TCU Horned Frog First Half of Season Recap
After one of their best seasons in recent years, the TCU Baseball Horned Frogs Season has come to an end and with comes the TCU season recap. Their season concluded in the NCAA Regional Tournament after losing twice. However, this unfortunate ending is not to downplay a 2021 season. That was nothing short of excellent and always worth a season recap.
The Horned Frogs ended with an overall record of 41-19 and 17-7 in the Big 12 Conference. Which included two top ten ranked teams in the nation. At home in Fort Worth, Texas, at Lupton Stadium, the Horned Frogs accumulated a record of 20-8 and. When on the road, went 14-6 on the season. With that and a tie for the Big 12 Conference regular-season championship and a Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, the Horned Frogs have many good things to reflect on.
State Farm College Baseball Showdown
The TCU Horned Frogs season began Saturday, February 20th, at a brand-new stadium in Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. TCU began their season ranked No. 10 in the nation and faced off against some of the best competition in their league. Unfortunately, the contest came in three SEC Conference teams, and they would start 1-2 in the showdown.
In their first game of the season, the Horned Frogs faced off against a solid No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels team, where they lost their first game of the season. They would lose the contest 3-7 and would suffer from early errors.
After the loss, the Horned Frogs would bounce back against Mississippi State to get their first win of the season. However, they would Merely escape with a 3-2 to advance to play the Arkansas Razorbacks. In recent years, the Razorbacks have been a powerhouse program. That would beat the Horned Frogs 1-4—sending them home with a chip on their shoulder. Which they would carry throughout the season.
Returning Home
After a rough start to their season, the TCU Horned Frogs would return home and win five straight. Although the Horned Frogs would win five straight on the other side of things, they would be dominant in all five.
In their first home game of the season in a mid-week series, the Horned Frogs would obliterate the Texas Southern Tigers 20-0 and make a statement early. This would then be followed by a weekend series against the Liberty Flames. They would sweep the Flames in a three-game series by a final score of the three games being 25-5.
After a successful two weeks two at home, the TCU Horned would play another single game mid-week series against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. The Horned Frogs would go onto win the game 9-3 in another dominating fashion. With the momentum on their side, the Horned Frogs would then focus on their next tournament.
TCU Season Recap: Shiner Hospitals for Children College Classic
In their second tournament of the season, the TCU Horned Frogs would head south to Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. In the tournament, the Frogs would play three games and accumulate a weekend record of 2-1. The tournament would begin Friday, March 5th, and last until Sunday, March 7th.
The team started the tournament against Texas A&M- Corpus Christi. They would then open up another batting clinic beating the Islanders 15-5. The game would only last seven innings to where the mercy rule was put into place.
Vs. Texas State
After starting the tournament with a win and the momentum still on their side. They would face the Texas State Bobcats. The Horned Frogs would pitch their second shutout of the season. By not letting the Bobcats not score a single run in the contest. They would slowly and consistently, throughout the game, began to rack up scores that would add up to 10 scores; they would score every inning but the first.
In the last contest of the weekend/tournament for the Horned Frogs, they would take on the Sam Houston State Bearkats. The game would take ten innings and would be hard-fought from either side, but the Horned Frogs would eventually fall 5-6 in their third loss of the season.
Mid-Week Road Trip
After playing in their final preseason tournament of the season. The TCU Horned Frogs would have nine games in a little over two weeks to clean things up before Big 12 Conference play began.
They would start this on the road trip in San Marcos on Tuesday, March 9th, against a Texas State team looking for revenge. After being shut out just three days prior. The Horned Frogs would be beaten by the mercy rule for the first time all season by a score of 1-11. Then the Horned Frogs would continue their road trip by heading to San Antonio to take on the UTSA Roadrunners. They would go back and forth in the contest, but their early start in the first inning by scoring three would eventually put them ahead.
Gonzaga Series
After their road trip, the TCU Horned Frogs returned home to Fort Worth to take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The series would begin Friday, March 12th and play that Saturday and end the series Sunday, March 14th. TCU would lose the series 1-2 by losing the first 8-13 and winning the second 7-1. With the series tied 1-1, the Horned Frogs would go into game three on Sunday with a chance to win the series.
