Baseball looks to keep win streak alive against UTA

By Camryn Almeido

Published Mar 2, 2020

Kurtis Byrne steps up to the plate before his first career hit against Stephen F. Austin on Feb 26, 2020. Photo by Jack Wallace

Following a sweep over Cal last weekend, TCU baseball is off to one of their best starts in program history.

The Frogs are now 10-1 on the season for the first time since 2017, their second-best start ever under head coach Jim Schlossnagle. TCU’s best start under Schlossnagle came in 2017 with an 11-1 record.

The team’s only loss came against Minnesota in their sixth game of the season, 7-6.

The team credits some of its success at home to the fans.

“We have the best fans probably in the country or at least in the Big 12,” pitcher Russell Smith said. “They come out and support well, and we play well for them.”

UTA is 8-3 on the season after winning the series against Utah last weekend. The Mavericks have won five of their last six games heading into Tuesday’s matchup.

TCU’s pitching staff have shown their depth to start the season. The pitchers only gave up five runs in the three-game series against the Bears.

TCU leads the Big 12 and ranks ninth nationally with a 1.93 ERA and the Frogs have allowed two or fewer earned runs seven times this season.

“For the most part we are not giving up too many free bases,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “We are throwing a lot of strikes and making the other team earn what they get, and that’s a good recipe for winning baseball. I have always said the game begins and ends with starting pitching.”

The Frogs have not allowed an earned run in their last 25 innings pitched.

Pitching will continue to be an important factor for the Frogs as they face UTA on Tuesday as the Mavericks are hitting .245 as a team.

The probable starting pitcher is Riley Cornelio. Cornelio is 1-0 for the season after his start against Abilene Christian. UTA’s pitching staff has a 2.13 ERA on the year, has registered three shutouts and is holding opposing batters to a hitting percentage of .201.

UTA’s pitching will be up against one of the nation’s top offenses — TCU’s 8.3 runs per game is second in the Big 12 and 22nd nationally.

The Horned Frogs are 94-46-1 against the Mavericks since first playing each other in 1969.

The teams play three times each season; Tuesday is the first time they will face each other this season.

The Horned Frogs host the Mavericks tomorrow at Lupton Stadium. First pitch is at 4:00 p.m.