ABILENE — TCU showed off one of the top pitching staffs in the Big 12 Tuesday night, holding ACU to just seven hits and recording eight strikeouts in a 4-0 win over the Wildcats on a beautiful night at Crutcher Scott Field.
The win is the fourth in the last five games for the Horned Frogs (23-18), while the Wildcats dropped their fourth straight to fall to 19-23 on the season. ACU will be back at Crutcher Scott Field this weekend when it returns to Southland Conference play by hosting Central Arkansas in a three-game set beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
TCU — which earned a split of the season series against the Wildcats, who beat the Frogs 4-2 in 11 innings in Fort Worth on April 17 — got all the runs it would need in the third inning on an RBI sacrifice fly by Josh Watson and an RBI single by A.J. Baltz. The Horned Frogs scored once again in the fourth and again in the fifth, both times with two outs to give its pitching staff all the cushion it would need.
The Wildcats had a couple of solid scoring opportunities, but couldn't capitalize on them. The Wildcats loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning, but TCU starting pitcher Russell Smith got out of the inning unscathed. In the fifth, ACU's first two hitters reached base when
Zack Mausser doubled and
Zach Smith reached on a bunt single, bringing the tying run to the plate with the top of the lineup at the plate.
After Russell Smith retired Matt Munoz and
Colton Eager, Caleb Sloan came into the game in relief and got
Dalon Farkas to fly out to center to keep the Wildcats off the board. ACU never really threatened after the fifth inning. Russell Smith went 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and one walk while striking out four Wildcats.
Sloan picked up the win to improve to 2-0, hurling 2 1/3 innings and allowing just one hit and striking out three Wildcats. Augie Mihlbauer and Cal Coughlin combined to give up just one hit in two scoreless innings to close it out. TCU entered the game second in the Big 12 in ERA (3.76) and third in the league in strikeouts (392).
