TCU fell 9-4 to Kansas State in the Big 12 Tournament, leaving the Horned Frogs waiting nervously for NCAA Selection Monday.
FORT WORTH - TCU baseball needed a statement in Surprise. Instead, the Horned Frogs got punched early and never fully recovered.
Kansas State eliminated TCU from the Big 12 Tournament with a 9-4 win on Wednesday night at Surprise Stadium, putting the Frogs’ NCAA Tournament hopes in the hands of the selection committee.
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TCU dropped to 33-21 and now has to wait until Monday’s NCAA Selection Show to learn whether its season continues.
The damage came fast. Kansas State scored two runs in the first inning, added three more in the third and stretched the lead to 7-0 by the fourth.
That kind of hole is brutal in tournament baseball, and TCU didn’t have enough offense to climb out.
The Frogs finally showed life in the fifth. Preston Gamster opened the inning with a double, and Noah Franco brought him home with a double of his own.
After Franco moved to third on an outfield error, Rob Liddington punched a single up the middle to make it 7-2.
But every time TCU threatened, Kansas State answered.
The Wildcats pushed the lead back to 9-2 in the sixth, and the Frogs wasted their best chance in the seventh.
TCU loaded the bases with nobody out, then scored on a Cole Cramer grounder that forced an error and a Lucas Franco bases-loaded walk. That cut it to 9-4, but the inning died with three runners stranded.
That was the night in one ugly number: 10 runners left on base.
Jack Bell had two of TCU’s five hits, marking his 11th multi-hit game of the season. Bell has reached safely in seven straight games, while Nolan Traeger extended his on-base streak to 10. Noah Franco has now driven in a run in three consecutive games.
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Tommy LaPour took the loss after allowing three runs in two innings. Mason Brassfield struck out four but gave up four runs.
TCU didn’t just lose a game. It lost control of its postseason story.
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