2016 CWS: Roommates Pitch TCU To 2-0
OMAHA—Texas Christian’s offensive approach stands out, even in a park like TD Ameritrade.
The Horned Frogs have hit three home runs in two games so far, including two by freshman DH Luken Baker. The 6-foot-4, 265-pound behemoth hit his first opposite-field shot Tuesday night to give TCU a lead it wouldn’t relinquish in an eventual 6-1 victory against Coastal Carolina.
His teammates took advantage of walks and errors by Coastal Carolina, slashed line drives and continued to show that runs can be scored, even in a ballpark where all factors—from the bats to the wind to the field dimensions—conspire to suck offense out of the game.
Even though TCU has scored 11 runs here to lead the Series and move to 2-0, its offense wasn’t the only story. Instead, it was a pair of odd-couple roommates, 6-foot-9 righthander Brian Howard and 6-foot-2 lefty Ryan Burnett, who stole the spotlight, particularly Burnett, who earned his first save with 3 1/3 scoreless innings.
“In all reality, that’s just incredible what he did tonight,” said Howard, who was moved by his roommate’s performance. “To be able to see him come out there and do what he did, it was almost surreal.”
| GAME AT A GLANCE |
| Turning Point: After a leadoff single by TCU’s Josh Watson, Dane Steinhagen hit a grounder to third base. Coastal third baseman Zach Remillard fielded and threw to second, but second baseman Tyler Chadwick—making his second start at the position all year—missed the throw. Instead of two outs and none on, TCU had runners at the corners with none out and wound up putting two runs on the board to extend its lead to 3-0.
The Hero: Redshirt sophomore lefty Ryan Burnett inherited a three-run lead and faced the tying run at the plate in Chadwick when he entered the game in the bottom of the sixth. He retired all 10 batters he faced to earn his first save and to preserve TCU’s bullpen. You Might Have Missed: Coastal Carolina ran itself into several outs on the bases, including two caught stealings. But the biggest mishap was when Kevin Woodall Jr., running at second base with one out, tried to get to third base on a grounder to short by Anthony Marks. TCU’s Ryan Merrill threw him out and the Chanticleers remained down 1-0. “You replay that game, maybe we still lose,” Coastal coach Gary Gilmore said. “But if we don’t make the mistake at second base, (and) we dump a ball into right, it’s a 1-1 game.” |
Howard got the victory with 5 2/3 fairly gritty innings as he relied heavily on his curveball and upper-80s fastball. The rangy righty struck out seven and kept Coastal Carolina off-balance enough to stall the powerful Chanticleer lineup. He gave up a run in the sixth inning, though, with two outs and issued his third walk to bring the tying run to the plate.
That’s when TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle summoned Burnett, who got to Omaha with 27 innings pitched on the season. Coastal’s Tyler Chadwick greeted Burnett with a line drive to left field, but it was right to Josh Watson, who squeezed it for the final out.
And then the Burnett show began. The redshirt sophomore, who missed most of the last two seasons with a torn triceps muscle and a partially torn UCL, went to the mound with his left knee heavily taped and wearing a brace due to a knee injury suffered in December. He also went with command of his fastball in the upper 80s and an effective split-changeup, carving up Coastal Carolina’s hitters as he retired all 10 batters he faced.
“The guy’s been through two surgeries. He’s pitching with a torn ACL, that will more than likely get fixed after the season,” Schlossnagle said. “For him to hang around and gut it out, it’s just an awesome testament to his character and strength.”
Howard, taking advantage of the situation, then testified that Burnett still is a lefthander, with the requisite flakiness that comes with being a lefty.
“He’s the weirded roommate I’ve had in my life,” Howard said with a smile. “He does laundry seven days a week. If it touches his body, he has to wash it.
“This is good,” Howard continued. “I get to get some of this out. He microwaves all of his food. He’ll come through the drive-through, come straight to home and he’ll go and microwave. He’s one of my closest friends on the team, one of my best friends at TCU. He’s got quirks. He’s great about them. He knows when you see him doing it, he’ll put his head down and smile.”
Burnett is more than quirks, of course; he has pedigree. He beat Oklahoma State’s Thomas Hatch head-to-head in a 2013 National High School Invitational showdown while at The Woodlands (Texas) High and was the state pitcher of the year, leading The Woodlands to a state championship. Injuries, however, have short-circuited his career; he’d pitched in just 14 games his first two seasons and couldn’t travel with the Horned Frogs to Omaha either year.
Howard recalled having to temper his celebration his freshman year when TCU started this current stretch of three straight Omaha trips, not wanting to make it too hard on Burnett to watch him celebrate, knowing he wouldn’t be going along. Burnett said while the Frogs were in the CWS, he took summer classes, rehabbed and worked out while watching the games back in Fort Worth, either with friends or with his parents.
Now he’s part of it, taking a starring role in a crucial win.
“It feels awesome,” he said. “I’ve been waiting two years on this. It’s definitely a blessing. I’m honored. I worked my butt off this fall, this spring, just to get here once again, because I haven’t been able to travel the last two. It’s a blessing. I love it right now. It’s a great time. It’s awesome.”
Burnett’s success, overcoming injuries, clearly serves as inspiration for a team that is making its third straight trip to the Series but has done it with a fairly remade roster. Burnett’s quirks also serve as inspiration for a slew of nicknames, which he and Howard rattled off with ease.
“I’ve got at least 30 nicknames,” Burnett said. “I’ve got Bur-cookie, because I love cookies—pretty much all of them. There’s Bur-tergent because I’m very OCD about doing laundry, Bur-microwave . . . Having a roommate like him, he can be a little messy, that’s like my thing. I have to clean up after him.”
Like Burnett did on the mound Tuesday, picking up the save after his roommate. And so far, with a relentless offense and impressive pitching staff, TCU has cleaned up in its bracket, moving to 2-0 for the first time in its CWS history. The Horned Frogs play Friday against the winner of Thursday’s elimination game between Coastal Carolina and Texas Tech.
Schlossnagle announced redshirt junior righthander Mitchell Traver will start for TCU. If he needs help, Burnett will be ready to clean up again.
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