GoFrogs: Streak Reaches Four; TCU Wins 7-1

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HOUSTON — No. 13 TCU’s bats stayed hot as it opened up the Shriner’s Hospital for Children College Classic with a 7-1 victory over No. 6 La.-Lafayette Friday afternoon.

The Rundown
Brian Howard (2-0) wiggled out of a couple early jams, allowing just one run despite the Ragin’ Cajuns getting seven base runners in the first three innings. He faced a 1st and 3rd situation in the second and retired three straight to end the frame. In the third, La.-Lafayette pushed across its lone run as it took advantage of a one-out triple from Joe Robbins.

The lead didn’t hold long as TCU answered in the bottom of the inning. Dane Steinhagen singled to lead off the inning and scored on aCam Warner RBI-groundout to tie the game.

TCU broke the game open with a four-run fifth. Three doubles helped the cause as did a Ragin’ Cajun error that led to three unearned runs. Connor Wanhanen singled home Steinhagen to put the Frogs in front. Back-to-back doubles from Luken Baker and Josh Watsonpushed the lead to 5-1.

Steinhagen punctuated his three-hit game with his first career home run, a two-run shot, in the eighth inning.

On the mound, Howard tossed a career-high 6 2/3 innings, allowed five hits, one run, one walk and tied his career-high with seven strikeouts. Ryan Burnett retired all four batters he faced and Durbin Feltman worked around a lead-off walk to close out the win.

Stat of the Game
4 — Number of extra base hits for the Horned Frogs in the win. Luken Baker, Josh Watson and Dane Steinhagen doubled and Steinhagen added the Frogs’ third home run of the season.

Quotes of the Game
Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
“(Brian) Howard made good pitches to a lot of good hitters. We have a lot of respect for their team. They have an Omaha-type club. He limited damage when we didn’t play really good defense behind him early in the game. He kept the ball down and took advantage of a pretty free-swinging bunch.”

“It’s crucial for his confidence (to get off to this good start), but it’s even more crucial for the team’s confidence.”

Notes
• TCU notched double-digit hits for the fourth time this season.
• TCU’s bullpen has yet to surrender an earned run in 18 1/3 innings pitched this season.
• Connor Wanhanen stretched his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest streak of his career. He carried a seven-game hitting streak into the season.
• Wanhanen also notched his first multi-hit game of the season and the 14th of his career.
• Elliott Barzilli has five multi-hit games this season and 20 in his career.
• Dane Steinhagen tallied his third multi-hit game of the season and the 21st of his career.
• Steinhagen picked up his first multiple-RBI game of the season and the eighth of his career.
• Josh Watson collected his second multiple-RBI game of the season.
• Connor Wanhanen and Elliott Barzilli have hit safely in all five games this season.

Next Up
TCU (4-1) continues play in the Shriner’s Hospital for Children College Classic Saturday night when it takes on Rice at approximately 7 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).