Aztecs Gone, UNLV Pitching Prevails, & TCU K's The Lights Out

Day 2 of the Mountain West Conference Championships featured the first triple header of the tournament and the first elimination game. The hard work of each student baseball player comes to its climax in the final tournament of the year, and so far, the sad end was spelled out in digital text for the San Diego State Aztecs. The BYU Cougars, after having lost their first game against UNLV were coupled with the Aztecs in the loser bracket. The Cougars jumped out in front early by scoring 6 runs in the first 3 innings. From that point they never looked back. They scored 4 more runs in the 7th and 6 more burying runs in the 9th. The Aztecs looked overpowered all the way through the 5th inning. In the 6th San Diego mounted a weak attack that featured a walk, a single, a couple of wild pitches, and a fielding error that turned over a run. In the 7th inning the Aztecs scored 5 runs after Josh Chasse hit a solo shot and Mitch Blackburn hit a 3 run homerun. Everyone on the Cougar lineup drove in at least 1 run while Alex Wolfe, Austin Hall, and Chase Frampton all drove in 2 runs. The Cougars eliminated the Aztecs by the score of 16 to 8.

The second game of Day 2 was played between the UNLV who was 1 up in the tournament, and the New Mexico Lobos who are the number 2 seed in the conference. Lobo’s pitcher Willy Kesler held down the Rebels in the first inning despite right fielder Chris Juarez dropping a routine fly ball. No harm was done, and when it was time for the Lobos to hit in the 1st inning, they got a double into the left center gap from Justin Howard and then Rafael Neda drove him in on a swift single to left. UNLV’s starting pitcher Matt Hutchison came up with a big performance for the Rebels. In the 2nd inning he gave up an RBI double to the Lobos’s Daniel Gonzalez, and then he gave up a first pitch solo homerun to Ryan Honeycutt in the 3rd inning. Then Hutchison settled into a special pattern of 5 simple innings, allowing two more base hits and a walk until he was pulled in the 8th inning. The Rebels also showcased a fundamentally sound middle infield and an amazing diving catch by right fielder Cash Thomas.

The relief came in the name of Glen DeWeese. He retired the final two batters of the game and preserved Hutchison’s efforts of the day. Offensively, the Rebels had their biggest inning in 3rd. It started with Richie Jimenez singling to center field. Hunter Beaty was hit by a pitch, and with 2 runners on, Jarred Frierson once again propelled a proper single into left field and drove in a run. The Rebels seemed well tuned to the fundamentals of bunting as well. Drew Beurelein laid a beautiful sacrifice bunt to the third base side and moved the runner over. Brandon Bayardi was walked, and when freshman R.J Arnold marched to the plate, it was with the sole purpose of driving in two runs on a base hit. The Rebels beat the 2nd seed New Mexico Lobos by the score of 6 to 3.

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The third and final game of the day was between a scrappy and determined Utah club and the highly touted 6th ranked baseball school in the nation the TCU Horned Frogs. The Horned Frogs took their positions and looked almost like a professional team. The Utah Utes had absolutely no answers for TCU’s freshman pitcher Matt Purke. The only time that Utah mounts any kind of significant attack was in the 6th inning. Purke started the inning by walking Nick Kuroczko. Kuroczko moved over to second on a passed ball and C.J Cron followed up with an RBI base hit. There was another walk, an infield single, and a throwing error that scored the only other run that Utah was able to push through against an obviously overwhelming Matt Purke. Purke pitched 7 full innings by scattering 4 hits, 2 runs, even though only 1 was earned, and striking out 14 batters, the most by any freshman pitcher in the history of conference tournaments. It was fun to watch the battery of Purke and Bryan Holaday. The senior catcher Holaday for TCU was quick on his feet, blocking throws from the outfield with his chest, and controlling the game with an experienced authority. Holaday was like a throwback using an old school two piece helmet and mask. Not as old school as a baseball cap and a mask, but old enough to remind us of the Johnny Bench era.

Then, Matt Purke came out with his hat pushed to the right and bringing us a familiar modern touch to his appearance. The combination not only looked charismatic, historic, and down with the times, they also performed like a tough old Chevy truck with a brand new 12 cylinder engine, a Low-rider paint job with black on black Mickey Thompson’s. On the offensive side, TCU showcased a freshman by the name of Jantzen Witte. He went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI’s. Sophomore Aaron Schultz hit a 2 run homerun in the 3rd inning and finished the day with 3 RBI’s. And yet another sophomore Taylor Featherston went 4 for 5 with an RBI. The TCU infield looked disciplined and steady as each grounder was gobbled up with ease. TCU beat the Utah Utes 13 to 2 and move on to face the unbeaten UNLV Rebels for the 3 rd Day of Mountain West Conference battles.

By: Adrian Nevarez
DFN Sports Staff Writer