May 31, 2009

FORT WORTH, Texas -- At this time last year, Kyle Winkler was concluding his career as a dominating pitcher at Kempner High School in Sugar Land, Texas.

Twelve months later, Winkler tossed two-hit ball over eight innings for TCU as the Horned Frogs rolled to a 13-1 Saturday victory over Oregon State to move into the championship game of the Fort Worth Regional.

"I thought that after 126 pitches, we would be able to get good swings on him," Beaver head coach Pat Casey said. "We just weren't able to do that.

"He didn't seem any different from start to finish. Once we didn't put any balls in play, he got more confidence. I didn't think we had any competitive at bats in the first five innings."

Winkler has now won his last four starts while improving to 7-0 on the year. He has recorded three of TCU's last four victories. Winkler has started a team-high 13 games this season, three more than the next-closest Horned Frog (Steven Maxwell, 10).

Despite five walks and a hit batter, Winkler held the Beavers hitless through the first five innings. Joey Wong broke the silence with a single to lead off the sixth. The resulting crowd reaction was uplifting, though, as the TCU faithful rewarded Winkler with a standing ovation.

"It felt good, but the biggest thing was that we were winning," said Winkler. "At the same time, I knew I had a no-hitter but it didn't feel like one."

"Kyle was outstanding and overcame some walks," said TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle. "Our theme this tournament has been the next play. Kyle battled through. We made plays behind him and got some big hits."

Winkler's start looked ominous in the beginning, as the Beavers loaded the bases with two outs via a pair of walks and a hit batter. TCU pitching coach Randy Mazey then held a team meeting on the mound.

"He told me to relax," said Winkler. "I was real nervous. I didn't really grasp the situation. I was just kind of throwing out there and needed to slow down and really pitch. Him coming out really calmed me down and helped me out along with Carp (third baseman Matt Carpenter) and everyone else."

Winkler escaped the jam by inducing Stefen Romero into the third groundout of the inning.

"It was a big game for our program," Winkler said. "I was just happy to go out and give us a good outing."

Winkler ended his masterpiece on a high note, striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth with TCU leading 6-1.

"I didn't think I had my good stuff the entire game," he said. "In the eighth inning, I was struggling with control. I had my breaking ball bouncing. I thought I struggled most of the game."

It was Winkler's first start since last week's 9-2 win over BYU in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, when he scattered 11 hits while walking none in TCU's lone complete game on the season. The effort earned him a spot on the MWC All-Tournament team.

Saturday night's contest continued TCU's trend of using freshman pitchers, as three of the four Horned Frogs to see action thus far in the regional are in their first year in the program. Schlossnagle believes Winkler's outing is a positive in many ways.

"It obviously means great things for the future," Schlossnagle said. "Those guys are getting very good experience. We knew those three guys were going to be very important pitchers on our staff. They are going to do the same thing for a long time."

Carpenter, a fifth-year senior for TCU, praised the young Frog's night on the mound.

"Watching Winkler throw tonight was really impressive to me for a lot of reasons," Carpenter said. "He handled himself well. When he put base runners on, the next pitch would be a ground ball to get out of it. I never thought he got nervous, but he says he was.

"Having him go out there in that kind of atmosphere, with what was on the line and compete like that, was pretty awesome to watch."

Carpenter also gave Winkler encouraging advice throughout the night, which Winkler settled on.

"I told him to settle down, even though they hadn't had a hit yet," Carpenter added. "I told him his stuff looked great and to just put it in the strike zone. When he did that, for the most part, they hit ground balls right to our infielders. He did a tremendous job."

Coming out of high school, Winkler was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 37th round as well as being ranked a top-20 recruit in the state. He remembers seeing Oregon State win their national titles in 2006 and 2007.

"I watched both their national championships and loved the way they played and thought the coaching staff was great," Winkler said.

Optimism runs high for the freshman, who has confidence TCU will make waves in the future.

"I knew coming here we would have as good a shot as any team in the country to make a run like (2008 national champion) Fresno State last year," said Winkler. "It's us working as hard as we can every day with pitchers throwing strikes and getting outs that we need.

"Everything is hopefully coming together."