Barry Lewis
TCU Baseball: Get Your Brooms Out; Frogs Sweep Army
If you do not believe that Lupton Magic is real then you weren't watching the TCU baseball team on Saturday. Both games, in the doubleheader, needed the Lupton Magic to pull off the win for the Horned Frogs. Sunday's game didn't need the late-inning theatrics to complete the sweep.
Friday's game was moved to Saturday due to the potential weather. That meant for the second Saturday in a row, TCU was playing a doubleheader. In the first game against the Army Black Knights on Saturday, TCU won 6-4 and followed that with a 6-5 win in ten innings in the second game. On Sunday, Frogs won 5-2. TCU is now 11-4 after completing the sweep.
The series sweep helps right the ship after a difficult trip to the Blue Grass State that saw the Frogs go 1-3 between the series at Kentucky and a midweek game at Louisville. When last week's rankings came out, TCU tumbled in all polls. With Big 12 conference play beginning next week, the series sweep against an Army team that has only won three games was a must for the Frogs to regain the confidence needed to make it to the postseason.
Was the series perfect? By no means. The Frogs had to come from behind in all three games. TCU left 27 runners on base over the three games. And the starting lineup gave up 10 runs on 18 hits. Frogs definitely have improvements to make.
Here's the recap of each of the games:
Saturday - Game 1 - TCU 6, Army 4
Army got off to a quick start with one run in the first, another in the second, and two in the third before the Frogs had plated a single runner. In the bottom of the third, Kurtis Byrne hit a 3-run home run to bring the score to 4-3. The score would remain that going into the ninth inning.
Riley Cornelio was the starting pitcher. He pitched 5.0 innings and gave up four runs (two earned) on three hits. He walked four and struck out seven in the no-decision. Cohen Feser pitched the last four innings and allowed two hits with no runs and four strikeouts.
In the bottom of the 9th, the Frogs would call on Lupton Magic. David Bishop and Gray Rodgers led off and both reached base. Tommy Sacco and Byrne were out. Luke Boyers came to the plate with two on, two outs. On a 1-0 pitch, he hit a bomb down the left-field line that bounced off the foul pole and over the wall. Frogs got the walk-off win.
Saturday - Game 2 - TCU 6, Army 5
There was no time to celebrate that first win. The second game started 45 minutes after the walk-off. This time it was Brett Walker taking the mound for the Horned Frogs. He pitched 4.1 innings with five runs on eight hits. He had two strikeouts and one walk.
Army was once again on the board first, scoring two runs in the 2nd inning. Bishop put the Frogs on the board with a solo homer in the third inning. Army added three two-out runs in the fourth.
TCU's bullpen pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings. This included Caleb Bolden (0.2 Innings pitched - IP), Augie Mihlbauer (2.0 IP), Storm Hierholzer (1.0 IP), and River Ridings (2.0 IP).
TCU began their comeback in the bottom of the eighth inning. Elijah Nunez got things started with a lead-off double followed by a walk to Brayden Taylor. Bishop singled to bring Nunez home. Rodgers followed with an RBI double. Byrne made it a one-run game with an RBI groundout and an error allowed the tying run to score.
Tied 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth, TCU had a chance to win it with one out and bases loaded, but hit into a double play to end the inning and send the game into extra innings. Once again, the Frogs loaded the bases. Nunez drew a five-pitch, two-out walk to give the Frogs another walk-off when his walk drove Bobby Goodloe home.
Sunday - TCU 5, Army 2
Once again, the Frogs were fighting from behind. In the first inning, starting pitcher Austin Krob gave up four hits and two runs. He was able to get a bases-loaded strikeout for the third out to end the inning. Those two runs would be all the TCU pitching squad would give up all day.
For the Frogs, five different batters drove in a run. Three runs were scored in the third. Another was added in the fifth, and the final came in the eighth. Luke Savage and Marcelo Perez pitched in relief. TCU drew two bases-loaded walks in the game and now have ten on the season.
Next up: TCU continues the homestand on Tuesday when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 6 p.m. Cam Brown is scheduled to pitch. TCU will open Big 12 Conference play with a series next weekend in Waco against Baylor.
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