ESPN
What a way to close out the Super Regionals.
The two in-state rivals played for six hours, four minutes and finally, in the bottom of the 16th inning, TCU walked off on a throwing error and won 5-4, becoming the 8th and final team to advance to the College World Series.
The Horned Frogs, who return to the World Series for the second consecutive season, had a number of chances to win, but left two runners on in the 10th, 12th, 13th and 14th. In the 14th, Ryan Hendrix, who didn't allow an earned run in 4 2/3 innings of relief for the Aggies, was hit in the forearm by a scorching line drive off the bat of Evan Skoug. The ball ricocheted right to first baseman G.R. Hinsley, who completed the 1-3-2 out at the plate.
It was that kind of night.
12th inning rally cap(s) in the TCU dugout
Hendrix and the visitors from College Station ran out of luck in the 16th. Garrett Crain and Connor Wanhanen drew walks and later, Skoug hit a ground ball to third base and Ronnie Gideon's throw home was in the dirt, scoring Crain with the winning run.
* There were plenty of outstanding pitching performances, though none stood out more than Mitchell Traver. The TCU right-hander came on in relief in the 13th and didn't allow a base-runner until issuing two walks (one intentional) in the top of the 16th. Traver struck out six in four hitless innings to pick up the win.
TCU starter Alex Young struck out a career-high 10 in 6 2/3 innings, helping the host Horned Frogs build a 4-1 lead going into the eighth, but A&M rallied. To open that eighth, Nick Banks ripped a solo home run to make it a two-run game, and down to their final three outs in the ninth the Aggies didn't hit a ball out of the infield, but still scored twice to pull even at 4-4.
Mark Ecker kept it a 4-4 game with four shut out innings out of the A&M bullpen. The Aggies best chance to score in extra innings came in the 11th when a Brian Howard wild pitch chased runners to second and third. Howard struck out Hunter Melton to end A&M's final threat of the season.
* TCU scored its first four runs on RBI hits by Derek Odell and Keaton Jones in the fifth and a two-run home run from Wanhanen in the sixth.
* A&M batters struck out 25 times, which is an unbelievable number even for a 16-inning game.
16 full innings of nonsense
Now that we have the actual details of this thriller out of the way, let's get to all the silliness from the broadcast booth.
* What Dave Neal and Kyle Peterson call fellow broadcaster Chris Burke: "Burkey" (said 14 times)
* What Neal and Burke call Peterson: "K-P" (15)
* Burke said "dude points" three times, which is 11 times too many.
* Peterson said this about TCU center fielder Cody Jones: "this kid's just a baseball player".
And here's the Baseball Phrase top 8:
8. "Wipe-out pitch" (KP)
7. "So often the bat will out-race the body" (CB)
6. "A thick lineup" (KP)
5. "He just rolls out of bed and hits" (KP)
4. "It's a bulldog on the mound" (KP)
3. "Put the program on the map" (DN)
2. "Aggieland" (DN)
1. "Good old country fast ball" (KP)
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