Baseball | 5/12/2015 9:56:00 PM
Box Score FORT WORTH – Once again, the ACU Wildcats had their chances against a top-25 team, but again the better team made the plays and pitches it needed to make to pull out a win over the Wildcats.
Tuesday night at Lupton Stadium it was No. 3 TCU that jumped on top of ACU with two solo home runs in the first inning, got out of a couple jams in the late innings and pulled away for an 8-2 win over the Wildcats. The win improves the Horned Frogs to 40-9 on the season as they push for a Big 12 championship and a return to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, were once again wondering "what if?" as they fell to 0-8 this season against top-25 opposition. ACU left the bases loaded in the sixth inning and had runners at first and second with one out in the eighth inning before the Horned Frogs got out of the inning with a double play to keep its lead at 6-2.
The loss drops ACU to 13-35 on the season as the Wildcats head into the final seven games of the season, the program's second at the NCAA Division I level as it transitions from NCAA Division II affiliation. The Wildcats will return home this weekend for the season's final three home games with a three-game Southland Conference set against Incarnate Word (Thursday-Saturday) before hitting the road to Arizona next week to play Arizona State (next Tuesday), Arizona (next Thursday and Friday) and Hawaii (next Saturday in the season finale in Tucson, Ariz.).
ACU freshman right-hander
Drew Hanson took the loss for the Wildcats, but he was fairly effective, despite giving up a pair of solo home runs to Deek Odell and Evan Skoug in the first inning. After the second home run, he retired the next eight straight Horned Frogs before giving up a single to Skough in the fourth inning. But he got the final two batters in the fourth to keep the Frogs' lead at 2-0.
The Wildcat offense, couldn't muster very much against the nation's top pitching staff. TCU entered the game with a 2.14 team ERA and the Frogs showed off every aspect of that staff as only three Wildcats reached base in the first five innings.
TCU added three more runs in the fifth against reliever
Aaron Mason as one run came home on a a throwing error by
Russell Crippen and two more scored on a single by Cody Jones to push the lead to 5-2. ACU finally dented the scoreboard in the sixth when
Aaron Draper reached when he was hit by a pitch and went to second on a groundout by
Jeff Clarke.
Tyler Eager then reached on an infield single and Draper scored on an error by pitcher Mitchell Traver to make it 5-1.
Traver then walked the next three men with the final walk to
Alex Copeland driving in Eager to cut the Frogs' lead to 5-2. That was all for Traver, who gave way to Travis Evans, who came in to get
Colton Hall to pop out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
TCU answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6-2 before ACU threatened again in the eighth inning. With one out, Eager singled and went to second on a wild pitch. After a
Heath Beasley walk, reliever Brian Trieglaff came in and got Crippen to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning and the final Wildcats' threat of the night.
Eager had two of the Wildcats' three hits on the night and Draper had the other, a single to lead off the game.
