• Box Score: TCU 11, Florida State 7 (FSU eliminated)

* * *

The count was full. So were the bases. The Rosenblatt Stadium crowd of 22,541 was on its feet, screaming.

And one thought raced through Matt Curry’s mind as he prepared to face Florida State relief ace Mike McGee with TCU’s season on the line Wednesday night with two outs in the eighth inning.

“I didn’t want to go down with a strikeout in my last college at-bat,’’ Curry said.

Curry made sure he didn’t, driving a breaking pitch from McGee over the hitters’ screen in center field for a grand slam to give TCU its first lead of the game.

Jantzen Witte added a two-run homer to finish off the Horned Frogs’ eight-run rally, and Kaleb Merck pitched two shutout innings of relief to punctuate the dramatic 11-7 College World Series victory that extended the Horned Frogs’ stay in Omaha.

Curry’s biggest hit ever? No doubt, he said.

“When I hit it, I knew it was gone because I’ve hit some home runs,’’ said Curry, who has 18 this season. “I usually know when I get them.’’

After making contact, Curry looked toward the TCU dugout and pumped his fists. He turned to head around the bases, and his heart sank for a moment.

Florida State center fielder Tyler Holt was standing near the warning track, looking as if he was prepared to make the catch.

“I thought,’’ Curry said, “there’s no way that ball’s not going out.’’

He was correct. Holt, who later told Curry that he lost the ball in the twilight and never saw it, turned at the last second as it sailed over the wall. Curry’s excited teammates raced to the plate to provide him with a welcome worthy of someone who had just hit the biggest home run in TCU history.

Jim Schlossnagle, the coach who has transformed the Horned Frogs’ program into a championship contender, reminded others afterward that Aaron Schultz had a pretty big home run, too. Schultz’s came in the final game of the super regional to beat Texas and get TCU to Omaha for the first time.

“This is right there with it,’’ Schlossnagle said. “It’s in Rosenblatt. I’ve sat and watched the great games in this place over the course of my life. And you keep waiting for something like this to happen.

“I’m very biased, but that’s why college baseball is the best sport around. It gets to be showcased in such a great forum in Rosenblatt.’’

The Horned Frogs will get to play at least one more game at the venerable stadium that has served as home to the CWS since 1950. TCU (53-13) advanced to Friday’s Bracket One championship game against UCLA.

For much of Wednesday’s elimination game, it appeared that the Seminoles would be headed to the 3:30 p.m. contest. Sherman Johnson and Mike McGee hit back-to-back homers in the first inning to get Florida State off to a good start.

The Seminoles countered TCU’s two runs in the top of the third with two in its half of the inning. They added three more in the fifth to take a 7-2 lead. They still led 7-3 heading into the eighth, needing six outs to finish off the win.

“Being up, you’re definitely expecting to win,’’ said Johnson, Florida State’s third baseman. “We just couldn’t get out of that inning. We were stuck on the field. Not a good feeling.’’

Johnson’s fielding error to open the inning started TCU’s rally. The Horned Frogs made it 7-4 on Brance Rivera’s RBI groundout. Jerome Pena walked, and Bryan Holaday followed with a double to trim the lead to 7-5 and leave runners at second and third.

Free-swinging Jason Coats laid off a close 3-2 pitch from McGee to draw a walk that loaded the bases and brought Curry to the plate.

McGee jumped ahead 1-2 in the count before the right-hander bounced his fourth pitch. His fifth delivery sailed high. His sixth never made it to catcher Rafael Lopez’s glove.

“I got a curveball earlier in the count,’’ Curry said. “I just missed it, fouled it back. He threw another one full count, and I didn’t miss that one at all.’’

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

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