The ACU baseball team traveled to Fort Worth to face the TCU Horned Frogs, Wednesday night. The Horned Frogs defeated the Wildcats 12-4 in their home opener.
The Wildcats gained a 1-0 lead when Robert Salazar hit a solo home run to left field, on a 2-2 pitch. This was Salazar’s second of the season.
Errors are what got TCU on the scoreboard early and the Horned Frogs kept the lead from there. An error by the Wildcats in the bottom of the second inning moved a runner from second to home. This run tied the game. The Horned Frogs capitalized on the opportunity the Wildcats gave them by drawing in two more runs on a single from, outfielder, Josh Watson. Hunter Spaeth came in the game in relief for Brock Barger after two more runs came in. Spaeth got ACU out of the inning, leaving two runners stranded on first and second. The score after the second inning was 5-1.
After a scoreless top of the third inning by the Wildcats, Spaeth comes right back out and retires the side on eight pitches. The score remained 5-1, after three innings played.
The Wildcats close the gap in the fourth inning with a two-out double from Kenny Otero bringing home Salazar. Dalton Dunn followed that by an infield single to third, scoring Otero on an error. After two runs scored and a walk, the Horned Frogs turned to, right-hand relief, Spencer Arrighetti. The score going into the bottom of the fourth was 5-3
The Horned Frogs answered in the bottom half of the inning with RBI ground-out, but Spaeth caught, infielder, Jake Guenther looking. The score was now 6-3.
In the fifth inning, Otero came in relief for Spaeth after Spaeth allowed a lead-off walk. Otero came in and retired each batter he faced.
The Wildcats get two runners on-base bringing the game-tying run to the plate in the sixth, but fail to do so after a strikeout and ground-out.
Errors continue to hurt the Wildcats in the bottom of the sixth bringing home another run for the Horned Frogs. With two runners on-base, TCU homers to left-center field adding three more runs to the Horned Frogs lead. The score was now 10-3.
The Horned Frogs score their final two runs in the seventh inning with a two-run double. The score after the seventh was 12-3.
Otero scored on a passed ball by the Horned Frogs in the eighth inning cutting the lead down one run, 12-4.
It is great practice for the Wildcats facing a top-25 team in TCU at the beginning of the season as they prepare for conference play.
