TopFrog
Lifelong Frog
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[SIZE=14pt]No. 5 TCU Sweeps Away Utah, 8-2[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Coats hits Frogs' first grand slam of the season[/SIZE]
Final Stats
OGDEN, Utah - The combination of outstanding pitching and timely hitting sent the fifth-ranked TCU Horned Frogs to its fourth straight series sweep with an 8-2 victory over Utah on Sunday afternoon. TCU broke a close game open on Jason Coat's second career grand slam. Steven Maxwell earned his seventh win of the season.
Steven Maxwell (7-0) pitched a gem for the Frogs, holding the Utes to a run on seven hits in eight innings of work. On three occasions, Maxwell got the Utes to bounce into inning-ending double plays, including each of the seventh and eighth innings. Along the way, Maxwell issued just one walk and struck out eight batters. Kaleb Merck allowed a run on two hits in his lone inning of work.
Bryan Holaday continued his torrid hot-streak in the first inning as he got the Frogs on the board. He connected for his 10th home run of the season with a one-out solo shot to left field, giving the Frogs the 1-0 lead.
Three doubles in the third inning translated into two runs and a 3-0 TCU lead. Aaron Schultz doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third on a Bryn Card wild pitch. Jantzen Witte followed with an RBI-double to left field. A Brance Rivera sacrifice bunt moved Witte to third and Holaday collected his second RBI of the game with a double to left field.
Utah threatened to climb back into the game in the bottom of the fourth as they sent six batters to the plate. C.J. Cron worked a lead-off walk. Maxwell struck out Devin Walker for the first out of the inning before yielding three straight singles. The Utes played station-to-station baseball and Cron scored on a Michael Beltran single up the middle. Maxwell got out of the jam as he got Cooper Blanc to ground into the inning-ending double play to keep it a 3-1 contest.
TCU picked up four huge insurance runs in the top of the seventh to extend its lead to 7-1. Schultz reached on an error and Witte tallied a one-out single to start the rally. The Utes went to the pen and called on Ryan Duke who got the second out of the inning before Holaday worked a 3-2 walk. Jason Coats turned around his afternoon with one swing of the bat as he deposited the Duke offering over the right field fence for a grand slam.
Taylor Featherston tacked onto the Frog lead with his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot with one out in the eighth inning. The home run gave TCU an 8-1 lead.
Cron accounted for the Utes second run of the game with a lead-off home run in the ninth.
TCU improves to 34-9 on the season and 14-3 in league play. The Frogs will take the week off for finals and return to action as they travel to New Mexico for a pivotal Mountain West Conference showdown with the Aztecs. Friday's series-opener is set for 1 p.m. (CST).
Game Notes:
* With the fourth inning run allowed, Steven Maxwell saw his 11-inning scoreless streak come to an end. The streak spanned three appearances.
* TCU collected 14 doubles in the three-game series against Utah.
* Jerome Pena extended his hitting streak to six games.
* Jason Coats' grand slam was the first for the Frogs this season and the second of his career (at #13 Ole Miss on Feb. 28, 2009).
* TCU had never swept four straight weekend series in school history.
* TCU extended its conference winning streak to nine games.
