TCU Baseball: Horned Frogs Drop Series Finale, Golden Eagles Take Rubber Match 11-3

No. 22 Southern Mississippi take two of three from No. 25 TCU at Lupton Stadium

TCU Drops Series Finale to the Golden Eagles at Lupton / TCU Baseball on X

The No. 25 TCU Horned Frogs (7-4) suffered a loss in Sunday’s series finale to the No. 22 Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles 11-3. Kirk Saarloos and the Horned Frogs sent out the freshman right-hander Trever Baumler for his third start of the season.

2278. FINAL. 3. 872. Final. 11

The Iowa native entered Sunday with a 1-1 record and a 4.82 ERA, previously notching his first career win two weeks prior against the San Diego Toreros before being handed the loss after struggling against the Kansas State Wildcats at Globe Life Field.

For Baumler, though, the struggles continued against the Golden Eagles as he left the game after four innings. The freshman allowed four runs, one unearned, on four hits.

The visitors scratched across a run in the first inning after a Joey Urban reached on a leadoff single and advanced to second on an infield groundout in the next at bat. After a two-out single from Carson Paetow put runners at the corners, Baumler spiked a pitch past his battery-mate Nolan Traeger, allowing Urban to score. 

Southern Miss added to their 1-0 lead with a solo blast from Matthew Russo in the second inning. While winds were blowing at a steady 15 miles per hour throughout Sunday’s finale, Matthew Russo lined a homer over the wall in right for his second longball of the season.

Baumler proceeded to plunk the next batter Tucker Stockman who, after a sacrifice bunt, was singled in from second base by Jake Cook for the Golden Eagles’ third run of the day.

On the other side of the mound, right-hander Matthew Adams breezed through the first four innings, facing just one over the minimum. He was given a four-run lead after five innings when Davis Gillespie tacked on a run in the top of the fifth courtesy of a fielder’s choice.

But Adams faced trouble in the bottom of the inning when he allowed back-to-back base hits from Nolan Traeger and Chase Brunson. With one gone and runners at first and second, Anthony Silva laced a single to load the bases before freshman Sawyer Strosnider plated TCU’s first run across with an unassisted ground out to the first baseman.

Flipping the order, Sam Myers laced a two-run double down the left field line, bringing the Frogs within one run of the Golden Eagles, trailing 4-3. For the Frogs, they would struggle to produce anything else offensively, allowing Southern Miss to pull away in the eighth inning after posting a five spot.

two big RBIs for @_sammyers13! pic.twitter.com/qIAR9XZHZI

— TCU Baseball (@TCU_Baseball) March 2, 2025

With an 11-3 lead, the Golden Eagles relied on left-handed reliever Brooks Willoughby, who tossed three shutout innings to earn his first save of the season.

Baumler falls to 1-2 on the season, sporting a 5.40 ERA while Adams earned his second win and improves to 2-0 on the young season.

As a team the Frogs fall to 7-3 on the season, sitting at 2-2 at Lupton Stadium.

Concerns:

This weekend’s loss is a tough pill to swallow for several reasons. But it is important to remember that Southern Mississippi is one of the best programs and most consistent programs in the nation.

The Golden Eagles have made the NCAA Tournament and have won 40-plus games in each of the last eight seasons (not including 2020). Their streak of 40-win seasons is the longest-active stretch in Division I baseball.

Not to mention, they have hosted two super regionals in the last three years, including a 2022 Hattiesburg Super Regional where they lost to Ole Miss, the eventual National Champions and 2023 Hattiesburg Super Regional where they lost to Tennessee. If that wasn’t enough, the Golden Eagles lost to Tennessee at the Knoxville Regional last season before the Volunteers went on to win the National Championship.

With that said, it doesn’t make the series loss feel any better as there are several concerns surrounding this team.

Perhaps the most mind-boggling concern is TCU’s baserunning mistakes. While the Frogs are 17-for-23 in stolen base attempts this season, they were caught on the basepaths three times on Sunday.

The Frogs were picked off at first base twice and caught stealing once. This season, TCU has been picked off four times.

In addition to TCU’s baserunning mistakes, the unforced errors are hurting the Frogs even more. These so-called unforced errors include, fielding/throwing errors, wild pitches and hit-by-pitches. This weekend alone TCU committed five errors, three wild pitches and plunked six batters.

Bright spots:

While the Frogs were exposed this weekend in several facets of the game, there are things to be excited for moving forward, including starting pitching.

On Friday, we saw the third-straight weekend of the Caedmon Parker and Braeden Sloan one-two punch. Parker and Sloan combined to fan 14 batters–seven each. Sloan pitched four no-hit innings out of relief on his way to earning his first win of the season.

Caedmon Parker tosses five solid innings, allowing two runs on four hits en route to a series-opening win on Friday. / TCU Baseball on X

Saturday was all about Tommy LaPour.

The sophomore transfer from Wichita State was dealt the loss despite allowing just two runs on four hits. It marks the second time this season LaPour has gotten the loss after allowing just two runs. He now sits at 1-2 with a 2.16 ERA through 16.2 innings pitched.

Other bright spots included Mason Brassfield and Cohen Feser.

The freshman left-hander Brassfield pitched three solid frames in relief on Saturday following LaPour’s outing, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out a trio of Golden Eagles. Brassfield now holds a 1-0 record with eight strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA through eight frames.

Moving from a young freshman to an incredibly experienced senior, Feser was stellar on Sunday. He kept the Golden Eagles at bay after tossing three no-hit innings, allowing one walk and punching out three batters.

Offensively, too, there are players to keep an eye on.

Chase Brunson had lots of success this weekend, going 4-for-11 with two doubles and an RBI. Not to mention, Sam Myers went 3-for-10 with a double and two RBIs alongside a strong weekend for Anthony Silva that saw the junior go 3-for-6 with a home run.

What’s next:

After TCU falls to 7-4 on the season, they will have Monday off before hosting a two-game midweek set with the Air Force Academy (4-7) on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Despite coming off a loss to Army, the Falcons will roll into Fort Worth off the back of a weekend series win.

With the Frogs playing two midweek games before a hosting weekend series against Fresno State, we are certain to see several arms over the two days at Lupton. This midweek should allow for the Frogs to tighten up on various loose ends and get ready for a series against the Bulldogs.

TCU will be back in action at Lupton Stadium on Tuesday night when they host Air Force. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. Streaming is available on ESPN+ and the radio call is available on 88.7 FM KTCU The Choice.

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