TCU baseball drops finale to Texas Tech in Big 12 showdown

Giving up three runs in a game normally isn’t so bad.

But TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle saw beyond that number in his team’s 3-1 loss to Texas Tech on Sunday at Lupton Stadium.

He saw seven walks, part of 15 in the series by TCU pitchers.

“Horrible, just horrible,” he said. “Just a total lack of respect for the pitching tradition of this program by our pitching staff. Everything we are about is pitching and throwing strikes, and this pitching staff refuses to commit to it.”

A leadoff walk in the third and a one-out walk in the fifth both scored against TCU starter Rex Hill (2-3), who walked five in 4 2/3 innings.

Game 2 starter Brian Howard walked two in four innings in his start Saturday, including a leadoff hitter in a run-scoring inning. In Game 1 Friday, reliever Brian Trieglaff walked three in two innings, including the first batter he faced.

“Credit Tech for how they battled,” Schlossnagle said.

And now debit TCU another game in the standings. In losing the series, the Horned Frogs (30-12, 11-7) fell three games behind Texas Tech (34-13, 14-4) with six to play, but it’s more than that because Tech owns the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Tech starter Ty Damron (4-1) also had his trouble with walks, four in five innings, but TCU never made him pay.

The first inning might have been the Frogs’ best chance. Cam Warner’s double off the top of the wall in left-center put runners at second and third with no outs, but Evan Skoug popped up the first pitch. Luken Baker was intentionally walked to load the bases, but Elliott Barzilli struck out looking on three pitches and Josh Watson struck out on a 1-2 pitch.

“We didn’t put together good at-bats, and Damron made pitches,” Schlossnagle said. “It’s disappointing. Let them off the hook.”

Hunter Hargrove’s ground ball past Barzilli at third and Eric Gutierrez’s sacrifice fly in the third gave Tech a 2-0 lead. There was also a hit batter in the inning, one of four in the series by TCU pitching.

A wild pitch by reliever Sean Wymer scored Tech’s third run in the fifth.

Barzilli’s double to lead off the sixth became a run when he advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error, cutting the lead to 3-1.

TCU’s last chance came in the ninth when Connor Wanhanen walked and pinch hitter Ryan Merrill doubled with two out. Pinch hitter Michael Landestoy lined to right on a 2-2 pitch for the final out.

“Had a great at-bat,” Schlossnagle said. “Really proud of Michael. Proud of our guys putting us in position at the end.”

This story was originally published May 1, 2016 at 5:08 PM with the headline "TCU baseball drops finale to Texas Tech in Big 12 showdown."