There was a big, fat “5” in the linescore beside Cody Jones’ name, which is not that unusual.
But it was under the Runs Batted In column, which is unusual. It’s not exactly where TCU’s No. 9 hitter is used to seeing a crooked number.“Usually, it’s my job to be the run that’s driven in,” he said Wednesday at Lupton Stadium, where he in fact scored a couple of runs, but more importantly, drove in a career-high five in the Horned Frogs’ 13-6 victory against Northwestern State.The sophomore from Round Rock tripled twice, driving in two runs in the second inning and three runs in the fifth inning. He came into the series — a two-gamer swept by the Frogs (7-9) for their seventh win in 10 games — hitting .208 with four runs batted in.“He’s a better hitter than he’s shown,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “He’s not just a guy who can walk and bunt and sacrifice.”“I believe that,” Jones said. “With my whole heart. I can definitely hit better than I’ve put out there.”He may have been speaking for the whole team. The Frogs’ 22 runs in the two games against Northwestern (9-10) mark a rare high point for the offense, which had been held to three runs or less 10 times this year.“In time. In time, it’ll come,” Jones said.Right fielder Boomer White had three hits and drove in two runs, and first baseman Kevin Cron had two hits. Davy Wright, Keaton Jones and Josh Gonzales also had RBIs for TCU, which actually was out-hit 13-12.“We executed,” Schlossnagle said. “All in all, I was pretty pleased.”Alex Young (3-1) struck out three of the seven batters he faced in 1 1/3 innings of relief of starter Stefan Crichton, who gave up three runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.Andrew Mitchell struck out the side in the ninth. He has 12 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings this year.Carlos Mendez 817-390-7407 Twitter: @calexmendez
