With a Frogs legend watching, Baylor flattens TCU baseball 16-5 | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Maybe LaDainian Tomlinson could have picked a better day to take in some baseball.

Saturday at Lupton Stadium, the Horned Frogs football legend watched six TCU pitchers give up four home runs and five doubles, issue five walks, throw two wild pitches and hit three batters.

He had to wait until the fifth inning for the home team’s first hit.

The weather was about as pleasant as an outdoor December football practice.

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And it wound up as a 16-5 loss to rival Baylor.

Did we mention LaDainian Tomlinson could have picked a better day to take in some baseball?

“Obviously that’s incredibly embarrassing,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Had a great crowd, had an NFL Hall of Famer, a TCU Hall of Famer in the crowd and couldn’t live up to it.”

Mitchell Traver started for the Frogs and got two outs before things unraveled for him and every pitcher to follow until it was 16-0 in the seventh inning. The senior right-hander walked the next two batters and gave up a single to trail 1-0, then gave up a leadoff home run to Davis Wendzel in the second inning, then two more walks with one out and a single to trail 3-0.

That was enough for Schlossnagle, who pulled the veteran for freshman Charles King, who was no better. King threw a wild pitch, gave up an infield hit that scored a run, a walk and an RBI single to trail 5-0.

King hit the first batter of the next inning, then gave up a single and a sacrifice bunt, and again, Schlossnagle had enough. He lifted King with pointed words on the mound, and challenged Austin Boyles to rise to the occasion.

Boyles got two outs, but an inherited runner scored for a 6-0 Baylor lead. Then the game got away in the fourth inning on an RBI double and Aaron Dodson’s two-run home run for a 9-0 lead.

Trey Morris gave up Richard Cunningham’s home run in a three-run fifth, a sacrifice fly in the sixth that made it 13-0, and Wendzel’s three-run blast in the seventh that made it 16-0.

Did we mention LaDainian Tomlinson could have picked a better day to take in some baseball?

“Complete and utter embarrassment by our pitching staff,” Schlossnagle said. “From front to back, top to bottom. That’s not who we would like to be, not who we have been. It remains to be seen who we are.”

It was the second-worst loss for TCU at Lupton Stadium, behind a 13-1 loss to UTA on March 3, 2003.

Baylor’s 16 runs tied the second most by an opponent at Lupton Stadium, behind the 20 by UAB in a 20-10 victory on May 8, 2004.

Until TCU scratched out four runs in the seventh inning on a pair of RBI singles and Ryan Merrill’s two-run home run, Saturday was on track to be the worst loss for Schlossnagle at TCU. Instead, that distinction will remain with a 20-6 loss against Rice in a tournament game in Houston on March 9, 2007.

Did we mention LaDainian Tomlinson could have picked a better day to take in some baseball?

“Got to give Baylor credit. When we weren’t walking them or hitting them, they were putting the ball in play,” Schlossnagle said. “Whether it was hard or soft, it fell in. It was an awesome day by Baylor and a really poor day by TCU. But it only counts as one loss. It may have felt like four, because it took forever to get over with. But it’s one loss. We get to decide how we respond to it.”

Cam Warner went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Cal Coughlin and Dalton Brown each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

“Have to get back at them tomorrow, try to win a series,” Schlossnagle said.

Somebody tell LT.

Baylor	141	331	300	— 16	19	1
TCU	000	000	401	— 5	6	0