Frogs Struck First, But Then It Got Away From Them In Waco

There wasn’t much to cheer about for the Horned Frogs on Friday night in Waco, as the Frogs dropped the opening game of their rivalry series against Baylor. It was a familiar script: TCU jumped out early, only for one big inning to flip the momentum and send everything downhill. The Frogs had no answers late, as their offense came to a dead halt and the pitching completely unraveled. Baylor was able to run away with an 11–4 victory. Let's take a look at what happened in this big loss that has the Frogs in a hole for the series.

Frogs Jumped On Board First

The Frogs looked to be in control early, taking advantage of Baylor ace Lucas Davenport, who rarely issues free passes or gives up runs. TCU struck first in the top of the second inning when Nolan Traeger delivered an RBI to bring Brady Dallimore home.

Baylor answered in the bottom half of the inning with a sacrifice fly, and the game remained even until the fourth. That’s when the Frogs spread the gap, earning two runs to take a 3–1 lead. Noah Franco got the scoring started for the inning with a 422-foot bomb. After that, Brady Dallimore got on base once again with a triple, and Jack Bell brought him in with an RBI groundout. Just when things were looking up, things took a turn for the worse.

Baylor Took Control and Did Not Look Back

After the fourth inning, when momentum seemed to be shifting in TCU’s favor, the game took a sharp turn for the worse. Trever Baumler, who had been pitching well, was forced out in the bottom of the fourth after allowing six hits and four earned runs while striking out five and issuing no walks.

The Frogs turned to Mason Brassfield to try to stop the bleeding, but Baylor’s offense caught fire and couldn’t be contained. Travis Sanders and Tyce Armstrong led the charge, combining for six hits and four runs as they consistently punished TCU pitching.

From that point on, it was all Baylor. Despite TCU scoring one more run, the Bears overpowered the Frogs, forcing them to go through five pitchers. What had been a competitive game quickly unraveled and got ugly, as Baylor erupted for 10 runs over a three-inning stretch, turning it into a Bear scoring fest.

Errors and Mistakes Once Again Haunt The Frogs

This has been a huge issue for the Frogs all season, and while it wasn’t the end-all, be-all reason for the loss, it did little to help them build any momentum. In fact, it completely shifted the game, putting Baylor comfortably in the driver’s seat.

TCU committed two errors on the night, both avoidable, and Baylor took full advantage, turning those mistakes into runs. Defensive mistakes like these have plagued the Frogs throughout the season, placing unnecessary stress on the pitching staff.

If TCU wants any chance of bouncing back in this series, those mistakes have to be cleaned up.

Frogs Must Start Hitting

The Frogs finished with seven hits on the night, and even 12 hits may not have changed the outcome. Still, TCU’s issues at the plate stood out tonight in Waco. The Frogs struck out 11 times and struggled to generate traffic on the bases or get runners in scoring position.

Three of TCU’s key hitters, Sawyer Strosnider, Noah Franco, and Jack Bell, combined for seven of those strikeouts. Strosnider, in particular, has cooled off over the last few games, and TCU will need production from him and its core group if they want to turn things around in this series.

While this is an area the Frogs have shown improvement in recently, the lineup as a whole needs to find some sort of consistency to give TCU a chance moving forward.

What The Series Will Look Like Moving Forward

You never want to start the series with a loss, but it’s baseball, it’s going to happen. The Frogs must have a short-term memory and reset. They will need good starts from Lance Davis and Zack James the rest of the weekend to improve their chances. They will also need their hitters to start shining. The Frogs need to come out with confidence early, and even in this series, to force a deciding Game 3. They can do this, but they must play good baseball and eliminate all mistakes.

TCU plays Game 2 at the Baylor Ballpark at 2 PM on Saturday. Fans can watch on ESPN+ or listen on KTCU 88.7. As always, the KillerFrogs.com fan forum will be lively too. Follow the baseball thread here.

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