TCU Hosts Top-25 Southern Miss In Huge Weekend Baseball Series

No. 22 Southern Miss visits Fort Worth to face TCU in one of the weekend's biggest series in college baseball. Previewing the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.

TCU RHP Trever Baumler in his start against Kansas State. Baumler is 1-1 on the season and will get the start on Sunday against Southern Miss. | Brian McLean - On Assignment Photo/TCU On SI

Coming off a tough tournament last weekend and gritty weeknight win, the No. 25 TCU Horned Frogs (6-2) get no break. This weekend, they host the No. 22 Southern Miss Golden Eagles (7-2) in a three-game series at Lupton Stadium. Yet another stellar defensive and pitching team, Southern Miss tossed a shutout over ranked Mississippi State and won two-of-three over a good Louisiana Tech team, not allowing more than five runs in any game.

Pitching has been the strength of TCU's first five individual opponents. Southern Miss likely rosters the best crew the Frogs have seen, set aside Arkansas. While not critical to Big 12 standings, this non-conference series will be a terrific measuring stick for TCU's national readiness. A great showing here sets this team up for future success.

Southern Miss at TCU begins Friday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. CT. Games 2 and 3 kick off Saturday and Sunday, both at 1 p.m. CT. Watch the series on ESPN+ or on the radio at 88.7 FM KTCU and on the Varsity App.

Dominant Pitching Headlines Southern Miss' Efforts

Six wins in their first eight games surely isn't a disappointing start for the Frogs. However, Sunday's 10-2 loss to Kansas State certainly wasn't the result Kirk Saarloos & Co. hoped for. In the final two games of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series–against a dominant pitching staff in Arkansas and also Kansas State–TCU scored three total runs.

In nine games, Southern Miss has two shutout wins – one against No. 18 Mississippi State and the next game against Louisiana Tech. That kind of dominance on the mound comes from a pair of ace starters, junior righty JB Middleton and junior lefty Kros Sivley. Middleton and Sivley start Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Middleton has yet to allow a run through 11 innings pitched, giving up just four hits and striking out 10; opposing batters managed a meager .114 against him. Sivley (1-0, 2.45 ERA) fanned 17 batters in his first two outings (11 IP). The two make for a deadly combination capable of carrying Southern Miss far into the postseason.

The talent goes beyond just the starting rotation. Junior righty Colby Allen (1-0, 2.70) started a game for USM but also worked two games as the closer for the Golden Eagles, picking up two saves in the process. He's rung up 12 batters against just three walks and three earned runs. Grad Matt Adams (1-1, 2.89) started two games and worked an additional in relief.

Southern Miss has yet to announce a Sunday starter.

Fight Fire With Fire

Both teams started off hot on the mound. USM ranks 44th in strikeout rate (27.1%) while TCU ranks 58th (25.5%). Like with many games so far, don't expect the scoreboard to get a workout this weekend.

TCU's retooled pitching staff looks the part of a postseason rotation early on despite missing Ben Abeldt. Caedmon Parker (1-1, 5.23), Tommy LaPour (1-1, 1.50), and Trever Baumler (1-1, 4.82) remain as the starting weekend pitchers while Louis Rodriguez (0-0, 1.23) remains the go-to reliever. The rest of the staff pitched five or fewer innings but all performed relatively well, creating a deep bullpen with plenty of options to go to.

Some may rise to the top–freshman Kade Eudy started off efficiently, not allowing a run and ringing up seven batters (no walks!) through four innings)–as TCU feels out its schedule.

But this weekend series comes down to pitching and both teams have plenty of it.

About The Hitting...

Against a gauntlet of pitchers, TCU's offense is tough to discern at the moment. Last year, the bats started off strong but fizzled into nothingness against quality opponents. In its last four games–all against teams against teams power rated better than 100th (per Sonny Moore)–TCU averages 3.8 runs per game. The Golden Eagles rank 67th.

Karson Bowen and Isaac Cadena are the only Frogs to hit better than .300 through eight games, though that's a small sample size. Cadena's filled up the stat sheet, hitting three home runs and drawing eight walks, but also striking out nine times in 39 plate appearances. Freshman Noah Franco struck out 12 times and Sawyer Strosnider, 13 times. Those two can be excused to the adjustment to college baseball.

But Anthony Silva continues to struggle. Now a junior, the former All-Big 12 selection is just 4-for-24 (.167) with 10 strikeouts and only one walk drawn.

The Frogs' .242 team batting average sits second-to-last in the Big 12. Their 84 strikeouts are the third-most. But when bat meets ball, TCU generates plenty of power – their 13 homers ranks fourth.

Against another difficult pitching staff, TCU's offense has no time to get the train on the right track. It's truly trial by fire; thrown into the ocean and told to swim.

And this offense better start swimming.

Player To Watch

Isaac Cadena is a beacon of light among an otherwise dark batting order. The Ohio State transfer leads TCU in home runs (3) and extra base hits (5, tied with Cole Cramer) while batting .333 in 39 plate appearances. He also has a pair of stolen bases, a metric confined to only a few players.

In years past, TCU leaned on dynamic bats like Brayden Taylor and Evan Skoug. In years without a player capable of hitting 15+ home runs in a season, TCU finished the season poorly (2018, .589 win percentage, 9 HR led...2024, .611 win percentage, 8 HR led).

Cadena is a player capable of hitting 15+ home runs, more likely 20+. That spark on offense trickles down to other power hitters like Franco and Jack Bell.

Against another quality pitching staff, I'm looking for Cadena to lead the offense again. Without a stellar weekend from the sophomore, TCU is looking at few to no runs.

How To Watch TCU Vs. Southern Miss

When: Feb. 28, 6 p.m. | Mar. 1, 1:00 p.m. | Mar. 2, 1:00 p.m.

Where: Lupton Stadium (Fort Worth, TX)

TV/Streaming: ESPN+ (all)

Radio: KTCU 88.7 FM, Varsity App

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