TEXAS CHRISTIAN DEFEATS FURMAN 7-2 ON FINAL DAY OF THE SOUTHWEST DIAMOND CLASSIC

Box Score

The TCU Horned Frog baseball team finished the Southwest Diamond Classic hosted by Dallas Baptist with a perfect 3-0 record after a 7-2 victory over Furman University on Saturday afternoon at LaGrave Field.

The Frogs also stretched their winning streak to three games and Clayton Jerome pitched seven strong innings to earn his first win of the season. Shelby Ford led the way offensively as he was 3-for-4 at the plate with two doubles, three runs scored and one RBI.

The Frogs struck for a first inning run to take the early lead. German Duran started the game with a sharp single to center and stole second, getting himself in scoring position for Chad Huffman. Huffman drilled a ball at the second baseman, Craig Caudill who had troubles fielding the ball, then threw it away allowing Duran to score from second, committing two errors on one play.

Clayton Jerome pitched great with the early lead as he allowed only an infield single and a walk the first time through the order, but Furman tied the game at one in the fourth. Matthew Betsill hit a sacrifice fly to plate Dominic Franchini, who smoked a one-out double down the left field line.

The tie didn’t last long as TCU regained the lead in the bottom of the inning. Ford led off the inning with a double and Huffman was drilled by a pitch. Ford took third on a foul out to deep right off the bat of J.J. Estrada and Huffman stole second easily putting two runners in scoring position. Bo Cogbill delivered the clutch hit for the Frogs, who have scored 11 runs with two outs in the last two games, plating Ford and Huffman with the go-ahead runs and TCU led 3-1 after four.

The Frogs (4-4) cruised the rest of the way as they put up a single run in the sixth on a RBI single by Estrada and three more in the seventh, highlighted by a Chris Neuman two-run single.

Jerome allowed only two runs in his seven innings of work, striking out three and walking one. Zach Duncan and Robbie Findlay each pitched an inning in relief, each putting a zero on the board.

The Paladins (1-4) looked like they had gotten their third run of the game in the eighth as they had runners on first and third with no outs. Only a heads up play by Ford, recognizing that Drew Norman had left the bag early on a fly-ball erased the run as he tagged the base for the out.

Furman returns to action on Thursday to face Charleston Southern in a 2:30 p.m contest at Buccaneer Field.