TCU Baseball: Frogs Take Series in Houston, Top Cougars 16-5 on Sunday

Horned Frogs improve to 5-4 in the Big 12 after series win

TCU Horned Frogs take series over the Houston Cougars / TCU Baseball on X

The TCU Horned Frogs (21-8, 5-4 Big 12) swung their way to another Big 12 series win with a 16-5 rubber match victory over the Houston Cougars (15-12, 3-5 Big 12).

16. 466. FINAL. 5. 450. Final

Freshman Noah Franco got the nod on Sunday before earning just one out prior to Kirk Saarloos electing to go to the bullpen.

Franco allowed four runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batter. He faced just five Cougars and tossed 20 pitches before Louis Rodriguez took the hill to quiet the Cougars. Houston took a commanding 4-0 lead in the first but the Frogs would answer back with three in the second inning.

Each of the first four TCU batters reached. After Franco drew a leadoff walk and Chase Brunson reached on an infield single, Nolan Traeger knocked in TCU’s first run with a double which put runners at second and third. Anthony Silva then reached on a swinging bunt down the third base line to knock in Brunson from third to make it a 4-2 ballgame. After Silva stole second, a Jack Bell sacrifice fly plated TCU’s third run of the game.

The Frogs tied it in the fourth courtesy of Noah Franco who smoked his sixth home run of the season.

Over the scoreboard for @Official_NF3!! pic.twitter.com/vfT0KdSWrV

— TCU Baseball (@TCU_Baseball) March 30, 2025

TCU would go on to score two in the fourth, four in the sixth, two in the seventh and four in ninth, courtesy of an Anthony Silva grand slam, to cap off a 16-5 victory in Houston.

Louis Rodriguez now moves to 2-1 on the season after picking up his second win while Kole Klecker notched his first save of the 2025 campaign. The Frogs now improve to 21-8 overall and 5-4 in the Big 12.

Bright Spots:

As the month of March ends, TCU has significant momentum to take into April as their offense continues to see the ball well. The Horned Frogs have averaged an impressive 8.1 runs per game in March with the likes of Sawyer Strosnider leading the charge.

While TCU was held to just two runs on Friday, the Frogs combined for 28 runs in the final two games.

Not only has the offense been stellar, but so has the pitching. In this series, relievers combined for 14 ⅔ innings pitched, allowing just two runs on eight hits while striking out 20 Cougars batters.

Seeing the return of Caedmon Parker was tremendous for the team as he notched a his second win of the season after pitching five scoreless innings on Saturday night.

Concerns:

As discussed last week, the search for a consistent Sunday starter remains. Over Noah Franco’s last two starts, he has tossed just 1 ⅓ innings, allowing eight runs on four hits, five walks and no punchouts. The command hasn’t been there and so haven’t the strikeouts.

While Franco continues to rake at the plate, he has faced challenges taking the bump in his last two starts–both of which came on the road.

What’s Next?

TCU will return to Fort Worth for a four-game home stretch, beginning with a midweek faceoff against the UTSA Roadrunners (23-7, 5-1 AAC). The Frogs will then host a series against the BYU Cougars (14-11, 4-5 Big 12) beginning Thursday night, wrapping up on Saturday afternoon.

First pitch against UTSA is slated for 6:05 p.m. with streaming available on ESPN+ with the radio call on 88.7 KTCU The Choice.

Recommended Articles

feed

Follow KillerFrogs on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest TCU news! Follow KillerFrogs on Facebook and Instagram as well.