Gator Country

OMAHA, Neb. – As it was in their opening 3-1 victory in the Austin Super Regional last weekend, Texas Christian’s first victory ever at the College World Series was all about a freshman.

Left-hander Matt Purke went seven innings, giving up four hits and recording seven strikeouts, allowing TCU to cruise to an 8-1 victory over Florida State in the opening game of the College World Series Saturday afternoon in front of a Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium crowd of 23,649.

“The more pressured of a situation and the more he’s cornered, the better he is,” said TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle.

The one run Purke allowed was unearned. He gave up a leadoff single to Tyler Holt in the first inning, and Holt scored on a throwing error by TCU third baseman Jantzen Witte after Sherman Johnson tapped an infield single to third.

The throwing error allowed Johnson to make it to third base with no outs. He was left standing there at the end of the inning after Purke struck out Mike McGee, James Ramsey and Stephen Cardullo.

“He did a great job to come back and stop the bleeding,” Johnson said.

TCU (52-12) didn’t waste any time taking the lead. Jermone Pena and Bryan Holaday started the game with back-to-back singles, and they both scored when Jason Coats dropped a double down the left field line.

Joe Weik singled two batters later to score Coats. A sacrifice fly from Taylor Featherston and an RBI single from Aaron Schultz pushed the Horned Frogs’ lead to 5-1 after the first inning.

“That first inning was a difference maker,” Schlossnagle said.

The lead allowed Purke to put it in cruise control. He went 114 pitches, throwing 66 for strikes. His control wasn’t sharp, as he did all four walks, but when he needed to make a big pitch, he made it to a perfect location.

Eric Marshall threw the final two innings of relief for TCU.

The loss went to FSU left-hander Sean Gilmartin (9-8), who lasted just three innings, allowing 8 hits and six runs (all earned) with three walks and one strikeout. Gilmartin was one of six Seminoles to take the mound.

The Horned Frogs managed 11 hits, with catcher Holaday going 3-for-5 with a solo home run, his 14th of the season. Coats had 2 hits and 2 walks in five at-bats and drove in three runs. Pena also had a pair of hits for TCU, playing in its first College World Series ever.

“TCU just whipped us today,” said Florida State head coach Mike Martin, whose team fell to 47-19. “I’ve got a few of those on my resume, so it’s nothing new.”

TCU will now play Monday night at 9 p.m. EST against the winner of Saturday night’s game between Florida and UCLA. Florida State will play Monday at 4:30 p.m. EST against the loser of Florida and UCLA.

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES / Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium / Omaha, Neb. / Game 1 / June 19, 2010

TEXAS CHRISTIAN 8, FLORIDA STATE 1

FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES 1 (47-19)
ab r h rbi
1. Tyler Holt, cf 4 1 1 0
2. Sherman Johnson, 3b 3 0 1 0
3. Mike McGee, lf 4 0 1 0
4. James Ramsey, rf 3 0 0 0
5. Stephen Cardullo, ss 3 0 0 0
6. Jayce Boyd, 1b 3 0 0 0
7. Stuart Tapley, dh 3 0 0 0
Ohmed Danesh, ph 0 0 0 0
8. Devon Travis, 2b 4 0 1 0
9. Rafael Lopez, c 3 0 0 0
Parker Brunelle, c 1 0 0 0
Sean Gilmartin, p 0 0 0 0
Hunter Scantling, p 0 0 0 0
Robert Benincasa, p 0 0 0 0
John Gast, p 0 0 0 0
Scott Sitz, p 0 0 0 0
Tyler Everett 0 0 0 0
Totals 31 1 4 0

TEXAS CHRISTIAN HORNED FROGS 8 (52-12)
ab r h rbi
1. Jerome Pena, 2b 4 1 2 0
Davy Wright, 2b 0 0 0 0
2. Bryan Holaday, c 5 2 3 1
3. Jason Coats, lf 3 1 2 3
4. Matt Curry, 1b 5 0 0 0
5. Joe Weik, dh 3 1 1 1
Josh Elander, pr/dh 0 0 0 0
6. Jantzen Witte, 3b 2 2 1 0
7. Taylor Featherston, ss 2 0 0 1
8. Aaron Schultz, cf 2 0 1 1
9. Brance Rivera, rf 2 1 1 1
Matt Purke, p 0 0 0 0
Eric Marshall p 0 0 0 0
Totals 28 8 11 8

Score by innings
Florida State 100 000 000 — 1 4 0
Texas Christian 501 100 01x — 8 11 2

E—Wright (2); Witte (9). DP—Seminoles 1; Horned Frogs 2. LOB—Seminoles 9, Horned Frogs 8.  2B—Coats (23), Witte (15). HR—Holaday (14). SH—Wright (4), Witte (10), Schultz (12), Rivera (9). SF—Featherston (3).

Florida State IP H R ER BB SO
Sean Gilmartin 3.0 8 6 6 3 1
Hunter Scantling 2.0 1 1 1 0 3
Robert Benincass 0.0 0 0 0 2 0
John Gast 1.0 0 0 0 1
2
Scott Sitz 1.0 0 0 0 1 1
Tyler Everett 1.0 2 1 1 0 0

Texas Christian IP H R ER BB SO
Matt Purke 7.0 4 1 0 4 7
Eric Marshall 2.0 0 0 0 2 1

Win—Purke (15-0). Loss—Gilmartin (9-8). Save—None. WP—Purke (7). Pitches/strikes: Florida State, Gilmartin 70/41, Scantling 29/17, Benincasa 10/2, Gast 22/12, Sitz 18/10, Everett 20/12. Texas Christian, Purke 114/65, Marshall 43/24. Umpires: Home, AJ Lostaglio; 1B, Jim Jackson; 2B, Chris Coskey; 3B, Paul Guillie. Time: 3:08. Attendance: 23,649. Weather: Cloudy, 77 degrees, winds East 10 mph.

About the author

GatorCody

Cody, born and raised in Daytona Beach, is a baseball fanatic, but loves covering Gator recruiting for Gator Country. He graduated from Spruce Creek High's prestigious International Baccalaureate program and is now in his sophomore year studying journalism at the University of Florida.

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