FORT WORTH, Texas - No. 28 TCU ran its
current winning streak to seven games with a 9-2 win over the ULM baseball team
Tuesday night at Lupton Stadium.
TCU's Tyler Duffie (1-0) walked Corben Green
and Taylor Abdalla on eight straight pitches to open the top of the second
inning. Judd Edwards reached on a
fielder's choice ground ball to shortstop, but Horned Frog second baseman Derek
Odell threw the ball away trying to turn the double play. The throwing error allowed Green to score
from second and gave the Warhawks (17-20) a 1-0 lead.
Josh Elander lined a one-out single through
the left side off Alex Hermeling (1-2) for the first TCU (21-13) hit of the
game in the bottom of the second. The
Warhawks got out of the inning when Hermeling forced Kevin Cron to chop into
the 6-4-3 double play.
The Horned Frogs tied the game in the bottom
of the third inning, as Keaton Jones sent a full-count Hermeling offering into
the gap in left center field, scoring Davy Wright from second base (1-1). A Kyle Von Tungelin base hit to left field spring
boarded TCU in front 2-1.
A bases loaded hit by pitch drawn by Brance
Rivera extended the TCU advantage to 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth
inning. Reliever Ryan Bergeron forced
Von Tungelin to fly out to center field to limit the damage and escape the
inning. TCU added a pair of runs in the
bottom of the fifth inning on a two-run single off the bat of Cron to push its
cushion to 6-1.
ULM threatened in the top of the sixth
inning, as pinch hitter Jeff Fuller moved Jeremy Sy into scoring position at
second base on a one-out single. Chris
Dudley loaded the bases full of Warhawks by legging out an infield single to
third base. TCU's Brandon Finnegan
punched Edwards out looking on a 1-2 pitch to keep ULM off the scoreboard.
Andrew Richardson entered the game for
Bergeron in the bottom of the seventh and struck out Jantzen Witte and Jerrick Suiter
looking for the first two outs of the frame.
Elander located the first pitch he saw into right field to score Von
Tungelin from second base and move the TCU lead to 7-1.
Edwards led off the top of the ninth inning
with a sharply struck double down the right field line. Caleb Clowers followed with an infield single
to put ULM runners on the corners. A Les
Aulds ground out to second base was enough to push Edwards across from third and
close the gap to 9-2. TCU pitcher Justin
Scharf forced Sy to ground out to first unassisted to end the game.
Fuller led the Warhawks with a 2-for-2 outing,
while Abdalla and Sy each reached base two times. Pitcher Devin Malone registered his first
career strikeout after freezing Von Tungelin on a 2-2 offering, throwing a scoreless
bottom of the eighth inning in the process.
Elander paced the Horned Frog offense with a
4-for-4 evening at the plate, while Cron added three hits and two RBIs. Duffie allowed one hit in four full innings,
striking out five to earn his first win of 2012.
ULM welcomes Middle Tennessee for a Sun Belt
Conference series at Warhawk Field April 20-22.
