uniform for the last time after the defeat.
“It will be real tough,” Arthur said. “When you wait this long to get the opportunity to play every day and then just like that it’s gone. It goes by quick and it’s going to be tough, but tomorrow is a new day.”
The Aggies finished the season with a 43-18 record, making their 20th trip to the post season and the fifth time in seven years under the direction of Coach Childress.
“First and foremost nobody’s expectations are higher than the coaches and the players,” Childress added. “There is no one more disappointed than the 27 players, the coaching staff and the support staff. This isn’t where our road was supposed to end, but it was a good journey.