Killer Frogs

TCU Baseball: TCU Drops Series Opener in Houston

Tommy LaPour and Noah Franco shine as the Frogs come up short in the series opener vs Houston, losing 2-3.
Carson Wersal|
Tommy LaPour delivers a pitch during his quality start against the Houston Cougars.
Tommy LaPour delivers a pitch during his quality start against the Houston Cougars. | TCU Baseball X/Twitter

The TCU Horned Frogs (19-8, 3-4 Big 12) opened a three-game series against the Houston Cougars (15-10, 3-4 Big 12) on Friday night in Houston, TX. With both teams coming off big away-series wins, TCU against the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Cougars against the UCF Knights in Florida, this series shapes up to be a big opportunity for both ballclubs.

Starting for the Horned Frogs it was, the sophomore transfer from Wichita State, Tommy LaPour. Last week while filling in for Caedmon Parker, LaPour threw 6.0 innings only allowing 2 runs on 6 hits. For the Cougars, it was Paul Schmitz on the mound in Game 1 of the series. Little did fans know, game 1 of the series would be host of some really good pitching on both sides of the diamond.

TCU got on the board first within their first few at-bats in the ballgame. Sawyer Strosnider once again gave the Frogs lineup a jumpstart witha triple off the wall in the 1st inning. Ever since being moved to the 2-hole in the lineup, it seems like the right-fielder has only gotten better. The freshmen class for TCU continued to show out as Noah Franco ripped a single into RF to score Strosnider from 3rd.

In the 3rd inning, a couple walks surrendered by LaPour led to a 2 RBI double courtesy of, Houston first baseman, Xavier Perez.

After the Strosnider walk, head coach of the Cougars Todd Whitting made the decision to go to the bullpen bringing in Antoine Jean to give the Cougars some solid innings. After Cole Cramer walked, it was once again Franco that picked the Frogs up with an RBI single into left field.

After a scoreless 6th inning for both teams, LaPour's night on the mound came to a close. The transfer sophomore ended the game with 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, and 6 Ks.

After TCU head coach Kirk Saarloos went to Braeden Sloan out of the bullpen, a pinch hit double by Coby DeJesus ended up being the game decider as he drove in Tyler Cox all the way from 1st base.

While Sloan was able to keep the deficit within 1 in the 8th, the Horned Frogs would inevitably come up short in the 9th during a two out rally to get the tying and potentially go-ahead run on base. After quickly getting 2 outs in TCU's final chance to tie the game, Anthony Silva showed life with a single up the middle.

Karson Bowen pinch hit for Jack Bell and walked on only 4 pitches giving the Frogs two runners on base with Cole Eaton pinch running for Bowen. After a wild pitch from Jean on the mound, the pressure was on as Eaton and Silva both advanced to scoring position. With the game on the line, Jean got Jack Arthur swinging for the final out of the series opener.

Key Takeaways

Noah Franco was the bright spot on offense in Game 1 vs the Houston Cougars as he drove in both of TCU's runs. The first came on a hard single into right field and the other with an opposite field single into left field. Not only has the freshman proven that he can hit the ball to both sides of the field. He's also become one of the better RBI machines the Frogs have at the plate.

Franco is now up to 17 RBIs on the season and has had multiple hits in 8 games in 2025.

Another positive for the Frogs in the loss was starting pitcher Tommy LaPour. The right-hander not only dominated the Cougars with a fastball reaching 98 mph, but he generated multiple outs when the Frogs needed it most to stay within reach of Houston's 1-run lead

In 2025, LaPour has now logged an impressive 37.2 IP, 34 H, 13 ER, 11 BB, and 29 Ks in 7 appearances for TCU.

The Frogs are back in action tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. in Houston where Caedmon Parker makes his return to the mound after cutting an outing short against Arizona State two weeks ago. Parker will make his return against Houston's Richie Roman.

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Carson Wersal
CARSON WERSAL

Carson, a 2025 TCU graduate, is a sports journalist who covers college athletics for several On SI sites. While most of his experience is with TCU On SI, he also writes with Wake Forest On SI and Houston On SI. He also has a passion for the college baseball scene, most notably being a fan of TCU Baseball. In 2023, Carson was in Omaha and reported on the Men’s College World Series, where TCU finished 4th in the nation. His past work not only consists of major sports like football, basketball, and baseball, but with others like track and field and cross country as well.

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