TCU rides ninth-inning rally to MWC crown

Priding itself on its resilience all season, Texas Christian rode a resounding rebound to the Mountain West Conference baseball title Saturday.

TCU scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning -- on Austin Adams' three-run homer and Matt Vern's RBI single -- to win the MWC title game 9-8 over Brigham Young at Wilson Stadium.

Top-seeded TCU (46-12) never led against No. 2 seed BYU (37-20) until Vern's single brought home Andrew Walker, who had doubled, in the ninth.

The Horned Frogs retained their MWC crown by winning their 14th straight conference tournament game, after trailing 8-2 in the fifth inning.

"We've been doing this all year," said Adams, the tournament's Most Valuable Player. "We were definitely resilient today, and it paid off."

TCU reliever Donald Furrow set the stage for the ninth by allowing one earned run on six hits in 4 2/3 innings. He came in for starter Chance Corgan, who had allowed seven runs in the first four innings. Furrow exited with two outs in the ninth, and Steven Maxwell (1-0), who retired the final Cougar, gained the win.

The Horned Frogs scored two runs in the fifth, on Steven Trout's RBI single and a BYU throwing error.

TCU has won four straight conference titles -- in 2004 and 2005 in Conference USA and last year and this season in the Mountain West. The conference title was the fifth in a row for coach Jim Schlossnagle, who claimed the 2003 crown with UNLV.

The Cougars took a 3-0 lead in the first inning behind RBI singles by Kent Walton, who went 3-for-5, and Steve Parker and a run-scoring ground-out.

A third-inning ground-out brought home another BYU run before the Horned Frogs pulled within 4-1 on Ben Carruthers' RBI single.

The Cougars made the score 6-1 in the fourth when Austin Hall, who went 3-for-5, scored from third on a wild pitch and Walton hit his second RBI single.

Keith Conlon's homer in the fourth cut BYU's lead to 6-2.