TCU’s Baker exits game early with possible muscle strain

TCU pitcher Luken Baker, removed from his start Friday night at Oklahoma State in the second inning, has a possible muscle strain, coach Jim Schlossnagle said.

He finished the game as the designated hitter and will continue to hit the rest of the weekend, Schlossnagle said.

The freshman from Conroe Oak Ridge was making his team-high 10th start. He had thrown 24 pitches when he gestured to the dugout in the middle of an at-bat and pointed to his elbow, TCU radio announcer Chuck LaMendola described in play-by-play.

Baker had faced six batters and allowed a hit, a walk and struck out three.

Jared Janczak entered and finished the inning but took the loss after allowing five runs in three innings as Oklahoma State won 9-0.

Baker, the Gatorade National Freshman of the Year last season, was one of the nation’s top recruits. He signed with TCU after advising Major League Baseball not to draft him.

He is 3-1 with a 1.70 earned-run average after Friday’s scoreless 1.1 innings with 41 strikeouts in 47.2 total innings. He was coming off one of his strongest starts of the season, last week’s 6.0 innings against Oklahoma.

Baker has hit cleanup in every game and is tied for the team lead in RBIs with 36. He is hitting .351 with three home runs, a .485 slugging percentage, 24 walks and a .456 on-base percentage.

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 10:50 PM with the headline "TCU’s Baker exits game early with possible muscle strain."