TCU Baseball: MLB4 Tournament Recap

The Horned Frogs opened the Kirk Saarloos era with a win against San Diego State and went 2-1 in the opening weekend of the 2022 college baseball season in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The anticipation is finally over and for the first time since 2003 TCU baseball took the field led by somebody other than Jim Schlossnagle.

Kirk Saarloos, TCU's long tenured and highly touted pitching coach took the helm as new head coach and the #17th ranked Horned Frogs returned from Salt River Fields to Fort Worth Sunday night having completed their first successful business trip of the Saarloos era, going 2-1 over the weekend. 

Game 1 - San Diego State Aztecs

The San Diego State Aztecs baseball program has made 14 NCAA tournament appearances and produced legends Tony Gwynn and Stephen Strasburg. Gwynn, who is the namesake of the Aztecs' home stadium returned to his Alma Mater to become head baseball coach from 2003-2014, and hand picked his successor Mark Martinez, who continues to lead the team today. They were picked to finish 3rd in the Mountain West Conference behind Nevada and UNLV and are seeking their 15th NCAA tournament appearance in 2022.

Kirt Saarloos and his preseason All-Americans, starting pitcher Austin Krob and third baseman Braydon Taylor, don't care how many MLB Hall of Famers San Diego State has produced and started the 2022 campaign unfazed and in mid-season form. 

With San Diego State's top prospect and regular Friday night starting pitcher Troy Melton out with arm soreness, it seemed TCU had caught a break to start 2022. However, when San Diego State trotted out left handed pitcher TJ Fondtain who struck out lead off hitter Elijah Nunez, there was a sense of 'here we go again' as TCU  struggled mightily against lefties last season. Braydon Taylor put that notion to rest almost immediately with a double off the wall and would be driven in on the very next pitch as 6'3 true freshman first baseman David Bishop would drive a single right back up the middle in his first collegiate at bat. The importance of scoring a run in the 1st inning against a left handed pitcher for this TCU squad after their struggles last year cannot be overstated, and it seemed to give Austin Krob confidence in his 2022 debut.

Krob would start off the 1st inning dealing with an absolutely filthy slider that locked up the Aztec bats from both sides, racking up three strikeouts in the first inning alone.

After the Frogs left the bases loaded partly in thanks to their first base running mistake of the year, Krob would continue to leave the Aztec bats mystified in the 2nd inning. So much so unfortunately that a late off balance swing from an Aztec batter would hit Washington transfer catcher Micheal Pitrie in the wrist as he was receiving the pitch, and what looked like strike three would be called catcher interference and Pitrie would be forced from action through the rest of the weekend. 

The starting pitchers took over until the 6th inning when Pitrie's replacement, backup catcher Kurtis Byre doubled down the left field line driving in second baseman Gray Rodgers. In the bottom of the 6th the wheels would fall off for the Frogs as defensive lapses and wild pitches seemed like they would come back to haunt TCU. The Aztecs would score 3 runs (2 earned) off middle relievers Augie Mihlbauer and Luke Savage.

Enter Marcelo Perez. 

2019 Freshman All-Big 12 reliever Perez locked down the Aztecs in the 7th and 8th, keeping the Horned Frogs in the game and giving them a chance to rally in the 9th.

Trailing by one with LF Logan Maxwell on 2nd and Elijah Nunez on 1st, Braydon Taylor would step up to the plate.

Bishop would come to the plate next and drive Nunez home with a single up the middle and a wild pitch during Rodgers at bat would allow Taylor to score from 3rd putting the Frogs up 5-3. 

In the bottom of the ninth Saarloos would bring in River Ridings to close the game and seal the victory to get a come from behind win in his debut. 

Standout Performances

Standout pitching performances vs San Diego State

Pitcher	Innings	Hits	Runs	Walks	Strikeouts	Pitches
Krob	4	4	0	1	7	82
Perez	2	0	0	0	2	27

Standout hitting performances vs San Diego State

Batter	AB	Runs	Hits	Doubles	RBI	BB	SO	LOB
Taylor 3B	3	2	2	2	1	2	0	0
Bishop 1B	4	0	2	0	2	1	1	2

Game 2- University of California Golden Bears

In another thrilling game that would come down to wire, the California Golden Bears would outlast the TCU Horned Frogs 7-6 in the first meeting between the two programs since TCU defeated Cal 13-2 in the 2019 Fayetteville Regional.

 Darren Baker, Dusty Baker's son was the starting second baseman for the Bears in the 2019 regional and I was lucky enough to sit right across the isle from Mr. Baker during that game. Darren would go on to receive multiple All American and Golden Spikes accolades during his Cal tenure before being drafted by the Nationals in the 10th round in last years MLB draft.

Cal's star player in 2022 is 6'4 206lb right fielder Dylan Beavers, who is widely regarded as a 1st round pick in this years MLB draft.

TCU would bat first as the visiting team again, and SS Tommy Sacco would drive in two runs in the first, followed up by RBI singles from RF Luke Boyers and 3B Braydon Taylor in the 2nd, giving the Frogs 4 run cushion after 2 innings.

TCU starting pitcher Riley Cornelio would start the game in dominant fashion, not allowing a hit through the first 3 innings, including a 4 pitch 2nd inning and back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the 2nd and 3rd while topping out at 94mph. Cornelio would last 5.1 innings while allowing 2 runs in an encouraging 2022 debut. 

Having scored Cal's lone run in the 4th inning, Dylan Beavers would step to the plate in the 6th: 

Cutting the TCU lead to 4-2 and ending Cornelio's day. Saarloos would call on Caleb Bolden who would pitch admirably to get the final two outs of the 6th.

After Bolden however, the TCU bullpen and defense would fall apart. TCU would give up 4 runs in the 8th inning and 1 in the 9th to lose on a walk-off wild pitch, after TCU had scored 2 in the top of the 9th to come back and tie the game. The rally would not be completed on back-to back days and the Frogs would fall 6-7 and move their record to 1-1 for the season and weekend.

Standout Performances

Standout pitching performances vs the University of California

Pitcher	IP	H	R	BB	SO	HBP	Pitches
Cornelio	5.1	3	2	2	5	0	78
Bolden	1	2	0	0	2	1	22

Standout batting performances vs the University of California

Batter	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	LOB
Boyers RF	5	1	2	0	1	0	1	0
Taylor 3B	4	1	2	0	2	1	2	0
Sacco SS	5	0	3	0	2	0	1	0
Byrne C	4	1	2	1	0	0	1	2

Game 3- University of Houston

In a couple of years this will be a Big 12 conference matchup. On Sunday the Horned Frogs gave the Cougars a taste of what is to come in the Big 12 with a 10 run rule shutout victory in the 8th inning, securing a winning weekend for TCU.

Brett Walker, TCU's new face in the weekend rotation, a 6'3 right handed graduate transfer from the University of Oregon, got the start and did not allow a run while striking out 5 in 6.2 innings of work in his TCU debut.

Standout batting performances vs the University of Houston

Batter	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	SB	LOB
Boyers RF	5	2	2	0	0	0	2	1	2
Taylor 3B	4	2	3	0	1	1	0	1	0
Sacco SS	4	3	3	1	0	1	1	1	0
Spenrath DH	4	0	2	0	4	1	1	0	0

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