It would take eleven innings, but in the final inning, the Bulldogs would score three runs. That TCU would not respond. As a result, they would lose the last game of the series 10-7 to drop their first series of the season.
Final Pre-Season Tune-Ups
Next in our TCU Baseball season recap, we discuss the Frog’s pre-season turnaround. After dropping their first series of the season, the TCU Horned Frogs would look to make any final adjustments before the Big 12 Conference began. The Horned Frogs would then play a one-game mid-week series against Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions. The game would be played at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth on Tuesday, March 16th.
The Horned Frogs again put on a clinic in the game when up to bat. They would do so by enforcing the mercy rule by putting up 20 scores. In the dominant performance when up to bat, the Horned Frogs would also hold the Golden Lions to just two scores in the contest ending the game in seven innings 20-2.
Vs. the Ragin Cajuns
After a dominant performance at home, the Horned Frogs would travel to Lafayette, Louisiana. To play at Russo Park to compete against the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns. In the contest, the Horned Frogs would take the series 2-1 but would have to play well to do so. In the first game of the series, the Horned Frogs had problems when up to bat. As a result they would only put up two scores in the contest. However, the Ragin Cajuns would score seven to beat the Horned Frogs 2-7 in the first game of the series.
In the next two games, the Horned Frogs would respond by beating down the Ragin Cajuns 18-5 in the last two games. To win the series 2-1. After having a successful preseason, TCU would now turn its attention towards the Big 12 Conference.
Big 12 Conference First Half of the TCU Season Recap
Now the TCU Horned Frogs turned their attention towards the Big 12 Conference. Their conference would dictate their road to Omaha and would have to have a solid regular season to do so.
They began this venture against the Baylor Bears and came out strong like the rest of the preseason. In the three-game series, the Horned Frogs would take care of business and sweep the Bears by a total score of 24-4. The dominant performance was led by two double-digit score performances en route to beating the Bears.
Coming off a successful weekend series, the Horned Frogs would then turn their attention in an away mid-game series against the UT Arlington Mavericks. They would continue their success and beat down the Mavericks 5-3 to continue their winning streak. This would carry into their next series, where they played a familiar Big 12 foe.
In another blowout series win, the TCU Horned Frogs would remain playing as one of the best teams in the nation. The Horned Frogs would, for the second time in conference, sweep the Oklahoma Sooners. This three-game weekend series would be a clinic when up to bat. Leading to scoring 35 runs in the three-game series compared to the 16 given up. This would be a crucial win for the Horned Frogs as they would next face one of the most challenging matchups yet.
First Game against Tarleton
In their next game, the TCU Horned Frogs would go on the road to take on the Tarleton State Texans in Stephenville, Texas. The Texans, who were having a solid season, would look to end the Horned Frogs streak. But TCU would have other plans. In their tenth win in a row, the TCU Horned Frogs would battle Texas to edge them out in the fifth to win 13-9.
The TCU Horned Frogs would then take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. It would be a top 10 matchup in their next series. Like the Horned Frogs, the Red Raiders had been on a hot streak and would look to carry that momentum. However, the away three-game series in Lubbock, Texas, would be the first Big 12 Conference loss of the season for the Horned Frogs. TCU would come out hot in game one to take it 7-3. Then in the second game, would be edged 5-6 in ten innings. Then in the third game, the Red Raiders would come out hot and hand the Horned Frogs their second loss of the series losing 7-17.
Second Game against Tarleton
After snapping their ten-game losing streak, the Horned Frogs would return home to recoup to take on the Tarleton State Texas in their second matchup of the season. Where the first matchup was competitive, the second was hardly. The Horned Frogs would take care of business at home in Fort Worth to beat the Texans 10-2 in their final contest of the season.
Now trying to rebuild their win streak, the Horned Frogs would take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in a three-game series at home. While the Horned Frogs would sweep the Cowboys, the series would be a hard-fought win in the first two games. In the first game, they would edge out the Cowboys 9-8 and then do the same in the second by winning 8-7. In the third and final game of the series, the Horned Frogs would play a solid game to put away the Cowboys 12-6.
For the second half of our TCU Baseball season recap click here!
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Written by Campus Live Intern Trinity Porter
