TCU is now 13-6 all-time against the Red Raiders at Lupton Stadium, and they moved to 21–17 on the season and 15-7 at home. Red Raiders blank Horned Frogs, 6-0
Sophomore pitcher Charles King got the nod to start Saturday’s game and began with a strong first two innings, allowing only one hit. The wheels came off the wagon for King quickly as Texas Tech broke the scoreless tie in commanding fashion in the third inning. A five-hit, four-run third inning was the difference-maker in tonight’s contest. The Red Raiders scored their first run on a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring catcher Braxton Fulford. After the out, three consecutive hits from Texas Tech scored three runs by Holt, Little and third baseman Josh Jung before a groundout and flyout got the Frogs out of the inning.
With two runners in scoring position, first-year pitcher Caleb Sloan replaced King in the fifth inning. King allowed four runs on 10 hits in 4.2 innings pitched. The Red Raiders extended their lead in the top of the sixth inning. Brian Klein’s double scored Gabe Holt from second base, giving Texas Tech a five-run lead. Klein travelled around the diamond and scored on a groundout from Little three batters later. His run put the Horned Frogs down six runs, a major test for the Frogs against TTU’s incredible pitching. Sloan allowed two runs on two hits in 2.1 innings pitched. Sophomore Trey Morris replaced Sloan in the seventh inning and kept the Red Raiders scoreless. “They both did fine,” Schlossnagle said. “I thought Caleb looked really good even though he gave up a couple of runs. It was the most he had to pitch in a while.” Schlossnagle said Sloan is a major piece of TCU’s future.
“Everything he threw was awesome,” Schlossnagle said. “His breaking ball had great depth and guys weren’t getting good looks at it. He pitched outstanding and we couldn’t match it on the mound.” The first-year was replaced by junior Ryan Shetter in the seventh inning. He kept the Frogs in check, not allowing a hit in his three innings of action. Shetter struck out four Horned Frogs and only walked two. The win broke a three-game losing streak for the Red Raiders. Texas Tech’s last one-hitter that they pitched was back in February of 2012 against Missouri State. This was TCU’s second consecutive weekend featuring a game with only one hit from the Frogs. Baseball takes series against No. 4 Texas Tech with a 9-5 win TCU upset the fourth-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders Sunday afternoon behind an outstanding performance from sophomore reliever Jake Eissler. Eissler relieved starter Haylen Green in the 5th inning after Tech hit an infield single to lead off the inning. At the time, TCU held a 7-5 lead in the game, and Eissler did more than just maintain that lead, he dominated a potent Texas Tech lineup. Eissler threw five perfect innings in relief, striking out a career-high 11 batters. “There’s not a whole lot of pitching left and we have a 5-game week coming up, so we needed somebody to extend the game and Jake did a great job of that,” Schlossnagle said. It was not easy for the Frogs, though. The Red Raiders struck for four runs in the first capped by a two-RBI single by Michael Davis as Haylen Green struggled early on. TCU answered with a run in the bottom of the first but a Jung solo home run in the 2nd gave Tech a 5-1 lead. Green settled down and found a rhythm as he and Eissler shut down a Texas Tech offense hitting .313 as a group and scoring over 8 runs a game. Meanwhile, the TCU bats came to life and the Frogs came roaring back. The Frogs plated three runs in the 2nd, one in the 3rd, and 2 more in the 4th. Shepherd led off the 3rd inning with a home run to tie the game at 5, and Watson led off the 4th with a line drive home run of his own to give TCU their first lead. The offenses cooled off after a chaotic start, until the 7th inning when Balta and Rizer each drew a bases-loaded walk to extend TCU’s lead to 9-5. Texas Tech’s pitchers walked 14 batters in Sunday’s game as a staff, including starter John McMillon who walked 3 in just an inning and two-thirds of work. “Our guys would’ve certainly had every opportunity to give in after the first inning,” Schlossnagle said. “But we knew that McMillon was a guy that struggles with a command, and that was at least going to give us baserunners.” Up Next: TCU has a pair of mid-week games before a non-conference series against Lamar this weekend. The Frogs will travel to Abilene Christian Tuesday, May 1 at 6:30 p.m. and then welcome Dallas Baptist to Lupton Stadium Wednesday, May 2.