TCU Wins 9th Straight

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LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The TCU Horned Frogs exploded for 11 runs in the final three innings to post a 15-6 victory over UNLV Sunday afternoon. TCU took advantage of six UNLV errors and 10 walks to score 12 unearned runs. The victory is the ninth straight for the Frogs.

Brandon Finnegan was touched for two runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. He struck out four and walked one in the no-decision. Nick Frey gave up a hit, walked two and struck out one in his lone inning of work. Justin Scharf (1-1) allowed a hit and struck out one in his one inning. Kevin Allen retired all four batters he faced. Kaleb Merck was touched for four runs on four hits and a walk in the ninth.

TCU took advantage of free passes to get an early lead in the game. Kyle Von Tungeln was plunked with one out and moved to third on an error by the shortstop on a ball hit by Jason Coats. Josh Elander grounded out to drive in the first run of the game.

A lead-off single in the second inning turned into the tying run for the Rebels. Brandon Bayardi reached on the lead-off single and moved to second on a balk. Danny Higa lined a single to right to drive in Bayardi, tying the game at one. Finnegan worked out of the jam, getting Scott Tomassetti to ground into the inning-ending double play.

Another miscue by the Rebels to open the third proved costly as the Frogs scored a trio of unearned runs to take a 4-1 lead. Brance Rivera hit a shallow pop up towards second, but the play wasn’t made and Rivera stood on third with nobody out. Rebel starter Erick Fedde unleashed a wild pitch to give the Frogs a 2-1 lead. With two outs, Fedde issued three straight walks to push the lead to three, 4-1.

UNLV cut into the Frog lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. TJ White broke up a

string eight straight retired by Finnegan with a bouncer up the middle. He scored on a two-out double by Scott Dysinger to make it a 4-2 game. Frey came on in relief and got the final out of the inning to preserve the lead.

TCU added another unearned run to its total in the top of the seventh, scoring a run without the benefit of a hit. Coats and Elander worked back-to-back one-out walks and Zac Jordan reached on the Rebels fourth error of the afternoon to load the bases. Josh Gonzales worked a two-out walk to push the Frog lead to 5-2.

The Frogs broke the game open in the eighth, scoring three runs on three hits to take a commanding 8-2 lead. Rivera doubled with one out and moved to third on a single by Von Tungeln. Back-to-back walks to Coats and Elander made it a 6-2 contest and Jordan came up with a two-run double to extend the Frog lead.

In the top of the ninth, the game got out of hand as two errors turned into seven unearned runs. The big blows were a two-run single by Elander and a two-run double by Mattson.

UNLV made it interesting in the ninth as it scored four two-out runs in the ninth to make it a 15-6 game, but Merck got Casey Sato to strike out to end the game.

TCU improves to 11-6 on the season and 3-0 in league play. The Frogs will stay on the road as they travel to Texas State for a Tuesday night meeting. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.

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