GoFrogs: TCU Notches Fourth Shutout; Tops UTRGV 13-0

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery

FORT WORTH – No. 7 TCU rolled to its seventh straight victory with a 13-0, seven-inning victory over UT Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday night. Cam Warner hit his first career home run in the win.

The Rundown
Two batters into the bottom of the first, TCU had a 2-0 lead as Cam Warner deposited his first career home run over the right field fence.

The Horned Frogs exploded for seven runs in the third to open up a commanding 9-0 lead. With a run in and the bases full of Frogs, Elliott Barzilli tripled off the wall in left center. An errant throw back to the infield allowed Barzilli to complete the circuit around the bases for a 7-0 lead. Ryan Merrill provided more sparks as he successfully stole home. Luken Baker’s bases-loaded walk capped the scoring.

Four more runs crossed the plate in the fifth for TCU. Connor Wanhanen’s base hit to open the frame had the Frogs in business. Following a Zack Plunkett double, Baker looped a single into right field to clear the bases. He eventually scored on a Trent Franson base hit. Merrill grounded out to round out the scoring in the game.

UTRGV threatened to get on the board in the sixth as it loaded the bases on two walks and a hit with nobody out. Drew Gooch buckled down and got a strikeout, followed by a line out before giving way to Dalton Brown, who got a strikeout to end the inning.

Dalton Horton (1-0) started and allowed three hits and two walks in four innings of work while also tallying two strikeouts.

Stat of the Game
6 – Cam Warner’s first inning home run made it six straight contests for TCU with a home run.

Quotes of the Game
Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
“(Cam) Warner’s home run early in the game took some pressure off. We took advantage of the eight walks and got some timely hits.”

“(Dalton) Horton really pitched well once he got settled into a groove. We are definitely going to need that before the season is over because as we have these midweek games and the competition increases, he is or someone else is going to have to pitch for us.”

“Anytime you are scoring runs and you hit balls hard and they fall in or you hit the ball not so hard and they end up falling in, it’s easy to have confidence from that. The guys are feeling good about themselves, and they should, but we just have to keep our blinders on and play good baseball.”

Notes
• TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle notched his 600th career win.
• TCU tallied its fourth shutout of the season and the 28th since the start of the 2014 season.
• TCU’s bullpen has yet to surrender an earned run in 27 1/3 innings pitched this season.
• TCU notched double-digit hits for the sixth time this season.
• TCU played flawless defense for the fourth game this year.
• Cam Warner is the fourth Horned Frog this season to connect on his first career home run, joining Josh Watson, Dane Steinhagen and Luken Baker.
• Cam Warner collected his second multi-hit contest and his third multiple-RBI game of the season.
• Luken Baker recorded his third multiple-RBI game of his career.
• Connor Wanhanen collected his second multi-hit game of the season and the 15th of his career.
• Ryan Merrill registered his first career multi-hit game.
• Elliott Barzilli collected his third multiple-RBI game of the season and the 10th of his career.
• Luken Baker and Elliott Barzilli have reached base safely in all eight games this season.

Next Up
TCU (7-1) returns to action Friday night when it hosts Gonzaga for a three game series. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. and will be televised FSSW+.