GoFrogs: TCU Slugs Its Way To Victory Over Rice

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HOUSTON – No. 13 TCU powered past No. 25 Rice with a 10-0 seven-inning victory Saturday night to run its winning streak to five games. Luken Baker sparkled as he homered and tossed six shutout innings.

The Rundown
TCU broke open a scoreless game with five two-out runs in the second. With two on, Dane Steinhagen ripped a two-out double off the wall in right to make it a 2-0 game. After a walk to Austen Wade, Connor Wanhanen bounced a single up the middle to make it 3-0. Cam Warner put the exclamation point on the inning with a two-run single for a 5-0 lead.

The home run ball came to play in the third as Baker launched his second home run of the season to lead off the frame. A batter later, Barzilli joined the home run party with a two-run shot to left.

Baker wiggled out of a jam in the fourth as Rice threatened with runners on 2nd and 3rd with only one out. A strikeout and a ground out kept the shutout intact.

TCU plated single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to account for the final run total. Barzilli collected his third RBI of the night in the fourth and Warner scored on an Owl error in the sixth.

Baker’s (2-0) night on the mound finished after six innings. He surrendered four hits and struck out seven. Drew Gooch closed out the game with a scoreless seventh.

Stat of the Game
12 – Luken Baker has tossed a combined 12 shutout innings in his two starts this season. He is 2-0 with 13 strikeouts this season.

Quotes of the Game
Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
“I thought (Luken) Baker did a really good job of throwing all three pitches for strikes. Rice was swinging early in the count, so I think he took advantage of their aggressiveness. He’s a good hitter. He’s the same kind of hitter as he is a pitcher. He’s not just a power guy, he uses the whole field to hit. I was glad for him in his hometown, on this stage against a great opponent for him to play the way he did.”

“Obviously, the key were the three two-out hits in the second. Dane (Steinhagen) has been swinging the bat great. He got that big hit and (Connor) Wanhanen behind him got the two-out hit and then (Cam) Warner. Those were big to take the pressure off a young pitcher.”

“I love our lineup. There is some depth in there, I feel like we can score at any time. There’s some power and some speed. I know we are known for pitching, and I hope we can continue to do that, but this is a good offensive club. I like where we are.”

Notes
• TCU’s bullpen has yet to surrender an earned run in 19 1/3 innings pitched this season.
• TCU tallied its third shutout of the season. The Horned Frogs have 27 shutouts since the start of the 2014 season.
• Luken Baker has homered in both of his starts on the mound.
• Connor Wanhanen and Elliott Barzilli have hit safely in all six games this season.
• Elliott Barzilli has six multi-hit games this season and 21 in his career.
• Barzilli also collected his second multiple-RBI game of the season. It was the ninth of his career.
• Connor Wanhanen stretched his hitting streak to 13 games, the longest streak of his career. He carried a seven-game hitting streak into the season.
• Dane Steinhagen picked up his second multiple-RBI game of the season and the ninth of his career.
• Cam Warner recorded his first career multi-hit game and his first career multiple-RBI game.

Next Up
TCU (5-1) wraps up play in the Shriner’s Hospital for Children College Classic Sunday afternoon when it takes on Houston at approximately 2:35 p.m. The game will be televised on ROOT Sports SW (in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico) and MLB Network (with blackout restrictions).