On Tuesday evening, TCU baseball secured a 5-2 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers in the opening round of the Big 12 Conference tournament, marking their fourth consecutive game against the team. This win served as payback for the Horned Frogs (32-19, 14-16 Big 12), who had previously lost their regular-season series against the Mountaineers, winning only one of the three games over the weekend. TCU will move on to play the eighth-seeded Oklahoma Sooners on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.
Right-hander Caedmon Parker took the ball to start the game for the Horned Frogs. Parker cruised through five innings, striking out seven batters while holding West Virginia to two earned runs on two hits. Parker recorded the win as well, improving to 3-1 on the season. Left-hander Braeden Sloan finished the game on the mound, firing four innings with six strikeouts while conceding just one hit to record his first save of the season.
TCU scored one run in four consecutive innings on Tuesday. The Horned Frogs took a 1-0 lead on an RBI groundout from Chase Brunson in the top of the third inning, while Karson Bowen drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the fourth inning to make it a 2-0 game. A double-play grounder from Kurtis Byrne resulted in another run for the Horned Frogs, who had their lead trimmed to 3-2 after West Virginia’s two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth. Brunson earned one run back for TCU in the top of the sixth inning, sending an RBI single through the middle. Brody Green’s solo homer in the top of the ninth inning iced the win.
