No. 3 TCU sweeps for 8th straight win

Third-ranked TCU scored six runs in the third inning and five in the fifth in romping to a 12-4 victory Sunday over Kansas State and a sweep of a three-game Big 12 baseball series.

The Horned Frogs (22-5, 8-1 Big 12) have won eight straight games after taking the first two of the series in the 11th and 10 innings of games that were scoreless after nine.

Cam Warner’s grand slam highlighted the fifth inning Sunday and built TCU’s lead to 11-2.

Six Frogs had two hits and right-handed starter Brian Howard allowed only two runs in six innings. TCU’s shutout streak ended after 30  2/3 innings when Big 12 cellar-dweller K-State (15-13, 0-6) scored twice in the fourth on Hanz Harker’s two-run home run off Howard.

In the third, Austen Wade’s RBI single and Luken Baker’s two-run single helped launch a six-run inning. RBIs from Josh Watson, Nolan Brown and Ryan Merrill followed to push the lead to 6-0.

Merrill doubled home his second run of the game in the fifth before Warner’s slam. TCU’s final run came on Evan Skoug’s sacrifice fly in the seventh.

The Wildcats avoided the mercy rule with two runs in the seventh. Call Coughlin and Austin Boyles pitched scoreless innings to end the game.

Skoug, who has battled out of a slump, has a 10-game hitting streak.

TCU will wrap up its four-game road swing at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at UT Arlington at Clay Gould Ballpark.

This story was originally published April 2, 2017 at 4:57 PM with the headline "No. 3 TCU sweeps for 8th straight win."