TCU (20-10) suffered a loss in the first game of the series against New Mexico. The Frogs held a 1-0 lead for five innings before a rocky sixth inning took starter Kyle Winkler out of the game. The Lobos roughed up relief pitcher Stefan Crichton to the tune of seven hits and six earned runs. Overall the Frogs’ bullpen gave up eight runs in three innings of work.

The Frogs struck early in the second when second baseman Jerome Pena scored catcher Josh Elander on an RBI single. Elander reached on a single and then stole second to put himself in scoring position. Pena would later be ejected in the sixth inning after striking out with the bases loaded and no outs.

Both starting pitchers Kyle Winkler and New Mexico’s Jake McCasland had shaky outings. McCasland pitched five innings, giving up six hits and three runs. He had two strikeouts and two walks. Winkler started the game strong but only lasted six innings, giving up two earned runs. Winkler struck out four Lobos.

Things began to unravel for the Frogs in the sixth inning. Winkler loaded the bases on two hits and a walk. Lobo catcher Mitch Garver hit an RBI bunt, and first baseman DJ Peterson hit an RBI single. This gave New Mexico a 2-1 lead.

TCU responded with two runs in the sixth inning. McCasland allowed the first two men to reach base before being relived by Richard Olson, who gave up two more hits including an RBI single to Josh Elander. Pena then struck out with the bases loaded and was ejected. Zach Jordan followed this with a sac fly.

Stefan Crichton relived Winkler in the seventh inning. He gave up one run on an RBI ground out by New Mexico shortstop Alex Allbritton. In the eight inning he gave up three runs: a two RBI double by Luke Campbell who then was scored by Sam Wilson on a triple. Crichton put two men on base in the ninth inning and was then relived by Teddy Nowell. Nowell gave up a three run double, which put the score at 10-3 going into the bottom of the 9ninth inning.

New Mexico closer, Gera Sanchez, made the bottom of the ninth interesting for Frog fans. He gave up a single and a walk. Then Aaron Schultz hit a two run single. Sanchez walked two more batters before getting Elander to line out with the bases loaded.

In other news, Jason Coats and Jantzen Witte extended their hitting streaks to ten and seven games respectively. The series will continue Saturday at 4p.m. at Lupton Stadium.