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GoFrogs: TCU Hosts Abilene Christian Tuesday Night
No. 4 TCU (16-3) vs. Abilene Christian (9-10)
Date | Time Tuesday, March 22; 6:30 p.m.
Location Fort Worth, Texas; Lupton Stadium
TV FSSW+
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Game Notes TCU Game Notes
FORT WORTH -Â TCU wraps up a four-game homestand Tuesday night when it host Abilene Christian at 6:30. The Horned Frogs are winners of four straight and boast a 12-3 record at home.
TCU NOTABLES
• For the second straight season, TCU opened Big 12 play with a series sweep.
• The Horned Frogs are 10-2 in the month of March and are ranked in the top 10 of all the major polls.
• TCU leads the Big 12 with a .325 batting average and ranks second with a 2.71 ERA.
• Seventeen times this season, TCU has scored four or more runs in an inning.
• TCU has scored double-digit runs nine times this season after doing so only 11 times in 2015.
• The Frogs hit three home runs over the weekend and are tied for the league lead with 16 home runs.
• Elliott Barzilli raised his average to .438. He tops the Big 12 with 32 hits on the season.
• Evan Skoug’s team-leading 11 doubles are tops in the Big 12.
• Luken Baker tallied seven RBIs in the series against WVU and he now leads the Big 12 with 24.
• Baker’s grand slam in Sunday’s game was TCU’s first since the 2013 season and the first at Lupton since 2012.
ABILENE CHRISTIAN NOTABLES
• Abilene Christian got off to a 6-2 start to the season, but is just 3-8 since.
• The Wildcats were swept in a three game series against Southeastern Louisiana this past weekend.
• Abilene Christian is 1-1 in midweek games this season.
• TCU will be the third Big 12 opponent the Wildcats face. They are a combined 0-4 against Oklahoma (0-1) and Oklahoma State (0-3).
• ACU has played seven one-run games this season. The Wildcats boast a 4-3 mark in those contests.
• Alex Copeland paces the Wildcat offense with a .333 batting average.
• Braxton Wilks’ 11 RBIs are tops on the team.
• As a team, Abilene Christian has swiped 21 bases, led by six from Hunter Markwardt.
• On the mound, the Wildcats have a team ERA of 4.23.
• Nick Palacios has five of the team’s seven saves on the year and leads the team with 11 appearances.
SERIES HISTORY
• TCU and Abilene Christian will be meeting on the diamond for the 20th time on Tuesday night.
• The contest marks the first of two games against the Wildcats this season. TCU will play in Abilene on April 19.
• TCU is a perfect 19-0 against Abilene Christian.
• Last season marked the first time the teams had met since the 1995 campaign.
• TCU went 2-0 against the Wildcats last season, winning 4-3 in Abilene and 8-2 at Lupton Stadium.
A HOT START
Elliott Barzilli has stormed out of the gates, hitting .438 through the first 19 games of the season. His 32 total hits are the most in the Big 12 and rank 31st nationally.
Through his first two collegiate seasons, Barzilli had just 51 hits over the course of 67 games played.
Barzilli leads the team with eight multi-hit games and is tied for the team lead with seven multiple-RBI contests. He has hit safely in 17 of 19 games and reached base safely in 18.
A GRAND SWING
On Sunday, Luken Baker launched his third home run of the season in the first inning, a grand slam that put the Horned Frogs in front to stay. It had been 198 games since Jantzen Witte hit TCU’s last grand slam back on March 2, 2013.
The last TCU grand slam hit at Lupton Stadium was by Aaron Schultz on March 26, 2011 against Houston, a span of 309 games. TCU has hit 16 grand slams since the start of the 2004 season.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Injuries have left a couple holes in the lineup this season, but the Horned Frogs haven’t missed a beat. Austen Wade and Michael Landestoy have filled the holes both offensively and defensively.
Wade has started the last 11 games in right field. Since joining the lineup as a regular, Wade is TCU’s leading hitter with a .389 average. He’s notched five doubles and tallied four RBIs.
Landestoy has started five of the last seven games at first base and has played in all seven. He’s hitting .400 during that stretch with seven RBIs. Both have played flawless defense at their respective positions.
NO EASY OUTS
Runs have come in bunches for the Frogs this season. TCU has pushed across a run in 65 of the 153 innings they’ve come to the plate. In 36 of those 65 innings, TCU has scored two-or more runs. In 16 of those 36 innings, the Frogs have scored four or more runs. Even when they aren’t scoring runs, TCU has had a least one base runner in 120 innings this season.