In a night of standout pitching by the entire TCU rotation, the Horned Frogs allowed only one run in two games Tuesday leading to a double-header sweep against the Texas A&M-Corpus Cristi Islanders.
The wins were TCU’s second and third in 24 hours.
The Horned Frogs also defeated Dallas Baptist University on Monday night 20-3, scoring all the runs in the last three innings. Some players felt the surge might have contributed to the offense’s slow start Tuesday.
“It’s always tough when you score that many runs as an offense, usually the next day you can expect not to score as many,” first baseman Matt Vern said. “We swung a lot, took a lot of swings last night, but (tonight) we did what we had to do to win.”
The first game featured a pitcher’s duel, as each team held the other scoreless through the first eight innings. In the ninth inning, TCU sophomore Eric Marshall came in to relieve starting pitcher Seth Garrison after pitching the first eight shutout innings. Corpus Cristi attempted a ninth inning push, leading off with a long double, and a ground out moved the runner to third. Marshall walked the following runner then responded with a strikeout and a flyout to hold the game at 0-0 for TCU.
In the bottom of the ninth, third baseman Matt Carpenter led off with a walk. Center fielder Clint Arnold didn’t convert a sacrifice bunt attempt and had Carpenter forced out at second. Vern stepped in next and launched a hard line drive down the third base line, bringing Arnold home to win the game 1-0.
TCU’s offense came to life in the second game, building on its momentum to put five runs on the board while only allowing one.
The Horned Frogs’ first run came in the first inning, when sophomore catcher Bryan Holaday drove a line drive into left field, allowing junior second baseman Ben Carruthers to score.
The Horned Frog’s only run allowed came in the top of the second inning, when freshman starting pitcher Greg Holle allowed the Islanders’ starting pitcher Trey Hernandez to score. That was the close as it would get for the Islanders.
In the fourth inning TCU found its offense and never looked back, scoring on hits by designated hitter Jimmie Pharr and redshirt freshman outfielder Brett Medlin to give TCU a 3-1 advantage.
A sacrifice bunt by pinch hitter Hunt Woodruff in the seventh inning brought home utility infielder Corey Steglich, extending the Horned Frog lead to 4-1. A final Islander error in the eighth helped TCU end the game with a final score of 5-1.
The win brought the Horned Frogs’ record to 13-10, while the struggling Islanders rest 12 games below .500 with a 5-17 mark. The next games for TCU are on the road against Mountain West Conference rivals UNLV this weekend.
