Bobby Goodloe’s big night was not enough to power TCU past Abilene Christian in Fort Worth (Frogs Today/Melissa Triebwasser).
By Melissa Triebwasser
Frogs Today staff writer
Bobby Goodloe might have made his case Tuesday night to take over at designated hitter for TCU, but the rest of the offense was a no-show as the Horned Frogs fell 6-2 to Abilene Christian in Fort Worth.
The loss is the first for TCU at home and ends a four-game win streak dating to their matchup with the Wildcats in Abilene a week ago. TCU is now 18-6 overall.
As they have often this season, the Frogs scored first, but it was how they did it that was noteworthy. Tommy Sacco, who had two home runs Saturday against Kansas State, led off the second with a bunt hit. That brought up Goodloe, who replicated with feat. The runners advanced on Luke Boyer’s flyball, and Sacco was able to score on a Logan Maxwell groundout.
After three straight scoreless innings to start the game, starter Caedmon Parker got himself into some trouble in the fourth. A one-out walk preceded the first hit Abilene Christian hit of the game, a two-run homer to right field that gave the Wildcats a lead they would never relinquish. Another walk and a hit batter ended Parker’s night, as he was lifted for Cohen Feser.
Feser gave up a ground-rule double to Tanner Tweedt that made it a 4-1.
The Frogs got one back in the home half when Gray Rodgers reached on an error to open the frame and came around to score on a Goodloe double to left-center. It would be the last time TCU made any real noise in the game, as the Frogs would record just one hit over the next four innings.
Three doubles in the sixth enabled the Wildcats to add two more runs, while the ACU bullpen continued to mow down the Frogs. TCU went in order in fifth and sixth, and managed just a walk in the seventh, before Elijah Nunez broke the cold streak with an eighth-inning single down the left-field line. The Frogs added two more hits to start the ninth, but Tanner Riley struck out the next three batters.
The Abilene Christian bullpen was lights out. Starter Garrett Egli gave the Wildcats four solid innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits. Connor Carlton was even stronger, throwing 44 pitches across three innings of work while allowing only one hit and striking out five. He was lifted in the eighth due to an apparent injury.
For TCU, Parker looked good for three innings, but things unraveled quickly for the freshman in the fourth. He allowed four runs on just one hit — the fourth-inning home run — with three walks and two strikeouts. Caleb Bolden, Tommy Vail, and Braxton Pearson, making his 2022 debut, followed Feser and allowed only two hits across 3 1/3 innings.
Goodloe was the bright spot for TCU, collecting three hits in four at-bats with an RBI. As the revolving door at DH continues to spin, Goodloe, who also serves as the Frogs’ backup catcher, might be the right guy to provide some stability. Goodloe, who started behind the plate in place of Kurtis Byrne, has five hits in 14 at-bats so far in 2022 and hit the ball hard in all four at-bats Tuesday.
Sacco had two more hits, and Nunez rounded out the offense with his late single.
