Wasted opportunities on the bases hurt the TCU Horned Frogs as they dropped a 4-2 decision to New Mexico Friday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
TCU stranded 12 runners on base in the loss. Kyle Von Tungeln, Joe Weik and Josh Elander earned MWC All-Tournament honors.
Steven Maxwell (5-1) lasted just 1 1/3 innings in his return. He was tagged for three runs (two earned) on three hits. He walked a batter and struck out a batter. Nick Frey pitched a career-high seven innings. He allowed a run on five hits, issued one intentional walk and struck out a career-high six. Teddy Nowell and Stefan Crichton combined got the final two outs of the ninth.
New Mexico turned a lead-off single in the first into an early 1-0 lead. After a sacrifice bunt, a pair of miscues allowed Kyle Stiner to race home with the first run of the ballgame.
A one-out double by Alex Allbritton in the second inning led to two more Lobo runs as New Mexico built a 3-0 lead. Trey Porras gave the Lobos a 2-0 lead with a bouncer up the middle and he scored on a two-out hit by Stiner.
Another opportunity to push across runs in the second inning went by the wayside as TCU left the bases full of Frogs. Taylor Featherston reached on a lead-off error. A balk and a passed ball had the shortstop standing on third with nobody out. With one out, House walked Brett Johnson and hit Jerome Pena to load the bases. Back-to-back strikeouts ended the inning and kept the Lobo lead at three.
New Mexico used the momentum and turned it into another run in the third inning. Luke Campbell scored on a wild pitch to make it a 4-0 lead.
From there, Frey shut the door on the Lobo offense. He limited the Lobos to just two hits over the next five innings before giving way to the bullpen in the ninth.
TCU had opportunities in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but House wiggled out of trouble in each of those frames. The Horned Frogs stranded four runners in the middle innings
The Frogs finally cashed in with a pair of runs in the seventh inning. Von Tungeln led off the inning with a base hit. Witte followed with a base knock, moving Von Tungeln to third base. On the throw to third, Witte took second. Jason Coats hit the ball sharply right at the shortstop and the ball bounded into left center for a two-run single and a 4-2 game. A double play and a ground out ended the inning.
Rivera doubled with one out in the eighth, but was left stranded at third. TCU had the go-ahead run at the plate in the ninth, but Bobby Mares got a game-ending fly ball to hand the Frogs a loss.
TCU falls to 42-18 on the season. The Frogs will host a watching party at the Meyer-Martin Athletic Complex on Monday to find out their fate for the upcoming NCAA Regionals. Doors will open at 11 a.m. with the show set to air at 11:30 a.m.
Game Notes:
• Steven Maxwell made his first appearance on the mound since April 23 when he started against UNLV.
• Josh Elander and Jantzen Witte extended their hitting streaks to eight games.
• Brett Johnson has hit safely in five straight.
• Joe Weik has reached base safely in 21 straight games.
• Nick Frey pitched 7 innings today, breaking his personal best of 6 innings against Utah on May 15.
• The six strikeouts for Nick Frey sets a career high for the freshman. His previous high was five against Utah on May 15.