TCU goes extras again, nips Dallas Baptist to win 7th straight

Three days after playing 15 innings for a win, TCU needed to play 10 innings for another win.

And that was plenty for now.

Cam Warner’s infield single with two outs in the extra frame lifted the Horned Frogs to a 3-2 victory against Dallas Baptist on Tuesday night at Lupton Stadium, their seventh consecutive win and fourth in five days as they get ready to head to California for a four-game swing.

“We’re a little out of gas,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said with a wry smile. “These guys, it’s the week before spring break, they’re really stressed in the classroom with midterms and stuff like that. We could definitely use a win, but we could also use a day off before we go to California.”

The Frogs, who defeated Texas A&M in 15 innings in a game that ended at 2 a.m. Sunday at the Shriners College Classic, will enjoy their Wednesday a bit more thanks to Warner’s hit off the glove of shortstop Camden Duzenack, who had to range far to his left to try to collect the ball on the run near the bag at second base.

It was Warner’s team-leading 14th RBI for the No. 1-ranked Frogs (11-1). Dallas Baptist fell to 8-4.

TCU’s 11-1 start matches the 1985 team for the second-best since 1966. The 1985 team went on to reach 19-1.

Both teams used six pitchers. TCU closer Durbin Feltman (2-0) pitched the ninth and 10th, striking out three. DBU closer Seth Elledge (0-1) struck out eight in 2  2/3 innings.

“We definitely needed to score pretty soon, because we had two arms left,” Schlossnagle said. “If we would have run into another one of those long ones, we would have been in trouble.”

In the 10th inning, Luken Baker walked with one out after an eight-pitch at-bat. It was his third walk of the game, including a 10-pitch base on balls in the fourth inning.

Josh Watson struck out, but Nolan Brown followed on a single on a full count, one pitch after a disputed balls-and-strikes call that led to an ejection in the Dallas Baptist dugout.

That brought up Warner, and on a 2-2 pitch, he delivered the game-winning hit to plate Baker with his team-high 19th run scored.

Sophomore left-hander Dalton Horton made his first start for TCU since the Big 12 tournament a year ago and struck out two in a perfect first inning. But a leadoff double in the second led to a 1-0 lead for Dallas Baptist on Garrett Wolforth’s RBI single.

Horton went four innings, striking out eight and giving up only that run on two hits.

Five relievers held Dallas Baptist to one run the rest of the way.

Evan Skoug’s RBI on a fielder’s choice tied the game for TCU in the third.

Dallas Baptist led again in the seventh inning on a ground ball to the mound, but Baker’s single in the bottom of the inning tied the game again.

It was the eighth time TCU has trailed in a game this season and the seventh time for a winning comeback.

This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 10:39 PM with the headline "TCU goes extras again, nips Dallas Baptist to win 7th straight."