Baseball: TCU loses late lead in Big 12 Championship against Arizona

The Horned Frogs fall 2-1 in extra innings and will await their postseason destination.

TCU struck first during the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday evening, but the Horned Frogs were unable to close out the Arizona Wildcats, who rallied for two runs over the final two innings to hand TCU a 2-1 loss and win the Big 12 tournament. The Horned Frogs (39-18, 19-11 Big 12), who are currently on the bubble of hosting an NCAA Regional, will now await their postseason fate. The NCAA Baseball Selection Show will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday.

Entering with a 1-2 record against Arizona this season, TCU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, where Cole Cramer doubled down the left-field line and Noah Franco drove home Sawyer Strosnider with an RBI groundout to second base. The Wildcats threatened in multiple innings, but the Horned Frogs managed to escape several jams to preserve their one-run lead. Freshman Nate Stern earned the start for TCU, throwing two and one-third innings with one strikeout. Left-hander Gianluca Shinn entered with the bases loaded in the top of the third inning and wiggled out of the frame with a popout and a strikeout.

Shinn shined in relief for the Horned Frogs, striking out seven batters (including six in a row) over two and two-thirds innings to help TCU maintain its 1-0 advantage. Braeden Sloan took the ball in the sixth inning, working around a pair of jams in the sixth and eighth frames. Arizona finally broke through in the top of the ninth inning, where Andrew Cain belted a solo home run over the right-center field wall to even the score and send the game into extra innings. Sloan remained on the mound in the top of the 10th inning, hitting a batter before giving up back-to-back singles as the Wildcats rallied to take a 2-1 lead.

Despite scoring 18 runs and posting 26 hits over their first two tournament games, the Horned Frogs went quiet on the offensive end, finishing with six hits while striking out nine times and leaving five runners on base. Arizona struggled with runners on as well, leaving 11 on base as TCU pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts. The Horned Frogs committed two errors and ran into one out on the basepaths. With the regular season and conference tournament now over, TCU will find out whether or not it will host a regional on Sunday evening, when the NCAA will reveal its 16 regional host sites.