Sophomore left-hander Brandon Finnegan had a career-high 11 strikeouts for TCU, but Jacksonville took the 5-3 win.
Finnegan walked three and allowed five runs on six hits in his six innings on the mound. Two of those six hits were home runs, which are the only two Finnegan has allowed in his career. Nick Frey allowed one hit and struck out three during his two innings.
Jacksonville starter Chris Anderson pitched a complete game, allowing three runs on seven hits and walking one. He struck out 13 Horned Frogs.
TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle said Wednesday he thought Anderson might be the hardest thrower the team has seen this season.
TCU had runners on second with one out during the first two innings, but Anderson struck out the next two batters in each frame to strand the runners.
Jacksonville turned two straight walks into runs in the third inning. Dolphin designated hitter Alex McRae had a bases-clearing double, setting up for first baseman Brady North to hit a two-run home run to right field.
The Frogs were able to get on the scoreboard in the fourth inning with the help of a couple Dolphin errors.
After Brett Johnson reached on an error, Dylan Fitzgerald moved him to third on a two-out double. A single by sophomore shortstop Keaton Jones and another Dolphin error brought Johnson and Fitzgerald around.
Junior right fielder Fitzgerald’s double was his first hit as a Horned Frog. With a single in the second, sophomore left fielder Johnson extended his hitting streak to five games. In the ninth inning, sophomore second baseman Derek Odell got an RBI single to improve his hitting streak to four games and to continue his on-base streak into seven games.
With the Frogs attempted rally in the ninth, senior pinch hitter Josh Gonzales hit a double off the left-field wall to improve to 5-of-9 in his career as a pinch hitter. Freshman pinch hitter Boomer White then had his second pinch hit single.
The loss brings TCU to 1-7 on the season and Jacksonville to a 4-5 record. Saturday’s game is set for 1 p.m. CST with sophomore right-hander Preston Morrison starting on the mound for TCU.
