Stehly, Gordon lead Texas past TCU for berth in Big 12 semis
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Murphy Stehly hit a three-run home run in the top of the first inning, Lucas Gordon pitched into the eighth and No. 5 seed Texas never trailed in a 5-3 victory over top-seeded TCU on Thursday in the Big 12 Tournament.
Two-time conference champion TCU (36-19) will play an elimination game against either No. 2 seed Texas Tech or third-seeded Oklahoma on Friday. Texas (41-17) is idle until the semifinals SaturdayGordon tossed 7 2/3 innings for Texas, allowing two runs — one earned — on two hits and two walks. He struck out four in upping his record to 7-1 on the season.
The Longhorns jumped on TCU starter Marcelo Perez (6-3) early. Douglas Hodo III led off with an infield single. Ivan Melendez reached base when he was hit by a pitch with one out. Stehly sent a 0-2 pitch over the wall in left field for his sixth homer of the season and a 3-0 lead.
Tommy Sacco led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk for TCU. He took second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a ground out and scored on an error as the Horned Frogs pushed a run across without benefit of a hit. TCU pulled within a run in the sixth when Elijah Nunez led off with a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Brayden Taylor.
Texas added two insurance runs in the top of the eighth off TCU reliever Luke Savage. Hodo doubled with one out and moved to third on Eric Kennedy’s infield single. Both runners advanced on a balk, plating Hodo. Austin Todd drove in Kennedy with a two-out single to make it 5-2.
Gray Rodgers hit a two-out solo homer in the ninth for the Horned Frogs to cap the scoring.
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