The No. 25 TCU Horned Frogs fell to the No.22 Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles 11-3. They dropped the final two games of series after winning the opening game.
TCU baseball manager Kirk Saarloos addressed the way that his team has played. “We’re inconsistent and we don’t have a desperation to win like we need right now. It is indicative of how we start games, they play how we want to play”.
Southern Miss got on board in the first inning as Joey Urban lead the inning off with a single and scored on a wild pitch later in the inning.
Southern Miss first baseman Matthew Russo pulled a home run over the right field fence in the second inning. Center fielder Jake Cook added onto the scoring in the inning as he drove a 0-2 pitch into center field to score catcher Tucker Stockman making it 3-0.
TCU’s third baseman Jack Bell made a pair of nice plays in the fourth inning with him flashed the leather and making a long throw across the diamond as well as corralling a rocket ground ball for the final out of the inning.
The defense was shaky for the Horned Frogs in the fifth inning with a throwing error by starting pitcher Trever Baumler and a dropped fly ball by right fielder Sawyer Strosnider, which allowed a run to score.
Baumler allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits, no walks and a strikeout in four innings.
Right hander Cohen Feser replaced him and was strong, firing three scoreless innings with no hits, a walk and three strikeouts.
TCU’s offense came alive in the fifth inning. It started with a scary moment when catcher Nolan Traeger lined a ball back at Southern Miss starting pitcher Matthew Adams. Luckily, he was able to get out of the way and Traeger reached to first base.
That seemed to rattle Adams as TCU loaded the bases via singles from centerfielder Chase Brunson and shortstop Anthony Silva. Strosnider got the Horned Frogs on the board with a RBI groundout. Left fielder Sam Myers capitalized, ripping a two run double down the left field line making the score 4-3.
That chased Adams. He allowed three runs on five hits with no walks and a strikeout in 4 2/3 innings.
However, the Horned Frogs didn’t get any closer. The Golden Eagles put up a five spot in eighth inning. Russo continued to add onto his big day ripping a two run double into left center field.
Third baseman Seth Smith got in on the fun with a RBI double to left field. Cook capped off the inning with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Most of the damage for TCU came off right hander Kade Eudy who surrendered four runs on three hits, with a walk in a third of an inning. Right hander Blake Rodgers got tagged for a run and a hit in 2/3 innings.
Southern Miss added onto their lead in the ninth inning as Russo continued to terrorize TCU with his second home run of the game. He ended the game 3 for 5 with two home runs and five RBIs. The home run came off right hander Zack James.
Saarloos talked about how he wanted to get his message across to the team after their loss. “There’s a lot of new guys and you need to help them understand what college baseball means. Understand that every game is huge, it’s not just another game. It has so many implications later in the season”.
The Horned Frogs will play Air Force on Tuesday at 5 p.m at the Lupton Baseball Stadium & Williams-Reilly Field.
