TCU baseball heads into big week off series win over Grand Canyon
TCU baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle likes having a heavy-loaded schedule in non-conference play. He feels it “exposes” the Frogs and showcases the areas they need to improve upon out of the gate.
And, after opening the season at the MLB4 Tournament, including knocking off top-ranked Vanderbilt, TCU is set for another marquee tournament this weekend at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
TCU will face Houston on Friday, Texas A&M on Saturday and Rice on Sunday as part of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Baseball Classic. Before making their way to Houston, though, the Frogs have a Wednesday showdown at Sam Houston State on Wednesday in Huntsville.
The Frogs should go into it feeling positive about themselves. They won their home opener against Abilene Christian on Wednesday, and then took two of three for a series win over Grand Canyon University this weekend.
TCU fell in the series opener against Grand Canyon, 4-1, on Friday, scoring just one run on a solo homer. It spoiled a solid outing by left-hander Nick Lodolo, who allowed two runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts over seven innings.
But the Frogs bounced back with an impressive 17-9 victory on Saturday, highlighted by five home runs. Zach Humphreys went deep twice, and Austin Henry, Johnny Rizer and Conner Shepherd also joined the home run barrage.
Then TCU closed out a 6-5 victory on Sunday. The Frogs had a 6-0 lead early on, and managed to make it stand. Freshman right-hander Marcelo Perez earned his first career save with two scoreless innings.
In all, TCU went 3-1 on its opening homestand, scoring 36 runs in 33 innings.
