Dropping the first game of a series for the sixth weekend in a row, Texas baseball was shut out for the first time all season in its game against TCU on Friday night, falling 5-0.
For both teams, it was a battle between defenses all evening. Nothing but a swing and a miss came from nearly every Texas batter on the starting lineup, having no hits or runs, only knocking foul balls for the first three innings.
The Horned Frogs got on the board first from a double hit by senior catcher Kurtis Byrne in the first inning for an RBI. Fortunately for the Longhorns, starting sophomore pitcher Max Grubbs was able to stall TCU for the next five innings, tying his career-high record in strikeouts at five.
As the game went on, it became evident that the Horned Frogs had cracked the Texas defense, gaining 11 total hits throughout the contest compared to Texas’ five. TCU junior starting pitcher Payton Tolle served Texas seven strikeouts across seven innings pitched, throwing an overwhelming 92 mph fastball.
“He attacked the strike zone with a good mentality,” redshirt senior third baseman Peyton Powell said. “We had a couple of double play balls that we hit that got unlucky. He was good tonight.”
Texas suffered 10 groundouts and eight flyouts for the night, hindering its ability to get players comfortable on the bases, as no Longhorn was even able to reach third base.
The Longhorns finally made it to the bases at the bottom of the fourth inning off a single to first from Powell, but he was caught stealing on a double play, when sophomore shortstop Jalin Flores was thrown out, leaving him stranded on base.
Attempting to ignite some action during the fifth inning, another single was propelled by Flores alongside a walk from sophomore Max Belyeu. Once again, both players were left stranded on base, leaving the score at 1-0 rounding the sixth inning.
With the game flying by in front of Texas, it needed the offense to kick in to create some pressure. Instead, Byrne sped across the bases after sending a triple to right field during the top of the sixth inning and coming home off a single from senior teammate and right fielder Luke Boyers to put TCU up 2-0.
Despite allowing eight hits, a new career high, Grubbs only allowed two runs and a walk throughout the six innings he pitched. Grubbs handed the mound over to junior pitcher Andre Duplantier II at the top of the seventh after racking up nearly 100 pitches.
Duplantier went on to allow the first home run of the game at the top of the eighth, a solo one hit by Boyers, increasing TCU’s lead to 3-0. When the top of the ninth rolled around, freshman Easton Tumis came in as a relief pitcher and allowed two walks, a single and threw a wild pitch to advance the Horned Frogs to a 5-0 lead as the Longhorns were running out of time.
Texas finished out its performance with a single from Powell, but it would be canceled out by a strikeout from Flores, solidifying TCU’s win at 5-0.
Although the team has continuously lost the first game of a series, head coach David Pierce said he admires how they stay strong through the frustration.
“One positive thing about it is they’ve been resilient and have been able to bounce back,” Pierce said. “We have to lean on that right now.”
The Longhorns look to continue their series against TCU on Saturday at 4 p.m., having its first pitch delayed due to potential inclement weather.
