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No. 5 TCU Clinches Series With 6-3 Lead - TCU Athletics
FORT WORTH – A four-run sixth inning proved to be the difference in the ballgame as No. 5 TCU clinched the series with a 6-3 win over No. 20 UCLA Saturday afternoon
GoFrogs: No. 5 TCU Clinches Series With 6-3 Lead
FORT WORTH – A four-run sixth inning proved to be the difference in the ballgame as No. 5 TCU clinched the series with a 6-3 win over No. 20 UCLA Saturday afternoon at Lupton Stadium. Kurtis Byrne homered for the second straight game and drove in three.
The Rundown
TCU opened the scoring in the second on a Peyton Chatagnier sacrifice fly that plated Jack Basseer. A UCLA error in the third aided the cause as TCU picked up another run on a grounder off the bat of Karson Bowen, making it a 2-0 ballgame.
The Horned Frogs clung to its lead until the fifth when the Bruins bats came to life. Back-to-back singles to open the inning turned into UCLA's first run. The Bruins got the tying run to third with only one out. Braeden Sloan (2-0) entered the game and fanned two around an intentional walk to leave the bases load.
Brody Green's lead-off double in the sixth kick-started a four-run inning. With runners on the corners, Logan Maxwell perfectly executed a push bunt down the first base line to make it a 3-1 game. Two batters later, Kurtis Byrne lined a 400-foot home run over the center field fence for a 6-1 lead.
UCLA crept back into the game in the eighth, scoring twice on three hits. Zachary Cawyer came on with two in scoring position and nobody out. An infield single followed by a sacrifice fly made it a 6-3 ballgame. Cawyer got out of the jam with a 6-3 double play. Chase Hoover took over in the ninth with a runner on and one out. He retired two straight to lock up his first save of the season.
Kole Klecker started and allowed a run on six hits over 4 1/3 innings. He didn't walk a batter and struck out three. Sloan earned the win in relief. He allowed two runs on three hits, issued an intentional walk and struck out six over 2 2/3 innings.
Stat of the Game:
6-0 - TCU is off to its first 6-0 start to the season since the 1994 campaign.
Notes:
- TCU scored first for the fourth time this season.
- TCU was outhit by its opponent for just the second time this season.
- TCU homered in a game for the fifth time this season.
- TCU played flawless defense for the third time this season.
- TCU turned one double play in the game.
- The TCU pitching staff registered double-digit strikeouts (10) for the third time this season.
- Chase Hoover collected his first career save.
- Logan Maxwell stretched his hitting streak to eight games dating back to the 2023 campaign.
- Maxwell tallied his second multi-hit game of the year and 11th of his career.
- Anthony Silva has hit safely in all six games this season and stretched his hitting streak to nine games dating back to the 2023 season.
- Silva tallied his team-leading fourth multi-hit game of the season and the 24th of his career.
- Kurtis Byrne hit his secod home run of the season and the 18th of his career.
- Byrne tallied his second multi-hit game of the year and the 32nd of his career.
- Byrne registered his third multi-RBI game of the season and the 24th of his career.
- Jack Basseer collected his first hit in a TCU uniform.
With the win, TCU improves to 6-0 on the season. The final game of the series is set for Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Zack Morris will get the start for TCU. The game will be televised on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
