Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY – The West Virginia University baseball team lost its first game of the Big 12 Championship, 8-1, to TCU in a winner's bracket contest on Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.
 
The seventh-seeded Mountaineers (28-26) tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth, but the Horned Frogs (32-22), seeded sixth, rallied with a run in the fifth, four in the seventh and two in the eight. WVU scored its one run on eight hits, while TCU had seven hits.
 
"It was a hard-fought game," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "Our guys played with great energy. When you play TCU in the month of May, their experience of four straight seasons in Omaha – every inning that they got a hit, they scored runs, and we had four or five innings in which we got a hit and didn't score any runs. We walked them seven times and hit them once. You just can't do that. Every time we do that, we lose, and you can't do that to a team that feeds off stuff like that."
 
With the loss, WVU advances to the loser's bracket game on Friday at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT, against third-seeded Texas Tech. The winner of that contest will advance to the semifinals, while the loser will be eliminated from the double-elimination championship.
 
Sophomore right-handed starter Isaiah Kearns pitched 5.0 innings and allowed two runs on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks. He suffered the loss and fell to 3-4 on the season. Kearns left the game with WVU trailing, 2-1, before TCU scored six runs off two WVU relievers.
 
Sophomore center fielder Brandon White was one of two Mountaineers with two hits. Sophomore first baseman Marques Inman scored West Virginia's fourth-inning run, as junior catcher Ivan Gonzalez recorded the RBI and had a hit in the contest.
 
TCU took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, on a leadoff triple and sacrifice fly. Kearns followed with a 1-2-3 third inning with two strikeouts, before the Mountaineers tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth.
 
Inman was hit by a pitch to lead off the fourth, and advanced to second on a single through the right side by junior second baseman Kyle Gray. A groundout put runners on second and third for Gonzalez, who grounded out to short to bring home Inman.
 
Kearns got another strikeout in the fourth and stranded a runner on, and TCU regained the lead in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1. Kearns escaped further damage and got a foul out to end the inning, leaving two on in scoring position.
 
A double play in the top of the sixth helped TCU maintain its lead, and WVU left a runner on in the seventh. The Horned Frogs added to their lead in the bottom half with four runs on three hits to make it 6-1. With the bases loaded and no outs, a two-RBI double was followed by a two-RBI single.
 
TCU added two more runs in the eighth, on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch, to make it 8-1.
 
In the ninth, sophomore pinch hitter Chase Illig led off the inning with a walk. However, he was stranded at first.
 
Friday's game will be broadcasted on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Southwest and FOX College Sports Central. The game also will be available on FOX Sports GO to subscribers. Fans can listen to the game on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG on various affiliates throughout the state. Fans across the country can tune in to the broadcast online at WVUsports.com and on the WVU Gameday App and the TuneIn Radio App on their mobile device.
 
Direct links to the video stream, radio broadcast and live stats can be found on the baseball schedule page on WVUsports.com. Additional behind-the-scenes updates, news and notes can be found on social media by following and connecting with the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @WVUBaseball.
 
NOTES: West Virginia fell to 28-26 on the season and 3-3 at a neutral site … WVU is 9-9 all-time at the Big 12 Championship, 9-7 when it is in Oklahoma City and 1-3 against TCU … The Mountaineers will play Texas Tech on Friday with a chance to advance to their third consecutive Big 12 Championship Semifinal … WVU is 2-0 all-time vs. Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit WVUsports.com.