The No. 5 seeded Horned Frogs (47-11) defeated the Lamar Cardinals (35-25) 16-3 in the opening game of the NCAA regional tournament at Lupton Stadium Friday night.

The Horned Frogs played in the second game of the Fort Worth Regional in front of a crowd of 3,135 at the Fort Worth Regional Tournament.

The Cardinals opened the first inning against the Frogs with a run, which had a strong response by the Frog offense. The productive first inning led the Horned Frogs 3-1 over Lamar. Sophomore Brance Rivera opened for the frogs by advancing to second base by a fielding error. Senior Bryan Holaday was hit by Lamar starting pitcher Matison Smith. Sophomore Jason Coats gained a single, leading Rivera to an unearned run in the first.

Horned Frog pitcher Kyle Winkler held Lamar five out of the six innings pitched, allowing only one earned run by Lamar. Sophomore Winkler struck out six hitters and submitted one walk against the Cardinals.

A solo home run by Junior Joe Weik in the third inning put the frogs 4-1 over Lamar. Weik finished the night with two runs.

The Cardinals starting pitcher Smith was replaced during the fifth inning by Chris Holley. Holley finished the fifth inning was replaced at the beginning of the sixth.

The sixth inning was triggered by defensive mistakes by Lamar, allowing for seven runs by the Horned Frogs. Lamar attempted to make up for further runs by the Horned Frogs by using three pitchers during sixth inning.

During the sixth inning, the eager Horned Frogs loaded the bases, allowing three consecutive runs based on pitcher error and two walks. The Frogs finished the sixth inning with three additional runs prompted by sophomore Taylor Featherston’s single.

The game remained scoreless for the Cardinals until the seventh inning, while the Horned Frogs continued to dominate the Horned Frogs first game at the Fort Worth Regional.

Junior Greg Holle replaced Winkler in the seventh inning, allowing for two runs by Lamar. Holle finished the night allowing two runs by the Cardinals.

Josh Elander scored the last hit for the Frogs at the bottom of the eighth inning after hitting a double to center field.

TCU’s 16-3 win against Lamar was the Horned Frogs 25th time to earn ten or more runs in a game this season.

The Horned Frogs will continue its run in the Fort Worth Regional Tournament Sat. night at 7 p.m. against the Arizona Wildcats. Arizona defeated Baylor 10-1 in the first game of the tournament Friday afternoon.

Photos by staff photographer Paige McArdle