Kirk Saarloos breaks down Sam Stoutenborough’s outing against Virginia

After dropping their first game of the College World Series on Friday to Oral Roberts, TCU bounced back on Sunday facing elimination, defeating Virginia 4-3.

Right-handed pitcher Sam Stoutenborough got the start on the mound for the Horned Frogs and turned his slow start in the first inning into a dominant performance in Omaha. And after the game, TCU head coach Kirk Saarloos reflected on the performance of his ace.

“I thought that was — you can’t teach experience,” Saarloos said. “And I think that’s exactly what you saw in the first inning. First guy got a base-hit chopper over Brayden. Next guy, within the first two pitches, got a base hit to center. First and third and then all of a sudden that inning can get away from you really fast. Facing [Jake] Gelof and being able to get him to ground out and kind of stem the tide a little bit and be able to get out of that inning with a one.”

Stoutenborough gave up two hits and a run in the first inning but quickly flipped the switch after that. He’d go on to retire 12 straight batters following the first, walking just two batters and striking out three. The two hits and one run in the first frame would stay true throughout the rest of his outing, pitching 4.2 innings and allowing zero hits after the first inning.

“And then he just kind of settled in. And any time there was a fastball in order to throw, he threw an off-speed pitch. And that’s kind of Pitching 101 in terms of knowing who you are, not trying to do too much,” Saarloos explained. “And I thought he did a great job with his changeup and his curveball and then being able to sneak the fastball by some guys when he needed to.”

Stoutenborough has been stellar for TCU all year, transferring in as a graduate student last offseason after spending four seasons at Cal. He’s maintained a perfect 5-0 record on the mound this year for the Horned Frogs, recording 58 strikeouts in his 70.1 innings pitched this season.

“But ultimately came down to just his poise and presence that he’s shown really the whole year, but especially down the back stretch this season,” Saarloos said.

Friday’s loss to Oral Roberts was TCU’s first loss of the NCAA Tournament, but they’ll have a chance at redemption on Tuesday, as they face the Golden Eagles again at 2:00 p.m. ET in an elimination game airing on ESPN.

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