No. 23 Baseball drops series opener to Oklahoma TCU Baseball lost their fifth straight game after falling to No. 19 Oklahoma 8-5 in the series-opener. The Sooners, now 7-0 in Big 12 play, combined patience at the plate with some timely hits to sink the Horned Frogs. TCU struck first in the bottom of the second when senior centerfielder A.J. Balta scored from third after right fielder Connor Wanhanen drew a bases-loaded walk. Balta started the inning with a double, followed by an Adam Oviedo walk and a pivotal ground out to second base by sophomore catcher Zach Humphries, which advanced the runners to second and third. TCU would add on to their lead in the bottom of the third after Luken Baker scored from third on a sacrifice groundout to second by senior designated hitter Michael Landestoy. Balta would follow Landestoy with a sacrifice fly that scored junior right fielder Josh Watson and gave the team a 3-0 lead. Starting pitcher sophomore Nick Lodolo looked unstoppable through the first three innings, striking out six batters and giving up just one hit. However, in the fourth inning, Oklahoma centerfield Kyler Murray hit a two-run home run to left field, cutting the lead to just one. The Sooners would tie the game later in the inning after back-to-back doubles by Kyle Mendenhall and Cade Cavalli. Despite the fourth inning drubbing, Lodolo continued to consistently throw strikes, striking out the side in the fifth inning and recording two more in the sixth. He would finish the night with a career-high 13 K’s. TCU would re-take the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning after Luken Baker’s seventh home run of the season, a solo shot to left field. Self-inflicted errors began to plague the Horned Frogs and ultimately lead to their loss. Lodolo walked the leadoff batter Cavalli, surrendered a single to Tyler Hardman and walked Cade Harris. He was replaced by Cal Coughlin after loading the bases with no outs. First-year pitcher Augie Mihlbauer would strike out one batter but surrendered two walks and hit a batter, which resulted in three Sooner runs crossing the plate. He was replaced by James Notary, who came into a bases-loaded situation with his team suddenly trailing 6-4. The Horned Frogs gave up three runs on just one Oklahoma hit. “From the seventh inning on we walked six guys and hit one, you’re not gonna win many games against a great team like that,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. Frogs fall for sixth consecutive game The Horned Frogs could not overcome an early deficit, falling to the Sooners Sunday morning, 6-3. Pitcher Sean Wymer got the nod Sunday morning but suffered his second loss of the season after allowing five earned runs on 10 hits. Sophomore Jake Eissler pitched two scoreless frames in relief with two strikeouts. Oklahoma’s right fielder Steele Walker opened the game with a two-run home run in the first inning and a two-out single by Hardman extended Oklahoma’s lead to three. A double from Shepherd moved the Horned Frogs to within striking distance as he ultimately scored off a Wanhanen groundout to trim Oklahoma’s lead to two runs. A home run in the fourth by Watson and a Landestoy score from second off a Balta double brought the Horned Frogs to within one run, but Walker ripped another two-run home run in the seventh inning to extend their lead back to three, amounting to four tw0-out runs in the game. The Horned Frogs would never overcome the lead.
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No. 23 Baseball suffers second consecutive series defeat to Oklahoma
By Robbie Vaglio and Benton McDonald
Published Apr 9, 2018
TCU vs Oklahoma baseball at Lupton Stadium at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas on April 6, 2018. (Photo by/Gregg Ellman)
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