TCU 10, UT-Arlington 2: Frogs get back on track

TCU entered its game in Tuesday night in Arlington in a slump. Having lost four of its last five games and with a daunting schedule in the weeks ahead, it was a spot where the Frogs had to get right. Which it certainly did in a complete team effort to earn the win over the hosting Mavericks. TCU pitching never gave up the big inning and the offense got contribution from the entire lineup.

The evening got off to a lovely start, as a Tommy Sacco bunt single turned into the games first run off of a Kurtis Byrne hit. A couple of walks would load the bases, allowing the Luke Boyers fly out to right field to bring home a second run in the inning. Despite the solid opening frame, the Frogs weren’t able to fully take advantage of the baserunners and get the massive inning. The 2-run lead would evaporate with one swing of the bat from UTA clean-up hitting DH Steven Saunders in the 3rd inning.

UTA relief pitcher Matt Novis was mowing through the TCU lineup, giving up nothing for three innings of work. But then he took the mound to start the 6th inning and the Frog bats caught up. By the time the top of the inning was over TCU had added 3 runs via 2 hits, an error, and a walk. Again the Frogs left runners in scoring position leaving the door open for a Maverick come back. It appeared UTA would walk through that door in the bottom of the inning, as a single and a walk set up an odd sequence that could’ve made things difficult for TCU. The Maverick hitter sends a chopper down the third base line which is collected by Brayden Taylor and slung off line to first. It was originally ruled an error and the runner from 2nd ended scoring, narrowing the TCU lead to 2 runs. However, upon review it was determined that Taylor stepped on third base as he handled the grounder prior to throwing to first, resulting in an out instead of a run. TCU gets out of the inning unscathed. That was the end of the offense for the Mavericks, as they did not get another hit over the final three innings.

TCU, on the other hand, was not done adding insurance runs. The 7th inning saw the Frogs plate two runs despite no hits thanks to some questionable decision making and two errors. Reed Spenrath kept the fireworks going for the Frogs to lead off the 8th, sending a smash deep to center field:

The win moves TCU to 20-9 on the season while UT-Arlington falls to 10-18. Next up for TCU is a huge Big 12 series in Austin against the #7 Longhorns, beginning Friday at 6:30 PM on Longhorn Network.

Notable Performances:

• TCU Bullpen (Bolden, Mihlbauer, Wright): 6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 8 K, 0 Runs
• Kurtis Byrne: 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
• Reed Spenrath: 1-2, 1 HR, 1 BB