The No. 2 TCU baseball team finished off a three-game sweep of Southern Illinois with an 11-0 win at Lupton Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Frogs scored seven runs in the third inning to blow the game open. TCU (3-0) sent 11 hitters to the plate in the bottom of the third inning to extend its lead to 10-0. 

Senior Derek Odell provided a double and an RBI single in the third. He finished the day batting 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

TCU head coach Jim Schossnagle said he likes what he sees out of his lineup so far this season.

“I like our lineup, I think there is some athleticism in there,” Schlossnagle said.

“The first four innings of the first game I felt we were over-swinging. But the rest of the weekend we had better plate discipline, and when we got our pitch, we put a good swing on it.”

TCU got off to another hot start at the plate on Sunday. Garrett Crain’s two-run double in the first inning gave TCU an early 3-0 lead. Crain would add another RBI double in the third, finishing 2-for-5 for the afternoon.

Crain said the new NCAA baseballs, which have lower seams, are making a big difference on the offensive side.

“Fly balls that normally would be routine are taken back further to the wall,” Crain said.

Schlossnagle also acknowledged the difference the new baseballs are making.

“The ball is definitely making a difference, there is no doubt about that,” Schlossnagle said. ”That’s happening all across the country, if you watch games and look at the scores and look at the home runs.”

After scoring five runs on Friday night, TCU’s offense exploded over the final two games of the series with 27 runs on 32 hits.

TCU’s pitching and defense was also effective against the Salukis.

Junior left-hander Alex Young (1-0) threw six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four for TCU.

TCU’s starting pitchers combined to throw 17 innings this weekend and allowed only one earned run. Schlossnagle said he thought Young performed the best out of the three.

“[Young] threw strikes,” Schlossnagle said. “He threw his fastball down in the zone. He threw his breaking balls and changeup for strikes. He had all of his pitches going today.”

Today’s start was only the fifth of Young’s three-year career. He’s been used primarily out of the bullpen his first two years on campus.

The Frogs hope sophomore Mitchell Traver can make the same transition as he’s slated to start Tuesday when the Frogs host Texas-Arlington at 6:30 p.m.

Ryan Burnett, Trey Teakell and Riley Ferrell each pitched a perfect inning in relief of Young.

Southern Illinois struggled at the plate all weekend. The Salukis scored three runs on six hits in four innings against starter Tyler Alexander in Saturday’s contest.

Over the other 23 innings this weekend, Southern Illinois produced only 11 singles and one run.

“Our pitching was steady this weekend,” Schlossnagle said.” We played good defense, and got a lot of timely hits. We’ll take the weekend, but we know it’s a long season.”