Frogs even series against WVU with 10-4 victory Saturday

After Jim Schlossnagle called them out publicly a night earlier, TCU Baseball responded with a complete offensive effort and solid pitching to even their series with WVU at a game apiece.

The Frogs were able to score in just one frame Friday night, but looked much better Saturday afternoon in pushing a run across in all but one** frame. TCU scored first in the bottom of the first, added two in the second, two in the third, and two in the fourth as they pounced on a Mountaineer pitching staff that couldn’t find the zone all day. Four Frogs had two or more hits Saturday, with Michael Landestoy, Connor Wanhanen, and Conner Shepherd driving in two apiece. While the Eers scores all of their runs by way of the long ball, TCU got it’s only dinger of the day from Shep, who went yard to right field for a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh.

Jake Eissler looked sharp early for the Frogs, building off of his incredible performance a week prior against Lamar. He kept WVU off the board until the fourth inning, when a two out walk - the first he issued of the game - led to a three run home run, one that cut the TCU lead to two. But the Frogs answered back in the bottom of the inning, when a walk and three consecutive singles got the Frogs back on the board. After a scoreless fifth, both teams put a run on the board in the sixth, but TCU broke things open in the bottom of the seventh with two more, which would prove plenty.

Eissler went 5.2 innings for TCU, allowing four runs on seven hits - including the pair of dingers - and striking out five. He was relieved by Chuck King, who bounced back from a bad performance in his last outing, going 3.2 innings on one hit ball, striking out two and walking none. King looked much more like the guy Frog fans fell in love with last summer, and his ability to go long relief was crucial to the victory. Meanwhile, WVU burned through seven pitchers who allowed a combined 13 hits, issued nine free passes and hit a guy, and got touched up for 10 runs. That could be big going into Sunday’s rubber match, as the Frogs will have a distinct advantage in the pen in the all important third game of the set.

TCU will play their final game at Lupton Stadium this season Sunday, as they celebrate senior day with a 1:00pm first pitch.