FORT WORTH — Every once in a while, stuff happens.
Problem for TCU is, it’s happened more than once in a while.
The Horned Frogs finished on the wrong end of a blowout for the third time this season when they lost 13-1 to Texas in the second game of a Big 12 series Saturday night at Lupton Stadium. That’s on the ledger to go with a 12-2 loss to Rice at the Shriners College Classic in Houston on March 3 and a 14-3 loss at Long Beach State on March 9.
“This happens about once a week, once every 10 days right now with this pitching staff,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “The only saving grace is, each time it’s happened, we’ve responded pretty well the next day. So hopefully we’ll get that out of our system and it’ll turn midnight here shortly and it’ll be another day.”
The Frogs boss is right about that. Following the Rice loss, TCU won 19-3 against Stephen F. Austin. Following the loss at Long Beach State, TCU rallied with a 10-4 victory to win that series. Following a 9-6 loss at San Diego on March 12 in which the Frogs gave up the game’s final eight runs, they won five straight.
Now a similar response is called for again. Because for the second time in three starts, Jake Eissler (3-2), a stalwart in long relief, failed to get out of the third inning as a starter. Six walks and eight hits against the next four TCU relievers doomed the rest of the night. James Notary, who pitched the ninth, at least had a clean inning and struck out two.
Bottom line, TCU (14-7, 1-1) had no match for Texas junior righty Blair Henley, a Fort Worth Arlington Heights product who went six strong with six strikeouts and five hits allowed. Two UT relievers struck out four and walked one as the Longhorns (17-9, 3-2) ended a seven-game losing streak in Fort Worth.
TCU relievers have allowed eight walks in eight innings in the series against Texas. For the season, it’s 49 walks in 86 innings.
That’s a lot of numbers. Here’s one more, pretty simple to grasp — the Frogs have three Saturday losses. It’s their losingest day. Locking down that second rotation spot has now become a large priority for Schlossnagle and pitching coach Kirk Saarloos.
“Looking for a lot of answers on the pitching staff outside of the four or five pitchers,” Schlossnagle said. “Every time you think someone shows you a little bit of a bright spot, they don’t throw strikes when they come in. it’s pretty hard to give up the number of free bases we gave up tonight without making an error. It was all walks and a balk and a couple of passed balls or whatever.”
Saturday night served as a reminder of how big it was for TCU to rally Friday night to win the Game 1 battle of aces. Without it, TCU would be trying to avoid a home sweep on Sunday. Instead, there’s a chance to win a series. That’s always important, but especially so at home for any team that has designs on winning the league.
“A lot on the line tomorrow,” Schlossnagle said. “One weekend, one game, doesn’t define a season. But if we want to win a conference championship or be a part of postseasons and stuff like that, days like tomorrow, that’s how you do it.”
By winning series. Not letting stuff happen.
