Killer Frogs

TCU Baseball: Brassfield Dazzles as TCU Sweeps Fresno State

Frogs take care of business on a chilly Sunday afternoon at Lupton

Ian Napetian

TCU completes the sweep over Fresno State with a 12-6 win on Sunday
TCU completes the sweep over Fresno State with a 12-6 win on Sunday / TCU Baseball on X

The TCU Horned Frogs (12-4) clinched a series sweep over the Fresno State Bulldogs (5-10) with a 12-6 victory on Sunday. It wasn’t done, though, without the remarkable pitching performance from freshman left-hander Mason Brassfield.

504. FINAL. 12. 466. Final. 6

After the Frogs orchestrated a come-from-behind-win off the back of a tremendous relief outing by Braeden Sloan on Saturday, TCU sent out their freshman right-hander Trever Baumler to toe the rubber against Fresno State. After a 1-2-3 top of the first inning, the Frogs offense took the lead in the home half.

A leadoff walk issued to Colton Griffin and a single off the bat of Cole Cramer set up runners at the corners with one out. Chase Brunson plated Griffin from third with a groundball the other way on a 4-3 putout, giving TCU an early 1-0 lead.

Despite pitching with the lead, Baumler faced trouble in the second inning. After plunking each of the first two batters, designated hitter Giffen Sotomayor tied the ballgame on a single into right field. For Fresno State it put runners at second and third after Sawyer Strosnider was tagged with a fielding error, allowing the runners to advance.

With runners in scoring position, Cam Schneider laid a perfect safety squeeze up the first base line to score the go-ahead run and give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.

The Frogs tied it up in the bottom of the inning after Anthony Silva cruised into second with a leadoff double. After a groundout by Sam Myers, Noah Franco reached after getting plunked before Strosnider brought TCU back level with an RBI single down the left field line.

Just as TCU tied the ballgame, the Bulldogs exploded for four runs in the third inning. The biggest hit of the inning was a mammoth three-run bomb off the bat of Bobby Blandford.

It was after 2 ⅔ innings that Kirk Saarloos pulled his freshman righty. Baumler was tagged for six runs on four hits, a walk and four strikeouts.

Saarloos replaced him with Mason Brassfield, who pieced together a purely dominating relief outing to say the least. Entering with a runner at second and two outs, he surrendered a single to Cam Schneider which extended the Bulldogs lead to 6-2.

After allowing a single to his first batter, the freshman southpaw from Bakersfield, CA would go on to retire an astonishing 17 in a row.

Brassfield’s excellence on the mound gave the TCU offense an opportunity to get back into the contest, which started with a three-spot in the fourth inning.

After singles by Franco and Griffin, Isaac Cadena plated the pair after spanking a hard-hit ground down the right field line for a triple. Cramer came through clutch for the Frogs with a sacrifice fly to score Cadena and make it a 6-5 ballgame. The Frogs then tied the ballgame in the sixth with an RBI single from Brunson, scoring Griffin who led off the inning with a walk.

TCU then blew the game wide open with four runs in the seventh and two runs in the eighth.

Following two quick outs in the seventh, Franco kept the inning alive after smoking a double. Strosnider was plunked in the ensuing at-bat before Griffin raked a double, giving the Frogs an emphatic 8-6 lead. Cadena extended the lead with an RBI single before being plated by a Cramer RBI base hit, stretching the lead to 10-6.

In the eighth, Nolan Traeger led off with a double before being plated on a triple by Franco. With Franco at third, Strosnider laced a double to give TCU a 12-6 lead.

Brassfield shut the door in the ninth, stranding the bases loaded for the Bulldogs. The left-handed freshman went 6 ⅓ innings and allowed just three hits and a walk, while striking out seven.

The California native earned his second win of the season and improves to 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA in 14 ⅓ innings after a stellar relief appearance.

Sunday’s win completes TCU’s first sweep of Fresno State since the foes first squared off in 1987. The Frogs move to 12-4 on the season and 7-2 at Lupton Stadium.

Bright spots:

After such an emphatic series sweep of the Bulldogs, there are several positive takeaways for TCU to come away with.

For one, their left-handed relievers Braeden Sloan and Mason Brassfield. Both pitchers tossed absolute gems on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, with Sloan pitching five scoreless innings, tallying seven punchouts and getting the win in game two.

Brassfield dazzled the strike zone on Sunday, working through an impressive pitch mix of a fastball (92-95 mph), slider (82-83 mph) and curveball (82-84 mph).

In addition, the Frogs offense struck big time in all three games. While the offensive onslaughts sandwiched what was a narrow win on Saturday, TCU has been seeing the ball much better at the plate. Not to mention the Frogs scored seven runs with two-outs on Sunday, speaking to this program’s efficiency when it comes to situational hitting.

Other offensive positives include Chase Brunson, who leads the team with 18 RBIs and extended his hitting streak to ten games. Anthony Silva has also found his groove, going 4-for-11 this series with three doubles, a homer and three RBIs.

Freshman Sawyer Strosnider continues to pound the baseball now with five-straight multi-hit games. In that span he has gone 11-for-18 with eight RBIs, raising his batting average 148 points. He now hits at a .315 clip.

Concerns:

One of the overarching concerns that continues for TCU Baseball is the search for a consistent Sunday starter. Unfortunately for Trever Baumler, the struggles have continued. Through four starts the freshman holds a 1-2 record with a 7.88 ERA. Despite walking only four batters this season, Baumler has plunked nine hitters.

The freshman often finds himself with danger on the basepaths, which then leads to an inning that spins out of control.

The bright side for TCU is that they’ve seen what several others are capable of. Whether it be Sloan and Brassfield’s capabilities or even the likes of Zack James and Noah Franco, the Frogs have options when looking for a potential new Sunday starter.

What’s next:

After wrapping up a nine-game homestand at Lupton Stadium, the Frogs will hit the road for a midweek matchup with the Texas State (8-7) in San Marcos on Tuesday night before hosting the Arizona State Sun Devils to a three-game set at Lupton to begin Big 12 Conference action.

First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. with streaming available on ESPN+ and the radio call available on 88.7 FM KTCU The Choice.

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Ian Napetian
IAN NAPETIAN

Ian Napetian is currently pursuing a double-major in Journalism and Sports Broadcasting at TCU. He is the creator and host the sports-talk radio show Riff Ram Review on 88.7 KTCU The Choice. He also hosts pregame and postgame shows for TCU Baseball and Women's Basketball on 88.7 The Choice. Additionally, he enjoys attending TCU sporting events with his friends.

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