TCU ace Nick Lodolo shines in Shriners Classic opener; Frogs face Texas A&M next
TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle made his expectations for left-hander Nick Lodolo clear before the season.
“It’s time for him to be that elite No. 1 starter that every great team has,” Schlossnagle said. “I’m banking on us seeing that this year.”
The early results are promising.
Lodolo turned in his best performance in leading TCU to a 10-6 victory over the University of Houston on Friday afternoon to open the Shriners Hospitals for Children Baseball Classic at Minute Maid Park.
TCU (6-2) struggled to close out the game in the ninth, using four pitchers in the inning, but eventually got it done in dramatic fashion.
TCU will take that momentum in Saturday’s game against Texas A&M. Left-hander Brandon Williamson is scheduled to pitch for the Frogs with first-pitch set for 7 p.m.
It’ll be hard to top Lodolo’s outing.
Lodolo allowed just one run on two hits with one walk and 13 strikeouts over seven innings. The 13 strikeouts matched a career high, and marked consecutive starts with double-digit strikeouts. Lodolo struck out 10 in his previous start against Grand Canyon.
Lodolo had six scoreless innings before giving up a solo home run to Houston’s Jared Triolo to start the seventh.
By that point, though, TCU’s offense had staked Lodolo to a comfortable lead with two three-run home runs. The Frogs scored three runs in the first, fourth and seventh innings.
Catcher Alex Isola had a three-run homer in the first, and right fielder Andrew Keefer belted a three-run shot in the fourth. Then the Frogs had three-run scoring hits by Jake Guenther, Keefer and Conner Shepherd in the seventh and tacked one one more in the eighth.
Houston scored a two runs in the eighth, including one on a wild pitch and another on a single by Triolo, and three more in the ninth.
TCU right-hander Marcelo Perez retired the first two batters of the ninth, and then Schlossnagle opted to make a pitching change. But Dawson Barr couldn’t retire any of the four batters he faced, walking in a run, forcing another pitching change.
TCU lefty Augie Mihlbauer entered and walked in another run on four pitches, prompting yet another pitching change. Charles King -- TCU’s fourth pitcher of the inning -- came in and got Triolo to ground the ball to short, but a TCU error allowed another run and extended the game.
That brought the tying run up to the plate, Joe Davis, but King retired him on a fly out that reached the warning track.
