April 21, 2011
Final Stats
FORT WORTH, Texas - For the second time this season,
Kyle Winkler tossed a complete game against UNLV, but this time Winkler was on the winning end of a 4-1 contest. TCU broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the eighth to push its winning streak to five games.
Winkler (7-1) allowed just one run on six hits. He walked one and struck out five. Following a one-out single in the sixth inning, he faced the minimum number of batters the rest of the way. A one-out single in the eighth was erased on a double play. In all 10 of his starts this season, Winkler has tossed at least six innings.
An offensive outburst in the eighth inning saw the Horned Frogs push across three runs on four hits to break a 1-1 tie. Brance Rivera led off the frame with a single up the middle. Jantzen Witte sacrificed him to second and Featherston delivered with a double off the left field wall to give the Frogs a 2-1 lead.
The Rebels went to the bullpen and called on closer Zach Hartman. Jason Coats greeted the new pitcher with a bouncer up the middle that plated Featherston for a 3-1 lead. A stolen base and a balk had Coats standing on third with two outs. Kyle Von Tungeln doubled him home to give the Frogs a three-run cushion.
Winkler took the mound in the top of the ninth and promptly set the side down in order to lock up the victory for the Frogs.
UNLV had taken an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, but a good job by Winkler minimized the damage. The Rebels loaded the bases with nobody out on a hit batter, a walk and a single. With one out, Ryan Scott hit a sacrifice fly to give the Rebels a 1-0 lead. The inning came to a close as Winkler got Rance Roundy to ground out to end the inning.
A two-out rally in the third by the Frogs got the game tied at one. Rivera smoked a two-out double for the Frogs first hit of the game. Witte hit a single up the middle to drive in the tying run.
The Rebels had chances to regain their lead in the middle innings, but each time Winkler got the out he needed. The junior pitched around a pair of errors in the third and two hits in the fifth to keep it a 1-1 game.
TCU improves to 27-11 on the season and 11-2 in league play. Game two of the series is set for Friday night at Lupton Stadium. Erik Miller will get the start for the Frogs and face UNLV's Joe Robinson. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.
Postgame Quotes:
TCU Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
On the Winkler's performance:
"I thought Kyle had his best stuff the last four or five innings, he was a lot better from the middle of the game on."
"I felt he was well rested and had his legs up under him in the eighth and I did not have a problem sending him back out there in the ninth inning."
TCU Shortstop Taylor Featherston
On the offense:
"Tanner Peters worked three pitches well all night; we were able to get some good swings on him tonight. It was a good win for the Frogs."
"When Kyle Winkler was able to get out of the first inning after bases loaded, that was huge. We know that our pitchers are going to come out and give us all they have every time. It was big for him to put up all those zeros and we needed to come through for him."
TCU Pitcher Kyle Winkler
"I felt that my pitches were getting better and better as the game went on. I did not have fastball command in the early part of the game. Once I was able to get the ball down is where I started to get my groove in the game."
"The last game in Las Vegas has been in the back of my mind ever since the game. It is one thing to pitch well and get beat, but it is another to give up a walk off home run that is not easy to get over. I have been waiting for tonight to prove what I can do."
Game Notes:
• Kyle Winkler threw his second complete game of the season. Both have come against UNLV. Three of his five career complete games have come against the Rebels as he went nine innings against UNLV on May 27, 2010.
• Jason Coats' eighth-inning single stretched his hitting streak to 18. The hit drove in a run, stretching his RBI streak to eight games.
• Jantzen Witte extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
• Taylor Featherston tallied three hits in the game, giving him 18 multi-hit games on the season. He has hit safely in nine straight.
• TCU has won six straight league games dating back to an April 8 loss to New Mexico.
