Houston: TCU holds on for 3-2 win
By Jonathan Yardley - June 01, 2007
Whew. TCU almost gave that one away, as closer Sam Demel lost his control in the ninth inning and loaded the bases before striking out leadoff hitter Ben Booker on a 3-2 pitch with the entire crowd of 3,386 (tickets sold) on its feet. Great ending to a solid game.
Beamer Weems led off the top of the ninth with a solo home run to right field to get Baylor back in the game. Matt Czimskey followed with a walk, part of a trend for Demel in the inning; he fell behind every batter and threw 29 pitches in the final frame.
Two flyouts sandwiched a Matt Sodolak single, and No. 9 hitter Paul Miles worked a two-out walk to get the Bears back to the top of their order. Booker fouled off several two-strike pitches before working the count full. He eventually swung over the top of a slider breaking inside for the final out. Baylor chased a lot of pitches out of the strike zone against Demel in the ninth.
Before I head to the postgame press conference, a few trends to watch - TCU catcher Andrew Walker did complete the game but was hobbling noticeably and could be a question mark for tomorrow night's game. Demel finished with 55 pitches in vulturing the victory over three innings - his availability for the remainder of the tournament could be in jeopardy.
Posted by Jonathan Yardley at 06:04 PM on June 01, 2007
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