Baseball: TCU Drops Midweek Matchup To Visiting UT Arlington

On Tuesday, TCU hosted UT Arlington for the second time this season and fell to the Mavericks 8-7, despite a late comeback effort by the Horned Frogs. TCU and UTA are tied 1-1 in the season series. The Frogs won the first meeting between the two teams on Feb. 22 by a score of 7-3. The season series finale is in Arlington on March 28.

Braeden Sloan, freshman pitcher from California, earned the start for TCU. Unfortunately for him, it was a quick showing as he only pitched for 1.2 innings and gave up 5 runs on 6 hits. UTA’s Tyson Pointer hit a two-run home run in the first inning to give the Mavericks an immediate 2-0 lead. UTA tallied three runs in the second inning and forced Kirk Sarloos to go to the bullpen early.

Already facing a 5-0 deficit through just two innings, TCU had to respond. Tre Richardson got things going for the Frog offense in the third inning with an RBI double that sent Elijiah Nunez to the plate and put TCU on the board. All comeback progress was erased in the following inning with two unearned Maverick runs, making it a 7-1 ballgame.

The score moved to 8-2 after the two squads traded runs in the fifth and sixth innings. David Bishop homered in the bottom of the fifth and UTA scored one in the sixth on a wild pitch.

TCU’s offense came alive in the bottom of the seventh. The Frogs scored on a loaded-bases walk to start the inning. Brayden Taylor followed that up with an RBI groundout and Bowen tacked on an RBI single right after that. In the eighth, Richardson hit his second RBI of the game to make it an 8-6 game.

The Horned Frogs held UTA scoreless in the top of the ninth and needed two runs to tie the game. Cole Fontenelle sent one run home with an RBI double, but that was all TCU got. Its comeback attempt would fall short and the team dropped to 7-5.

“For whatever reason, we did not start well,” Sarloos said. “When you dig yourself a 5-0 hole after two innings that makes it difficult.”

The Frogs will host San Diego this weekend in a three-game series. The Toreros will enter the series with a 5-6-1 record, coming off a 9-4 loss to #25 Oregon State.

“They’re always a good ballclub, they’re always well coached,” Sarloos said about San Diego. “We are gonna have to have everything going.”

The first game of the weekend series is set for 6:30 pm on Friday evening. You can watch the game on ESPN+.

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