Baseball: TCU’s Big 12 series win streak ends against UCF

The Horned Frogs drop two of their three games with the Knights and are now tied for second in the conference.

TCU baseball remains in the mix for the Big 12 Conference championship, but the team’s regular season title hopes took a hit over the weekend, when the Horned Frogs conceded two of their three games against UCF in Orlando. TCU (29-12, 12-6 Big 12) fell into a three-way tie with Kansas and Arizona for second in the conference standings with the series defeat, which is the first in Big 12 play for the Horned Frogs since losing two of three against Arizona State in mid-March. TCU will host Baylor for a pivotal conference set April 25-27.

Thursday: TCU 6, UCF 1

The No. 25 ranked Horned Frogs got off to a strong start in their series opener, rallying behind another strong pitching performance from righty Tommy LaPour, who picked up his sixth win and moved to 6-2 on the season. LaPour threw seven innings on 112 pitches, striking out four batters without a walk while limiting the Knights to four hits. Louis Rodriguez entered in relief and fired a pair of scoreless frames to preserve the win.

An RBI single from Cole Cramer capped off a two-run effort from TCU in the top of the third inning, where the Horned Frogs took a 2-0 lead before UCF earned one run back on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth inning. Chase Brunson belted a two-run homer in the top of the sixth inning, giving the Horned Frogs a 4-0 lead on his 10th long ball of the season. Noah Franco helped TCU seal its win with a two-run single in the seventh inning. Cramer went 3 for 3 to lead the TCU offense, which totaled nine hits in the victory.

Friday: UCF 5, TCU 1

Although the Horned Frogs collected eight hits in the second game of their Big 12 series, TCU was unable to deliver timely hits, while the Knights capitalized on three home runs and a pair of Horned Frog errors. UCF also took advantage of poor pitching from the Horned Frogs, who walked nine batters in the loss. Braeden Sloan took the loss on the mound, walking four and allowing four runs over three innings of work. Mason Bixby started for the Horned Frogs, striking out two but walking four over one and one-third innings pitched.

UCF carried a 4-0 lead into the top of the sixth inning, where an RBI triple from Chase Brunson resulted in the only run of the game for the Horned Frogs. Brunson went 2 for 4, while freshman Nolan Traeger also went 2 for 4 to lead the TCU offense in the loss. Strikeouts doomed the Horned Frogs, who went down on strikes 15 times at the plate. Kaden Smith and Nate Stern each struck out two batters in relief for the TCU bullpen.

Saturday: UCF 4, TCU 2

Both teams scored twice in the second inning of the rubber match on Saturday, with Sam Myers sending an RBI single into center to cap off a two-run frame for the Horned Frogs. Despite a solid relief outing from freshman lefty Mason Brassfield, who fanned four and held the Knights to one run over four and two-thirds innings, TCU was unable to get to UCF starter Matt Sauser, who improved to 3-0 on the year after firing eight frames and striking out eight without a walk. Caedmon Parker took the loss for TCU, dropping to 2-1 this year.

UCF took a 3-2 lead on a fielder’s choice grounder in the fourth inning and added insurance with a solo shot in the seventh inning. Parker tossed three and one-third innings without a strikeout in his start, allowing three runs on five hits with one walk. Nolan Traeger went 2 for 4 on offense for the Horned Frogs, who were limited to five hits in the series-ending loss.