TCU Baseball Drops Season Opener
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FORT WORTH, Texas – The No. 10 TCU Horned Frogs had the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning, but saw their rally fall short in a 7-4 loss to No. 22 Ole Miss Friday night. 5,912 fans, the second-most in school history, packed Lupton Stadium on opening night.
Andrew Mitchell (0-1) pitched six innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits. He struck out four and did not issue a walk. Nick Frey was touched for three runs on four hits and fanned three batters in two innings of work. Making his collegiate debut, Trey Teakell pitched a perfect ninth inning with one strike out.
Keaton Jones and Josh Elander led the way with two hits each. Jason Coats drove in two with a 1-for-3 night at the plate.
TCU had an early chance to get on the board after Brance Rivera led off the first with a walk. With two outs, Elander hit a sinking line drive into center field. The ball got by the center fielder, Auston Bousfield, but he was able to recover and executed a perfect relay throw home to cut down Rivera at the plate.
Ole Miss cracked the scoreboard first in the third inning, taking a 1-0 lead. Mitchell limited the damage as the Rebels loaded the bases with nobody out on three straight singles. Tanner Mathis hit a blooper into center field, but Kyle Von Tungeln threw home to force an out, keeping
the game scoreless. Bousfield gave the Rebels the lead with a ground ball to second. Mitchell then froze Alex Yarbrough at the plate to end the inning.
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The Frogs rallied back to pick up a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to take its first lead of
the season. Davy Wright worked a lead-off walk and Jones was plunked on the head to put two on with nobody out. A bunt by Rivera advanced the runners 90 feet and Von Tungeln tied the game with a seeing-eye single up the middle. Coats followed with a sacrifice fly to give TCU the 2-1 lead.
The advantage didn’t last long as a miscue in the fourth inning allowed the Rebels to tie the game at two.
TCU looked poised to regain the lead in the fourth, but another strong throw from the Rebel outfield cut down the go-ahead run at the plate. Kevin Cron singled with one out and moved to second on a sacrifice from Wright. Jones drove the ball up the middle, but Bousfield’s thrown to the plate was just in time to get Cron, keeping it a 2-2 game.
Ole Miss took hold of the momentum and turned it into a two-run advantage in the fifth. Yarbourgh hit a two-out, two-run homer to give the Rebels a 4-2 lead. They added another pair of two-out runs in the seventh to open up a commanding 6-2 lead.
TCU began its climb back into the game, picking up a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh. Wright led off the frame with a double to right center and scored easily on a double off the bat of Jones. After a wild pitch moved Jones to third, Coats lined a two-out single up the middle to make it a 6-4 contest.
Andrew Mistone got one of the runs back for the Rebels as he lead off the eighth inning with a home run that just stayed fair down the left field line, making it a 7-4 contest.
A two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth began with a walk to Rivera. Von Tungeln became the third Frog to get hit by a pitch, bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Coats. He battled to a 3-2 count, but couldn’t catch up to Brett Huber’s fastball and the game came to an end.
TCU (0-1) will try and even the series Saturday afternoon. Stefan Crichton will toe the rubber for TCU against the Rebels’ R.J. Hively. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. at Lupton Stadium.
