THE RUNDOWN
DBU (7-1) fell to No. 10 TCU (5-3) in a pitcher's duel on Tuesday night. Tied at one apiece through the first 11 innings, three runs from the Horned Frogs in the 12th proved to be the difference in a 4-1 win for TCU.
 
The Patriots were the first to draw blood when Grant Jay registered his fifth RBI of the season on a fielder's choice that scored Nate Rombach from third base.
 
The Horned Frogs wouldn't answer until the top of the fifth. With runners on the corners, Austin Davis drove a ball to left field that pushed Karson Bowen across on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at a run apiece.
 
Both bullpens held their respective opponent scoreless over the next six innings. TCU's Louis Rodriguez pitched 4.2 innings of shutout baseball while striking out four batters without allowing a walk, and a trio of relief pitchers for DBU (Cole Reeves, Brady Rose, and Kyle Amendt) worked 4.0 innings without the blemish of a run, recording seven punch-outs opposite three walks.
 
The train of zeros came to a stop when the Horned Frogs forced three runs on the board in the 12th inning. Bowen led off the inning with a double and came around to score on a throwing error by Zane Russell, who was on the ground attempting to throw out Anthony Silva on a sacrifice bunt attempt.
 
Tre Richardson drove in the final two runs of the game on a two-run single with the bases loaded before Matt Bollenbacher notched his second of two strikeouts in the inning.
 
Jace Grady walked to start the bottom of the 12th, but Miguel Santos, Nate Rombach, and Luke Heefner were unable to get on base themselves as DBU lost for the first time in 2023.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The loss breaks DBU's seven-game winning streak to start the season. It was the program's longest stretch of wins since claiming eight in a row in 2019.
- The Patriot bats had a season-low three hits in the loss.
- Miguel Santos failed to reach base in a game for the first time this year.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
.104 - The two teams had a combined .104 batting average in Tuesday's contest.
11 - The Patriots stranded 11 TCU runners on the bases. DBU left 5 runners on base.
18 - DBU pitching tied its season-high 18 strikeouts.

UP NEXT
DBU travels to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to face No. 22 Southern Mississippi in a weekend series. Game one is slated for 6:00 pm on Friday.
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