• Box Score: TCU 6, UCLA 2
* * *
TCU pitching sensation Matt Purke isn't perfect.
But he was close enough for long enough Friday to help get the Horned Frogs rolling on the way to another day at the College World Series.
Purke, in picking up his second win of the CWS, retired the first 11 UCLA hitters in order and was charged with two runs in 6 innings of work in a 6-2 victory over the Bruins before 22,334 at Rosenblatt Stadium.
The win sets up a Bracket One championship game between the same teams Saturday, with starting time to be determined later Friday night. The winner advances to the best-of-3 championship series starting Monday. Had TCU (54-13) lost Friday, its season would have been over.
Purke had plenty of help from his friends, as the TCU infield made solid plays behind him and Jerome Pena, Taylor Featherston and Bryan Holaday each hit home runs. Pena's solo blast made it 3-0 in the fourth, while Featherston's two-run shot in the seventh ended UCLA's late-game momentum and gave the Horned Frogs a 5-2 lead. Holaday's wind-aided 15 th homer made it 6-2 in the eighth.
Purke (16-0) didn't have to worry much about the wind blowing out to left field at 19 mph, with gusts to 29. That's because the Bruins (50-15) didn't get a ball to the outfield until Dean Espy popped to shallow right for the final out of the fourth.
The game set up as a top pitching matchup.
Purke was drafted 14 th overall in the first round of the 2009 draft but is pitching in college after being unable to come to terms with the Texas Rangers. And left-hander Rob Rasmussen, one of UCLA's trio of aces, was drafted in the second round earlier this month by the Florida Marlins.
The Horned Frogs made Rasumussen work, extending him to 34 pitches in the first inning and 94 pitches in just 4 innings. Rasmussen (11-3) hadn't pitched in 12 days, since his two-hitter against Cal State Fullerton that clinched the super regional, and fought his command. Though he struck out six, he also walked three and was charged with two runs on six hits.
Purke lost a bid for perfection in the fourth: after retiring the first 11 batters he faced, Blair Dunlap worked a walk.
Chris Giovinazzo broke up the no-hitter with a one-out bunt single in the fifth. He moved to second on a ground out and scored on Brett Krill's ground-ball single up the middle, getting the Bruins within 3-1. Steve Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to put the tying run on base, but right fielder Brance Rivera tracked down Niko Gallego's liner down the right field line for the final out.
Purke exited in the seventh, after an infield single by Cody Regis, a ground out and a walk to pinch-hitter Trevor Brown. Purke threw 107 pitches and allowed three hits.
Pinch-hitter Jeff Gelalich greeted reliever Tyler Lockwood with a sharp grounder that third baseman Jantzen Witte gloved with a diving stop, a play that saved a run and nearly turned into a double play. Rodriguez took a couple of close pitches in drawing a walk that loaded the bases, and Gallego followed with a high-hopper that Witte fielded several steps behind the bag just as it crossed into foul territory. Witte tried to outrace Gelalich to third for an inning-ending force out, but Gelalich was ruled to have slid into the bag just fractions of a second ahead of Witte, allowing a run to score to make it 3-2.
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