STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton Baseball gave No. 10 TCU all they could handle in the first-ever matchup with a ranked NCAA Division I opponent at the Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex.
The Texans out-hit the Horned Frogs in the midweek slugfest that combined for 28 hits, but TCU took advantage of Tarleton’s errors in a 13-9 victory. The Texans had 15 hits on the day compared to TCU’s 13 hits.
TCU (21-9) scored three runs in the first and second innings to lead 6-0 before the Texans got on the board in the second on an RBI single from Tyler Fowler. The Texans (9-21) had three hits in the inning, led by a double from Colby Seltzer and singles from London Green and Fowler.
After the Horned Frogs plated two more runs in the third to lead 8-1, the Texan bats caught fire in the bottom half of the inning. Seltzer hit his second double in as many innings, which drove home Jordan Parker for a run. With two outs and the bases loaded in the third, Bryan Aguilar launched a grand slam off the left field scoreboard to cut the deficit to 8-6. Aguilar led the Texans going 3-for-5 with four RBI, two runs and a walk. Tarleton had five runs on three hits in the third.
The Texans got a scoreless fourth inning on the mound from Luke Baley and the Texans took advantage in the bottom half of the frame. Blake Burns cut the TCU lead to one on a 450-foot solo home run to right center, his third long ball of the season.
TCU scored four runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to pull away from the Texans late. But the Texans had a few more runs left in the tank to keep the game close. Kemuel Thomas-Rivera had a two-run single in the fifth that scored Aguilar and Green, moving the score to 12-9 through five innings.
Thomas-Rivera was one of five Texans that had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-6 at the plate. Green joined Aguilar with a three-hit game, going 3-for-3 with a walk. Fowler and Seltzer each went 2-for-5 with an RBI on the day.
The bats calmed down late, as both teams went scoreless in the final three innings. AJ Wood tossed the final two innings out of the bullpen, throwing two scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out a pair of Horned Frogs.
Green and Fowler provided life in the ninth inning with a pair of singles with the heart of the Texan order coming up, but TCU’s bullpen closed the door on a Texan comeback with two straight outs to end the game. Tarleton left 13 runners on base, including nine in scoring position in the loss.
Tarleton will resume WAC play this weekend as the Texans travel to Seattle to take on Seattle U on April 9-11 for a four-game series.
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