TCU resets pitching, offense in 17-4 rout of UT Arlington
Looking over the boxscore after a 17-4 victory against UT Arlington, TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle could talk hitting or he could talk pitching.
He would have little to complain about either way.
Rex Hill struck out eight in 4 1/3 innings to rebound from a short start that knocked him from the weekend rotation, Sean Wymer struck out five in two perfect innings, Drew Gooch also had two perfect innings, and Josh Watson homered for the Frogs, who had 16 hits.
“I thought Rex’s pitching was better,” Schlossnagle said. “It’s just he gave up 10 free bases. I’m really excited about Sean Wymer. He’s a guy that we have to get in the game more often. And Gooch, as well.”
Yeah, it definitely fires us up and probably gets us rolling a little bit, but I was just trying to put a good swing on the ball, just trying to get a hit.
TCU hitter Josh Watson
on his home runJared Janczak (3-1) won in relief by getting two outs to finish the fifth inning for Hill, who walked four and had four wild pitches. The Horned Frogs (19-5) retired the last 15 batters.
“Rex has had big strikeout totals — Rex’s thing isn’t throwing strikes, it’s expanding the strike zone when he’s ahead in the count,” Schlossnagle said. “His misses are in the middle of the plate. He can throw strikes, he just needs to be able to pitch a little bit off or a little bit in.”
Watson hit a two-run home run in a five-run third inning for TCU, and Cam Warner had four hits and scored three runs. Watson’s home run was his fifth, tying Elliott Barzilli for the team lead.
“Yeah, it definitely fires us up and probably gets us rolling a little bit, but I was just trying to put a good swing on the ball, just trying to get a hit,” said Watson, a freshman from Arlington Martin hitting in his hometown.
Warner has a 13-game hitting streak.
“I try to forget about that,” he said. “Just stick with my approach, what Coach is telling me in the box, stick with my plan and put good swings on baseballs.”
Barzilli drove in two runs, along with Watson, Austen Wade and Connor Wanhanen as TCU has scored 26 runs in two games since being shut out at Texas last week. Wanhanen was 3-for-4 with his first two doubles of the season. Evan Skoug had an RBI double.
“Cam had a great night, and it was good to see Josh swing the bat from the right side of the plate,” Schlossnagle said. “He’s been working really hard on his approach from both sides, but especially the right side.”
UTA (14-12) committed three errors and walked nine. Right fielder Noah Vaughan dropped a high fly ball in right field off the bat of Luken Baker with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning, allowing three runs to score for an 11-2 TCU lead.
Brady Cox and Jerame Littell each drove in a run for the Mavericks.
Carlos Mendez: 817-390-7760, @calexmendez
This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 10:43 PM with the headline "TCU resets pitching, offense in 17-4 rout of UT Arlington."