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Nick Lodolo and Luken Baker led the way for the Frogs as they evened the series with Arizona State at one game a piece on Saturday. Lodolo went five innings allowing just one run on four hits while walking four and striking out six. The one run Lodolo surrendered gave ASU a 1-0 lead in the first, but in the bottom of the inning Baker hit a towering three-run homer over the TCU bullpen, scoring Austen Wade and Elliott Barzilli who reached base on a single and a walk to get things going for the Frogs.
TCU added another run in the bottom of the fourth as Evan Williams worked a one out walk and stole second before getting home on a double from Barzilli. Fellow freshman Charles King came on in relief of Lodolo and went 2 2⁄3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
King immediately got into some trouble in the sixth letting up a couple of hits before recording his first out with a strikeout. Holding onto a 4-1 lead, a wild pitch from King allowed the runners to advance to second and third with one out, but the Freshman showed resilience pitching his way out of the jam. He induced a grounder to third which kept the runners at bay for the second out of the inning and ended the frame with a strikeout.
When King came back in the top of the seventh he worked a quick three-up-three-down inning, and TCU exploded in the bottom of the frame for four runs. Baker worked a one-out walk and advanced to second on a ground out when Nolan Brown came through with a single to put runners on the corners. Brown proceeded to steal second and Watson walked to load the bases before a single from Merrill and a double from Williams put the Frogs up 8-1.
Charles Kings let up four hits with two outs in the eighth to allow three more runs for the Sun Devils, but that’s a close as it got. Sean Wymer came on and pitched 1 1⁄3 innings of shutout baseball to finish the game and secure the win.
TCU started Luken Baker at first in today’s game and plugged Evan Williams in at designated hitter. Williams performed well in the role going two for three with a run and three RBIs. Nolan Brown continued his hot steak with two hits and a run in five at bats.
The Frogs will go for the series win Sunday in the rubber match, which will be televised on FSSW+. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00pm.