Frogs Advance to Semi-final Round of the Big 12 Baseball Championship

After TCU Baseball earned a bye in the Big 12 Tournament as the 3-seed, the Frogs matched up against the Houston Cougars in the 2nd round of the Big 12 Baseball Tournament. The Cougars eliminated Kansas State on Day 1 of the tournament with a stunning 9-2 victory.

Tommy LaPour, the typical Friday night starter for the Frogs, got the nod on the mound against the Cougars and didn't disappoint. The Wichita State transfer tossed 6.1 scoreless innings, only allowing two hits and one walk, while recording six strikeouts in the process.

Despite having the extended break due to the bye, the Frog offense picked up right where it left off by getting on the scoreboard in the 1st inning. Sawyer Strosnider made his presence known early on in the game with a stand-up triple down the right field line. Cole Cramer would later score the freshman on an error by the Cougar infield. Strosnider's 10th triple marked the single-season program record for triples in a season by a Horned Frog.

It was in the 2nd that TCU began to show why it's called Lupton East. Frogball was in full effect as some chaos on the basepaths and some clutch hitting resulted in the Frogs striking for four runs against one of the best pitchers in the conference, Antoine Jean.

After a single by Isaac Cadena and a Jack Bell walk, Head Coach Todd Whitting turned to Jean to give the Cougars some solid innings out of the bullpen. Bill Mosiello's offense immediately made the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year uncomfortable on the mound by putting on, and successfully executing, the double steal.

The Frogs loaded the bases a batter later, but at a cost. Colton Griffin was seemingly amped up after a hit-by-pitch and was vocal about that excitement, but was ejected a few minutes later by the umpiring crew, and was replaced by Brody Green. TCU Head Coach Kirk Saarloos mentioned in the press conference after the game that the TCU dugout believed Griffin was just yelling towards their own dugout. Griffin will have to serve a one-game suspension today in the game against the Kansas Jayhawks.

Once again, it was Cramer that put the ball in play with the bases loaded which resulted in another error by the defense. An errant throw to 1st by the third baseman resulted in two Frogs reaching home plate to extend the TCU lead to 3-0. Moments later, Noah Franco ripped a double up the middle to score Cramer and Green.