2016 CWS: Baker Blasts Frogs Past Red Raiders

OMAHA—As the colossal 6-foot-4, 265-pound Texas Christian freshman Luken Baker thundered around first base, he whipped his right arm forward, thumb up, index finger pointed to the man 90 feet in front of him—his catcher, his roadtrip roommate and, in some ways, his mentor.

That man, Evan Skoug, had told Baker after a seventh-inning ground out Sunday, “You have a big one coming.”

Skoug was right. This, right here, was the big one.

With his team down by one run to Big 12 rival Texas Tech in the ninth inning, Baker turned violently on a 1-0 fastball by Red Raiders righthander Robert Dugger that ran inside, off the plate. Sitting on an inside pitch, Baker barreled the ball and aimed it perfectly, powering it around the left-field foul pole at T.D. Ameritrade Park Omaha.

GAME AT A GLANCE

Turning Point: After Texas Tech edged ahead of TCU with a run in the eighth inning, the Horned Frogs opened the top of the ninth with a hit and a walk to bring slugger Luken Baker to the plate with one out in the inning. The freshman turned on an inside fastball from Red Raiders closer Robert Dugger, sending a rocket out to left field for what proved to be a game-winning three-run home run. The Hero: Baker is TCU’s most dangerous hitter and he showed why again Sunday. He finished his first CWS game 2-for-5 and added another highlight to his already growing legend. He is now hitting .380/.486/.570 with 10 home runs. You Might Have Missed: TCU second baseman Cam Warner launched a home run to left in the fifth inning, briefly giving the Horned Frogs the lead. It was the first home run of this year’s CWS and his sixth of the season. Box Score

It was a three-run, go-ahead home run, and it brought the Frogs spilling exultantly out of their dugout to greet their freshman phenom at the plate. An inning later, after a clean frame by closer Durbin Feltman, TCU sealed a 5-3 College World Series victory over Texas Tech, stunning the Red Raiders.

That Baker provided the go-ahead home run came as little surprise. Skoug had foretold it three innings earlier. Everyone in the dugout was aware of the big hits the repeat hero has struck in recent weeks—the four home runs he hit in the Big 12 tournament, the three-run shot he hit in the first game of the College Station Super Regional a week ago.

“We know it’s not going to be a giveaway at-bat,” said TCU righthander Brian Trieglaff, who threw three crucial innings in relief Sunday. “Look at the size of him. Whenever (Baker) steps up there, in the fall or spring, when I would face him, he has that presence. You know whenever you’re on his side, he’s not going to give up pitches. He’s going to fight like crazy to get the next guy up.”

But that trait isn’t limited to Baker. To even get the DH to the plate in that situation Sunday, the Horned Frogs needed to dig deep and find a way to rally. Leadoff man Austen Wade worked the count full and drew a walk against Dugger to begin the ninth, firing up the TCU dugout. A batter later, panic set in as Texas Tech center fielder Zach Davis—brought in as a defensive replacement—made a diving catch in shallow center to rob TCU’s Cam Warner of a hit.

Enter Skoug. The sophomore catcher, one of TCU’s most fervent leaders, worked a 2-2 count and lined an opposite-field single down the third-base line to extend the inning and bring Baker to the plate.

Baker credited Wade’s and Skoug’s at-bats as much as his own for keying the Horned Frogs’ comeback.

“We always try to get the tying run to the plate regardless of whether we’re down by eight or down by one,” Baker said. “. . . Austen Wade getting on that last inning was huge. It just fired us up.

“And Evan Skoug putting together that at-bat, especially right after Cam got robbed, that sort of took the wind out of our dugout, but then Evan brought it back.”

Skoug has been a significant influence for Baker in his freshman season. Though a muscle strain in his arm will keep Baker off the mound the rest of the season, Skoug was Baker’s batterymate for 10 starts earlier this year, guiding him to a 3-1, 1.70 record. The two also bat back-to-back in TCU’s lineup, with Baker occupying the cleanup spot Skoug filled as a freshman last season.

Baker said he’s gotten to know Skoug well; he’s learned by observing his even-keeled countenance and the way he prepares for games.

“They’re roommates on the road—and that was by design,” TCU head Jim Schlossnagle said. “We talk about that a lot as a coaching staff before the regular season begins, and I wanted those two guys to be around so Evan could walk him through what it’s going to be like.

“Evan hit in the cleanup spot for us every single game last year, and Baker’s hitting in the cleanup spot every single game for us this year, and those guys I know they talk baseball a lot, and so Evan’s to be credited for a lot of Luken’s maturation process.”

Baker, of course, came to TCU already fairly mature physically and mentally, having passed on the draft to develop both sides of his game in college. Schlossnagle said Baker has the rare combination of work ethic, confidence and humility that he’s maybe seen in five or six freshmen in his 26 years of coaching.

“And those guys are all playing in the big leagues,” the coach said.

Baker’s home run Sunday was his 10th of the season. He’s batting .380/.486/.570 in 237 at-bats overall. Schlossnagle said Sunday he thinks Baker is more than just a power hitter—he uses the whole field, he takes his walks. Observers are running out of superlatives to describe him.

“I was talking to (broadcaster Alex) Cora about it in the ESPN meeting today,” Schlossnagle said. “(Cora) said, ‘Man, you sound like you’re describing Miguel Cabrera.’

“But he’s not there yet. At our level, it’s very similar.”

What’s clear is Baker isn’t intimidated by a big moment, by a big stage. Even though the Horned Frogs have been to three straight College World Series, this was Baker’s first. It didn’t seem like it.

“I don’t think I felt nervous at all this game,” Baker said. “I was really excited. After the first couple of at-bats and first few innings I was able to come down off of, ‘We’re in Omaha. This is the College World Series.’ But I enjoy those situations, and if I’m in them, I do my best to produce.

“I expect a lot out of myself, as most people do, but whenever stuff like that happens, it’s awesome, but it happened, and we have another game in two days against whoever wins tonight.”

Another big game, another big stage and, for Luken Baker, another “big one” waiting to happen.