As the sun sets on an incredible day in sports, all we can do is enjoy the moment and say we were lucky enough to witness it. Starting with the unbelievable goal by the USA to advance in the World Cup, to a 10 hour match at Wimbledon with the 5th set tied at 59-59, and finishing with an 8-run 8th inning that saw the Frogs erase a 7-2 deficit to stay alive in the College World Series, it was a day that will be hard to forget.

The Frogs have come back from deficits this season, but the one that stands out was a game against UNLV on April 24th. On a day where the wind was blowing out at Lupton Stadium, the Frogs found themselves trailing the Rebels 8-5 heading to the bottom of the 8th. UNLV was cruising as Rebel reliever Brian Gilbertson had held the Frogs in check for nearly 4 straight innings. After the Frogs scratched out 2 runs in the 8th to make it a 1 run game, the Frogs still found themselves down with Bryan Holaday on base. After Jason Coats drove a ball that was caught at the wall, Matt Curry stepped to the plate and ended the game with a walk-off to straight away centerfield.

There were a few small comebacks throughout the season, but none like tonight, in large part because the Frogs did not find themselves down much this season. And when all is said and done, all people will remember is the grand slam homerun by Matt Curry. But it would be a mistake to forget the drama that led up to it.

Will you remember Brance Rivera hustling out a ball that could have been an inning ending double play?

Will you remember Bryan Holaday nearly hitting a homerun himself, but avoiding a tag at 2nd base with a nifty slide?

Will you remember Jason Coats laying off a full count curveball, which is atypical for the free swinger?

Any of those 3 plays go the wrong way and Curry never steps to the plate. Regardless, he did come to the plate and he hit a homerun that may have a great argument against the homerun Aaron Schultz hit down in Austin, for the biggest homerun in TCU Baseball history. Both were no doubters although the Florida State centerfielder did his best to make you think it was just a hard hit out (truth is he never saw the ball).

I could try to put into words what I felt at that moment, but I will not. It is one of those homers that everyone will remember years from now and it should remain your moment.

What I can say about the at bat was that it was clear neither team wanted to give any lefthanded batter a pitch to hit. The wind was clearly a factor and any ball that got up in the air was going to go a long way. But Florida State had nowhere to put Curry and they had to deal with the situation. With the bases loaded and the tying run out on 2nd base, Curry knew he was going to get a pitch to hit, and as Curry stated in the press conference, he was not going to strike out on what could have been his last ever at bat as a TCU Horned Frog. Something had to give and it went a long way.

What makes it even more impressive was it came against one of the best relievers in the country in Mike McGee. The Frogs had beaten dominant closers before such as Brooks Pinckard of Baylor and Chance Ruffin of Texas, so it should not come as a shock. In fact, I have said a lot that TCU seems to gear up against hard throwing, Major League-type talent more than they do against junk ball pitchers. I have to wonder if McGee ever felt settled as he came in on a 2-2 count against Brance Rivera. After Geoff Parker left with supposed arm stiffness, even though he was perfectly capable of giving high fives in the dugout, McGee came straight from the outfield without a chance to warm up in the bullpen. And while they gave McGee as many pitches as he wanted because he entered due to an injury, it had to be an unsettling way to come in.

If you want a statistic that will have Florida State kicking themselves, of the 11 runs that TCU scored tonight, only 1 was considered an earned run. I should add to the will you remember department that Jantzen Witte started the inning by reaching base on a fielding error. But the error, which contributed to the 5 team errors the Seminoles made, allowed Witte to finish the scoring barrage with a 2-run homerun of his own. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good, but the Frogs did a very good job of putting themselves in the right place to get lucky.

I am just glad we won because I did not want this space to be full of me questioning the move to pinch hit Kyle VonTungeln for Joe Weik. While I can justify putting the lefty in today forcing the Seminoles to throw to him, I still do not like putting VonTungeln into this situation for the second straight game, but tonight was not as odious as the move against UCLA.

What the win does mean is the Frogs will be one of only 4 teams still playing when they take the field on Friday. And when they take the field on Friday, it will likely be with Matt Purke on the mound. The Frogs had to find a way tonight to win because we all feel very good about our chances with him on the mound. And if Purke does what Purke does, it sets up a game for all the marbles for a chance to play in the championship series of the College World Series.

As for UCLA, the Bruins will play after 4 days off, but I would argue that the Frogs have the momentum heading into Friday. Adding this huge comeback win, knowing Purke will be on the mound and knowing Gerrit Cole will not be, I think TCU has to feel good about Friday having revenge on their mind. But UCLA is still a very good team with a deep pitching staff. I expect Rob Rasmussen to start, who is a lefty who has the best ERA of their 3 starters at 2.73. I would think Trevor Bauer, who was outstanding against Florida and may be just as good as Cole, likely would get the start on Saturday and Bauer could be used out of the bullpen to close out either game. That is purely speculation, but after throwing 122 pitches on Monday, I cannot see Cole bouncing back for a full start this quickly.

Most of the TCU fans I talked to on Monday said they had to go home, but that they would come back on Friday if the Frogs were still alive. Even if a lot of Frogs fans do not make the trip back, tonight cemented Rosenblatt as the home away from home for TCU. I said it before, TCU has travelled better than all the other teams this tournament, TCU is the only new team to Omaha so the locals have adopted us as theirs, they also love us because we beat Texas and Nebraska fans are not exactly exchanging Christmas cards with UT, and tonight cemented TCU as the most exciting team to watch in the tournament. So the Frogs will be playing in a cozy atmosphere when they play on Friday.

So pack your purple beach balls and get ready for a fun weekend. I really do like the Frogs chances.

Wow!!!


(PS – Just saw a highlight of Sam Demel striking out Alex Rodriguez tonight and could not help but notice how much Demel looks like Winkler.)