TCU Baseball: Frogball Surges Late to Earn Series-Opening Victory

For the first couple of innings, Kirk Saarloos and his squad appeared to be the relentless offense that we had seen in the previous week against Cincinnati. The Frogs struck for a run in the first courtesy of a leadoff double by Karson Bowen, who was scored by an RBI single from Noah Franco. In TCU's second time at the plate, Nolan Traeger tripled into the left-center gap, which was followed by a sacrifice flyout by Anthony Silva to extend the Frog lead to 2-0.

Utah got on the board for the first time in the bottom half of the 2nd. After three singles and a double, the Utes tied the game 2-2. A double play helped limit the damage, but it was evident that the Utah lineup had brought their A-game Thursday night.

TCU once again extended their lead to two in the 3rd with a line drive homerun from Sawyer Strosnider, and a Chase Brunson RBI single that scored Cole Cramer. Strosnider's homerun was his 10th of the season as he and Traeger extended their hitting streaks to eight games. Traeger also logged his 12th career multi-hit game, going 2-for-3.

The Utes cut the deficit to one in the bottom half of the 3rd with an infield single by Tyler Quinn. A few throwing errors by the Frogs resulted in the unearned run.

It was in the 5th that Utah took the lead for the first time that night. The Utes had made solid contact off of LaPour's fastball all evening, but hadn't been able to find the big hit to break the seal until Quinn doubled down the left field line to score Core Jackson. With the game tied 4-4, Kaden Carpenter played the hero for the Utes with an RBI single that scored Quinn.

It was at this point that LaPour's day on the mound had run its course. The righty finished with 4.1 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, and 3 Ks. Louis Rodriguez took over for the Frogs in the 5th and quickly retired a couple of Utes to get the Frogs back in the dugout. Rodriguez would give the Frogs the length they needed from the TCU bullpen with 3.2 shutout innings along with 2 Ks.

While Rodriguez and the Frog defense held it down out in the field, TCU seemed to have acquired a mid-game slump as McAnelly had worked four scoreless innings for the home team. McAnelly ended the game with 7.0 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, and 2 Ks.

With only three outs to play with, the Frogs needed one run to tie the game in the 9th inning. Lucas Boesen was tasked with shutting down the volatile Frog offense one last time. Boesen's time wouldn't last long on the mound after two singles and a walk, loading the bases for TCU. After Strosnider struck out swinging, Cramer turned the game around with a 2-run RBI single through the left side as the Frogs took the lead 6-5.

It was at this point that the floodgates opened for Bill Mosiello's offense. Franco doubled into the gap and Brunson walked, which led to a pinch-hit appearance from Cole Eaton. With his first RBIs of the season, Eaton singled into center field to score Franco and Brunson, extending the lead to five.

After a Silva double and a couple of walks by Cadena and Bell, with Bell scoring on a bases-loaded walk, Bowen added to the Frog lead once again with a 2-RBI single into left field. Kole Klecker got the nod in the 9th to complete the comeback to move to 18-10 in conference play. The 13-5 win was TCU's 22nd come-from-behind win of the season.

Game Two of the weekend series between the Horned Frogs and the Utes is Friday, May 16, with first pitch at 7 pm CT. The game can be seen on ESPN+.

Follow KillerFrogs on X to stay up to date on all the latest TCU news! Follow KillerFrogs on Facebook and Instagram as well.