GoFrogs: Gonzaga Rallies; Tops No. 7 TCU 4-3

Final Stats

FORT WORTH – Gonzaga rallied with a pair of runs in the seventh inning and held on for the 4-3 victory over No. 7 TCU on Friday night at Lupton Stadium.

The Rundown
TCU used a little two-out magic to push across the first run of the game in the second inning. Ryan Merrill doubled with two outs and scored easily on a Dane Steinhagenbase hit.

The Horned Frogs extended the lead in the third after a lead-off triple from Connor Wanhanen. Evan Skoug doubled off the left field fence to make it a 2-0 game.

Gonzaga cracked the scoreboard with a two-out run in the fourth to cut the deficit to one, but TCU answered in the bottom of the inning as Elliott Barzilli scored on a Steinhagen ground out to restore the two run lead, 3-1.

The Bulldogs crept closer in the sixth with a run on a walk, a hit and a sacrifice fly. The rally was completed in the seventh as Gonzaga pushed across two runs on three hits. Taylor Jones doubled home the tying run and a Justin Jacobs sac fly put the Bulldogs on top.

TCU had a chance to tie the game in the ninth after a two-out triple from Merrill, but the Bulldogs called on Daniel Bies and he got the final out of the game.

Luken Baker started and allowed two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings. Preston Guillory (0-1) took the loss after surrendering two runs on three hits in 2/3 of an inning.

Stat of the Game
12 – The TCU offense tied its season high with 12 strikeouts in the game.

Quotes of the Game
Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
“I thought Gonzaga played really well. We didn’t pitch well out of the bullpen really for the first time this year. They had some balls fall in and then their three-hole hitter got the hit he’s supposed to get when we made a bad pitch.”

“I thought our at-bats at times were good, we squared some balls up, but we struck out an awful lot. We just have to be prepared to come out tomorrow.”

Notes
• TCU’s bullpen shutout streak ended at 28 2/3 innings.
• TCU played flawless defense for the fifth game this year.
• Five of TCU’s seven hits went for extra bases.
• Ryan Merrill registered his second career multi-hit game.
• Dane Steinhagen collected his third multiple-RBI game of the season and the 10th of his career.
• Cam Warner stretched his hitting streak to four games.
• Luken Baker and Elliott Barzilli have reached base safely in all nine games this season.
• Luken Baker’s shutout streak on the mound to open his career came to a halt at 15 2/3 innings.

Next Up
TCU (7-2) continues the series with Gonzaga as game two is set for Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.