TCU Baseball: Horned Frogs Take the Season Opener against No. 10 Vanderbilt

It was a strong, all-around performance for a TCU team with high expectations.

The TCU Horned Frogs opened up the season last night at Globe Life Field taking on the No. 10 Vanderbilt Commodores. They're competing in the Higginbotham College Baseball Showdown against other SEC and Big 12 teams this weekend. Behind a nine-run sixth and seventh inning, the Frogs took the 11-4 win. 

Ryan Vanderhei drew the start for the Frogs. The transfer from Kansas went five innings giving up three runs on two hits on 66 pitches. Luke Savage would get the win for TCU. He went 3.1 innings with two strikeouts. Both were efficient and got weak contact from Vanderbilt all night long.

The momentum swung in favor of TCU when Elijah Nunez cleared the bases with a double to give TCU a 5-3 lead. The Frog fans at Globe Life exploded. Following that, Brayden Taylor hit a 2-run bomb to right field to extend the lead. Nunez has had lots of success hitting at Globe Life Field. The junior is hitting .394 with 10 RBIs in 10 games.

Kurtis Byrne had a solid game for TCU behind the plate and on offense. He threw out a runner in the fifth and brought in the first TCU run of the game with a sac fly. The Frogs' hitters were really aggressive at the plate and taking advantage of some missed pitches by Vanderbilt. 

The TCU offense put on a strong showing in the opener. Certainly scoring 11 runs against a top 10 team in the country is a positive sign and an indication of what's to come. A team with high expectations, the Frogs met that last night. However, it's a long season and last night was step one of where they want to go.

The Horned Frogs will be back in action tonight taking on No. 8 Arkansas at 7 p.m. 

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