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TCU Baseball: Texas A&M Corpus Christi Recap
Kirk Saarloos wants his pitchers to throw strikes. Once they hit mid-season form, just getting it over the plate won't be an issue for a staff as talented as the one in Fort Worth. We are not quite there just yet.
TCU starting pitcher Cam Brown had an eventful first inning. TAM-CC leadoff hitter RF Brandon Petkoff ran the count full before drawing a walk. On the very next pitch, two-hole hitter LF Josh Caraway roped a double and there were runners on third and second with nobody out. Brown would hit the next batter with a pitch to load the bases, still with nobody out.
Considering the absolute mess that he put himself in, Brown did a pretty commendable job limiting the damage. He would strike out the next batter before getting a ground ball out that drove in a run, and then ending the inning with a bases loaded strike out to avoid a complete implosion.
That was not enough to earn him a second inning of work, as Saarloos would send LHP Connor Oliver out to the mound to start the second inning despite Brown having only thrown 26 pitches on the day. Oliver was not able to pay it off for Coach as he would immediately give up a double in the gap in left-center and two batters later a wild pitch would score the Islanders' second run of the game. The big blow in the inning would come off a three-run Josh Caraway home run, who had a double and and home run after just two innings.
Thankfully, the TCU bats were alive all night. Having scored one run in the first off a David Bishop sacrifice fly, TCU would answer with three more runs in the second inning. SS Tommy Sacco would lead things off with a double, followed by a walk from C Kurtis Byre, and a single from RF Luke Boyers to load the bases with nobody out. Freshman LF Logan Maxwell (who is starting to put together good at bats and swings) would step to the plate and put together one of his best at bats as a Horned Frog, roping a single to pick up two RBI's on a two-two count. DH Garrison Berkley would display his power on a towering fly ball to tack on another run with a sacrifice fly, keeping the Frogs in the game 5-4 after two innings.
With one out in the third inning Coach Saarloos would crack the bullpen code, bringing in Caleb Bolden to get the TCU pitching staff back in control of the strike zone and the game. As he made the pitching change, he seemed to be imploring Oliver to throw strikes, telling him that he won't get everyone out but at least throwing strikes will give him a chance to do so. TCU fans will have to wait until the weekend to see if the starting rotation and Oliver received the message, but there was no waiting to find out of Bolden and those succeeding him last night did. Caleb Bolden (W), Augie Mihlbauer, Garrett Wright, and Caedmon Parker would combine to allow only one run during the final 5.2 innings to secure the TCU win.
Associate Head Coach and the man in charge of TCU's bats and offense, Bill Mosiello, has the TCU runs rolling in. It was especially encouraging to see TCU's offense put up 17 runs against a left handed starting pitcher.
The highlight of the night came in the 7th with the Frogs already up 11-6, in the form of back-to-back dingers from TCU's two star power hitters 3b Braydon Taylor and 1b David Bishop:
The Frogs were able to get the 10-run-rule scoring two runs in the 8th, giving the bullpen arms a bit of extra rest going into the opening weekend of conference play against the Baylor Bears in Waco this Friday night.
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