After winning nine straight at Lupton, No. 12 TCU lost to Abilene Christian and UTSA on back-to-back nights in Fort Worth.

The Frogs were originally supposed to play UTSA in February, but the game was postponed due to poor weather.

This is the only time this season the Frogs played two weekday games (excluding Thursday weekend series games) in one week.

Saarloos said that he hopes the tough losses will wake the team up.

“That’s embarrassing to go home at night thinking about how poorly we played,” said Head Coach Kirk Saarloos. “The only thing that we can do is come back, be ready to practice tomorrow and have a little bit more sense of urgency in terms of the things that are important to this program and what helps us win games.”

Game 1 vs Abilene Christian

The TCU offense struggled, only tallying six hits, as Abilene Christian won the ballgame 6-2.

Saarloos said that to win a game, it’s important to win the freebee war.

“We can’t give the opponent more free bases than they give us,” said Saarloos. “I don’t think any team can sustain good baseball by doing that.”

TCU’s offense is averaging just under seven walks per game. They are second in the Big 12 Conference with 160 walks this season. They had two throughout the contest.

“If they’re not going to walk us, we have to be in there standing and ready to hit and we did that last weekend,” said Saarloos. “Tonight was just a bad night.”

Saarloos credited the Abilene Christian bullpen for executing their pitches.

“Their bullpen, the two guys that they threw, were awesome,” said Saarloos. “The lefty [Connor Carlton] was really good and the righty [Tanner Riley] came in, all he did was throw two really good pitches for strikes whenever he wanted to.”

One bright spot for the Frogs was the performance of backup catcher Bobby Goodloe, who got the start. The Frogs, as a team, finished the game with six hits: Goodloe had half of them all by himself. 

Kurtis Byrne has been the starting catcher ever since Michael Petrie fractured his wrist against San Diego State University in February. Goodloe was a former infielder but transitioned to catcher to back up Byrne.

Saarloos said that, when he’s gotten his opportunities, Goodloe has done a really nice job. 

“Bobby has done a good job of staying ready,” said Saarloos. “And we’re trying to get him in there more.”

Game 2 vs UTSA

TCU struggled defensively, committing four errors, as they fell to UTSA 12-8.

Saarloos said that the Frogs were sloppy in every area.

“There’s a ton of stuff we have to fix,” said Saarloos. “When you play sloppy baseball you lose back-to-back midweek games.”

There were four unearned runs in the contest, which was the difference between the final two scores.

A few runs also scored from UTSA hits only dropped because the Frog defense lost the balls in the lights.

The Frogs were able to secure a lead in the first after a two-run inning powered by a double by Taylor, a triple by first baseman David Bishop, and a single by second baseman Gray Rodgers. This was the only lead they would have for. the rest of the ballgame. 

Connor Oliver started the game on the mound for the Frogs, giving up four runs (two earned), three hits, and four walks in 1.1 innings pitched.

Relief pitchers Caleb Bolden and Garrett Wright pitched next, each giving up three runs. 

Third baseman Brayden Taylor led the Frogs with three hits, including a two-run home run in the 8th.

Goodloe, who got the start at DH, continued his impressive play from yesterday, tallying two doubles.

TCU Baseball (18-7) will kick off a weekend series against West Virginia (14-9) at home on Friday. The first pitch is at 6 p.m.