TCU Baseball: Shriners Children’s College Classic Recap
The Frogs wrapped up a trip to Houston with a dominant 7-0 victory over Rice University on Sunday. TCU split the first two games at Minute Maid Park, defeating Michigan on Friday and falling to Louisville on Saturday, and clinched the series thanks to a tremendous outing by Cam Brown.
Coming off the back of a crucial performance against Florida State a week ago, Brown took the hill with loads of confidence. He didn’t give the Rice batters a sniff of the ball on Sunday as we went 7 innings of scoreless baseball, giving up 3 hits, 3 walks, and punching out 8.
Since a rough outing against Arkansas where he gave up four runs, Brown has been an ace for the Frogs, conceding only two runs, both unearned, in 13 innings.
While Brown had a phenomenal day on the bump, the Frogs’ bats were explosive at the plate.
Luke Boyers opened up the scoring with a 3-run blast to left field in the bottom of the 2nd. It didn’t take long for the Frogs to take advantage once again as Tre Richardson lifted a solo shot into right field to make it a 4-0 ballgame.
In the 5th inning, Karson Bowen added to the Frogs’ tally with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Elijah Nuñez. Heading into the bottom of the 8th, a single from Bowen, followed up with a double from Cole Fontenelle, put the Frogs in another threatening situation.
Brody Green stepped up to the dish and delivered a 2-run double into left field, extending the Frogs’ lead to 8-0.
It was a great weekend for the Frogs as pitching, hitting, and defense were all on display. A key takeaway for the Frogs is the continued resurgence by Ryan Vanderhei. A transfer from Kansas, Vanderhei has solidified his spot in the TCU starting rotation. A quality start on Friday against Michigan, where he struck out 8 batters in 6 innings, set the tone for the rest of the series.
It was an equally well-pitched series by the TCU bullpen as they quieted bats all weekend. Luke Savage, Chase Hoover, Ben Abeldt, and Louis Rodriguez, combined for 10 innings, giving up only 6 hits and no runs. Not to mention, TCU pitching recorded shutouts against Michigan and Rice.
Hitting-wise, the Frogs scored 15 runs on 19 hits over the weekend, finishing with a run differential of plus 12. Relying on the long ball, the Frogs hit 5 home runs during the series, but they also manufactured runs through playing small-ball.
Defensively, numerous Frogs made highlight-worthy plays all across the diamond. Most notable is Austin Davis’ leaping catch against the right field wall to rob Michigan of an extra-base hit. On Sunday, Bowen slung the ball to second base to catch a runner on the base paths, and Green made a heads-up play, throwing a runner out at home plate.
A positive series all-around the Frogs improved to 7-4, winning two of three in Houston. Kirk Saarloos and the team will return to Lupton Stadium to take on UT-Arlington on Tuesday with first pitch slated for 6 p.m.
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