TCU Suffers Series Sweep To Unranked Oklahoma
A disappointing weekend in Fort Worth goes from bad to worse as the Horned Frogs suffered a series sweep to the visiting Oklahoma Sooners.
Faltering 9-4 on Sunday, the Frogs have now lost five of their last seven games.
TCU sent out left-handed pitcher Braeden Sloan to salvage game three, but the Sooners jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st. After leadoff hitter Kendall Pettis reached on a fielding error, Sloan was charged with a balk and proceeded to walk Bryce Madron, setting up runners at the corners with no outs.
A groundout by Easton Carmichael scored Pettis, advancing Madron to third base. Moments later a wild pitch from Sloan allowed Madron to trot across home plate for the Sooners’ second run of the inning.
The Sooners tacked on to their lead with a three-run top of the fourth that saw the first four hitters of the inning reach base. Jackson Nicklaus roped a leadoff double to right field before coming around to score after a Carter Frederick single. Third baseman Isaiah Lane got a base knock before Jason Walk extended the Sooner lead to 4-0 with an RBI single of his own.
To rub salt into the wounds, Michael Snyder cranked a solo shot in the 5th inning to give the Sooners a 6-0 lead.
But with one swing of the bat TCU found a foothold in the game when Kurtis Byrne spanked a three-run blast onto the berm in left field for his 3rd home run of the season. A no-doubt from Byrne, TCU was given a new life. The Frogs used that momentum in the 6th inning when Karson Bowen spanked an opposite field home run to cut the deficit to 6-4.
Unfortunately for the Frogs, despite cutting into the Sooner lead, three-runs in the top of the 9th proved the nail in the coffin, bringing an end to what was a frustrating series in regard to both pitching and hitting.
The Frogs hit just 22-for-98 (.224) against Oklahoma this series. Not to mention some of their hottest bats have cooled down considerably. TCU’s bats simply had no answer for Oklahoma’s arsenal on the mound as the Sooners used just five relievers over the course of the entire weekend series.
This biggest issue of all?
Situational hitting.
Not only did TCU find it difficult to get hits, but when they did, the offense struggled mightily to string hits together and pass the baton down the order. The Frogs also had numerous free passes–courtesy of the walk, hit by pitch, and fielding errors–and still found it near impossible to plate runs when it mattered.
And when the team did find an offensive spark, the pitching staff, starters and relievers alike, was unable to provide shutdown innings. In the instances that TCU scored, Frogs pitching would subsequently give up runs themselves.
TCU now sits at 15-5 (1-5 Big 12). The series sweep marks the first home sweep suffered since Apr. 2019 when Baylor brought the brooms from Waco.
The Sooners, who were picked to finish 6th in the Big 12, are now the only team to remain undefeated in Big 12 conference play. OU improves to 13-6 (6-0 Big 12) as TCU will look to get back on track on Tuesday when they host UT Arlington at Lupton Stadium with first pitch at 6 p.m.
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