After the Red Raiders lack of pitching depth reared its ugly head in Amarillo on Tuesday against Oklahoma, Tech will have a quick turnaround against TCU in Fort Worth on Thursday.
The series will include two evening affairs on Thursday and Friday before the getaway game on Saturday. All three games will be televised via ESPN+.
The Horned Frogs have been slumping of late, having lost eight of their last 12 games, sitting at a record of 21-12. TCU is coming off a mid-week loss to Dallas Baptist in Dallas and series loss to Texas in Austin.
Tech is similarly trying to find a consistent grove, having lost four of seven, despite sweeping Kansas State the last time out in conference play. After the non-conference loss to Oklahoma, the Red Raiders sit 27-9 overall and 7-2 in Big 12 play.
Pitching:
The Horned Frogs will likely send right hander Riley Cornelio (3.09 ERA, 1.30 WHIP), Brett Walker (4.91 ERA, 1.45 WHIP), and Marcelo Perez (3.60 ERA, 1.30 WHIP) to the mound this weekend.
The Red Raiders most likely will counter with Andrew Morris (3.74 ERA, 1.20 WHIP), Brandon Birdsell (1.98 ERA, 0.95 WHIP) and Chase Hampton (5.23 ERA, 1.23 WHIP).
Tech used nine pitchers in the mid-week game against Oklahoma, including regular “Sunday starter” Mason Molina, which explains Hampton moving into the third game’s slot.
The TCU bullpen is led by closer River Ridings who has garnered nine saves in his 13.1 innings of work this season. Ridings carries a 2.03 ERA and 1.58 WHIP this season.
Another solid option for Kirk Saarloos to deploy has been Luke Savage who holds a 1.71 ERA in 21 innings of work this year.
Hitting:
TCU’s hitting core is led by shortstop Tommy Sacco and third baseman Brayden Taylor who both carry an OPS above 1.000 and are one and two in the team’s home run lead.
The Horned Frogs center fielder Elijah Nunez has a batting average of .306 and is a perfect 17-17 on stolen base attempts.
Nunez, along with four other Horned Frogs, have stolen more than five bags this season, helping the Horned Frogs to a 48-54 mark in stolen base attempts.
Tech left fielder Easton Murrell was expected to return to the lineup against Oklahoma but was unable to go on Tuesday. The injury has not been mentioned by head coach Tim Tadlock since.
The Red Raiders bats started slowly against the Sooners but ended up scoring nine with the un-capitalized opportunity for more. Tech’s offense has averaged 7.6 runs per game since the mid-week series against Grand Canyon.
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