Austin Henry collected four hits and five RBIs, as No. 20 TCU did nothing but score Tuesday, beating SFA 19-3.
The contest was the fifth multi-RBI game of the season for the redshirt junior, who is now tied for second on the team with 14 hits.
“Today, he [Henry] cues the ball off the end of the bat. He had a couple of balls. Then, he hit some hard at the end,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Good to see him get rewarded staying with the process.”
As a team, the Horned Frogs totaled 21 hits, their highest total of the season. Even more impressive, TCU scored 19 runs with only three multi-base hits and zero home runs.
On the defensive end, Haylen Green was strong in his second start of the season. The junior from Lufkin, Texas, pitched five shutout innings, finishing with just two hits and and two walks in just the tenth start of his career. His five strikeouts were a season-high.
The Horned Frogs came out swinging in the first inning, scoring seven runs on five hits to set the tone. Eleven players batted for TCU in the first inning alone, causing SFA to go to their bullpen after just one out.
Six more hits in the next two innings combined produced four more runs, pushing the Horned Frogs’ lead to 11-0.
In the fourth, TCU exploded again, scoring seven runs yet again, this time on seven hits. The inning proved to be truly a team effort, as the seven RBIs came from seven different players in the purple and white.
Alongside the brilliance of Henry, six other Horned Frogs had multiple hits, including a career-high three from catcher Alex Isola. Nineteen total players saw action for TCU in the contest.
“It’s huge to get everybody
While TCU couldn’t stop scoring, SFA struggled to even get on base. The Lumberjacks finished with just three hits on the day along with six walks, four of which came in the eighth inning alone. Six of the innings for SFA ended via 1-2-3 fashion.
TCU scored again in the seventh inning to go up 19-0 and just about put the nails in the coffin for SFA.
Despite their masterful defense for most of the game, the Horned Frogs could not keep their opponents completely scoreless, as the Lumberjacks scored three runs in the eighth inning to avoid the shut out.
The 18 runs scored in the win were the highest total for the Horned Frogs since June 2, 2012, when they beat Dayton 28-12.
“We are good enough to accomplish anything we want to accomplish,” Schlossnagle said.
With two hits on the day, center fielder Johnny Rizer reached base safely for the 23rd-straight game—a streak that dates back to last season.
Schlossnagle was quite pleased with the victory as a bounce-back from TCU’s 12-2 loss to Rice on Sunday in the Shriner’s Hospital for Children College Classic.
“I was really interested to see how this team would respond to what happened Sunday,” Schlossnagle said. “I think those things are just meant to remind you that it’s never about the best team. It’s about the team that plays the best.”
TCU will look to stay in the win column this weekend for a three-game series with Long Beach State. First pitch is scheduled at 8 p.m. Friday in Long Beach, California.
