TCU Drops Game Two of Series to Baylor 16-5

After getting the better of the Bears with relative ease yesterday, TCU was stunned by a barrage of early hits today. After retiring the first two batters he faced, Mitchell Traver began struggling to command the strike zone. He let up a run in the first giving up a single after back to back walks and ended that inning having thrown 26 pitches. When he came back in the second he gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, issued two more back to back walks and gave up another RBI single before he was removed from the game.

Charles King took over for Traver and he allowed one of his inherited runners to score and let up a score of his own on a wild pitch, a walk and two singles. King opened up the third inning by hitting the first batter he faced and then letting up a single before he was replaced by Austin Boyles with one out in the inning. Boyles got out of the inning allowing just one of his inherited runners to score, giving Baylor a 6-0 lead going into the fourth.

Boyles gave up two singles, a double and a home run in the fourth to push Bears’ lead to 9-0. Baylor already had 10 hits and TCU had issued five walks through those first four innings. Trey Morris came on in relief of Boyles to start the fifth and he would give up seven runs of his own over his three innings of work. Baylor led by 16-0 at that point, and they would win the game a couple of innings later by a score of 16-5.

Cal Coughlin and Dalton Brown closed out the game with an inning of work a piece, allowing just one hit each. Six TCU pitchers saw action in the game and threw a combined 188 pitches. They allowed a total of 19 hits to Baylor in the game and combined for just six strike outs.

Early on, when TCU was still in the game, they got the lead off man on base in each of the first two innings, but they were unable to take advantage of their opportunities. Those missed opportunities allowed Baylor’s starter to settle in with a big lead in the middle innings and throw 118 pitches over 6 ²⁄₃ innings, allowing just two runs on two hits.

The one positive from this game is that TCU did manage a few runs late in the game to avoid making this game the worst loss in Jim Schlossnagle’s career at TCU. If Baylor had been able to hang on to a 15 run lead, that would have been the case. So, that’s good, I guess.

Mercifully, West Virginia’s 8-4 loss to Kansas State today and Texas Tech’s 12-10 loss to Oklahoma State last night allowed TCU to retain a one-game lead in the Big 12 standings. The loss to the Baylor today dropped the Frogs to 29-8 (10-4 in Big 12).

TCU and Baylor will play the rubber match of the series tomorrow at 1:00pm CT. The game can be viewed on Frog Vision and will be broadcast over the radio on 88.7 FM.