The No. 15 Horned Frogs finished off a series sweep with a 10-5 victory over the Air Force Falcons on a windy Sunday afternoon at Lupton Stadium.
Head coach Jim Schlossnagle said he saw some good signs from his team this weekend in their second series sweep of the season.
“I thought our starting pitching was good all weekend,” Schlossnagle said. “Every guy we brought out of the bullpen, for the most part, was effective as well.”
Schlossnagle said he was proud of his team for fighting through the windy conditions and said he thought they had a good mentality going into the game.
“What was most impressive to me was getting 16 hits under conditions where it’s hard to get hits,” he said. “We executed some things and had two really nice bunts, and that’s good to see too.”
Senior starting pitcher Steven Maxwell improved to 4-0 on the season, giving up only one run on three hits in seven innings.
The Frogs scored early and often on Sunday scoring 10 runs on 16 hits. Sophomore third baseman Jantzen Witte got the offense going with a solo home run in the first inning.
Junior Brance Rivera extended his hitting streak to 27 games with a lead-off single to start the third inning.
The Frogs extended their lead in the third inning when left fielder Jason Coats tallied a two RBI, bases loaded single to give the Frogs a 3-0 lead. Following Coats in the third inning was designated hitter Josh Elander, who drove in two more runs with a single down the first base line.
TCU loaded the bases again in the fourth inning and the Frogs were able to get a run across on a walk by Coats.
Maxwell was strong on the mound, taking a no hit bid into the fourth inning until Alex Bast recorded the Falcon’s first hit of the day.
“I had the fastball going for me today, which is something I lacked last week,” Maxwell said. “I was just going off the adjustments I could make and it really came together for me.”
After loading the bases again in the sixth inning, Frogs’ second baseman Jerome Pena delivered a double down the first base line, scoring two more runs to extend TCU’s lead to 8-1.
Maxwell was relieved by freshman reliever Tony Rizzotti . Rizzotti struggled, giving up four runs in only 1/3 inning. Senior Trent Appleby came in to record the final five outs for the Frogs.
The win improved the Frogs’ record to 18-9 (5-1 MWC). The Falcons extended their losing streak to seven games, dropping their record to 11-19 (0-5 MWC) on the season.
A crowd of 4,178 was in attendance to see the game, which lasted a swift 2 hours and 31 minutes.
Up next
The Frogs are 6-2 in the midst of their current 13-game home stand and will be back in action Tuesday night when they host UT Pan American for a two-game series at Lupton Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.