TCU vs Arizona - NCAA Regional Baseball Recap

In the high-pressure world of round-robin tournament baseball, there’s no place for weakness. How fitting it was, then, that the TCU Horned Frogs had a “Weik” man show supreme strength at the plate.

Joe Weik belted two home runs and freshman pitcher Matt Purke remained unbeaten in 2010, as the homestanding Horned Frogs posted an 11-5 victory over the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday evening at Lupton Stadium.

Weik simply carried the load for a TCU team that has gone wild at the dish in the first two games of the NCAA baseball tournament. After rolling up 16 runs on Friday against Lamar, the Frogs once gain dished out double digits against Arizona and moved into the championship stage of this regional event. Weik finished the evening with four hits, which translated into six RBIs and a whole lot of smiles in the TCU dugout.

Weik's first home run, a two-run job in the top of the fourth inning, gave TCU a 6-1 lead. The designated hitter – who certainly lived up to his position on Saturday – then cranked a three-run blast in the top of the ninth to give TCU an 11-5 lead and remove all drama from the night’s proceedings.

As prolific as Weik proved to be, he needed and gained help from his teammates. TCU shortstop Taylor Featherston got the party started for the Purple People; his three-run shot gave TCU an early 4-1 lead and enabled the Frog folks to relax a little bit. Arizona scratched out a few runs here and there, but because Featherston and Weik spurred TCU to that early 6-1 advantage, Purke – an elite college pitcher but still just a freshman – gained the cushion he needed.

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The TCU twirler improved to 13-0 on the season. Purke got the win by allowing a modest total of four runs - three earned - on six hits while striking out nine hitters in 6 1/3 innings on the bump. He wasn’t as overpowering as at other times this season, but he was certainly effective in preserving the sizable lead entrusted to him by his batting order.

In the final three innings, TCU made sure it wouldn’t have to sweat bullets near the finish line. Just when Arizona pulled within three, the Frogs immediately stretched their lead to a more comfortable margin. After the Wildcats shaved a 6-1 deficit to 6-3, TCU scored twice in the seventh. A wild pitch by UA hurler Nick Cunningham handed the Frogs an 8-3 advantage. Then, after the visitors from the Pac-10 – playing on TCU’s home field – reduced that 8-3 deficit to 8-5, Weik unloaded his three-run bomb in the ninth. The Frogs simply outpaced Arizona at every point in this contest.

Arizona starter Kyle Simon suffered the setback after allowing six runs - all earned - on six hits in 3 2/3 innings of action. The Arizona hurler fell to 8-6 on the season.

Arizona will return to the field on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Eastern time in an elimination game against Baylor.

With the victory, TCU assured itself of a place in the championship round of the weekend’s proceedings. The Frogs will have two chances to defeat the Arizona-Baylor winner for a spot in the super regionals.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer