Oral Roberts rallied with four runs in the 9th inning to steal a 6-5 victory from TCU in the opening game of the 2023 College World Series at Charles Schwab Field Friday afternoon.
Cole Fontenelle homered and drove in three in the loss for the Horned Frogs. The first three hitters for Oral Roberts reached in the 9th to put the tying runs on base. With one in and one out in the inning, the Golden Eagles’ Blaze Brothers hit a three run home run to put Oral Roberts up 6-5.
TCU did not go quietly in the 9th, getting the tying run to second and the winning run on first, but Cade Denton wiggled off the hook to secure the win. Cole Fontenelle’s one out home run in the 4th opened the scoring, but Oral Roberts would battle back to take its first lead of the game with a two out, two run home run in the 6th inning.
TCU quickly responded, tying the game at two in the bottom of the inning. Karson Bowen led off the inning with a double and scored on a Fontenelle base hit to tie the game at two. Free passes in the 8th helped TCU build a 5-2 lead.
Elijah Nunez’s base hit started a string of five straight Frogs reaching base. With the bases loaded, Fontenelle worked an eight pitch walk to give the Frogs a 3-2 lead. Tre Richardson was hit by the pitch to drive in the second run of the inning. A sacrifice fly off the bat of Kurtis Byrne gave the Frogs a three run lead, but it was not to be.
Kole Klecker started and went five innings for the Frogs. He allowed a run on five hits, walked one and struck out one. Ben Abeldt allowed a run on one hit in his two innings of work. Luke Savage (5-4) suffered the loss after allowing all four runs in the 9th inning. Garrett Wright recorded the final out of the 9th.
TCU head baseball coach Kirk Saarloos, JR Cole Fontenelle, and FRESH Kole Klecker all spoke about the loss after the game. Video is courtesy of the NCAA.