No. 5 TCU Takes Opener Against No. 20 UCLA

Friday, February 23

Fort Worth, Texas

6:30 p.m.

TCU

5-0

UCLA

3-1

UCLA

TCU

No. 5 TCU Takes Opener Against No. 20 UCLA

2/23/2024 10:54:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Byrne homers and tallies three hits

FORT WORTH – No. 5 TCU built an early lead and held on for a 4-3 win over No. 20 UCLA Friday night at Lupton Stadium. Kurtis Byrne and Brody Green homered for the Horned Frogs. Ben Abeldt record a six-out save for his third of the season.

The Rundown
TCU built a 3-0 lead through three innings of play. In the second, after a lead-off hit batter, Kurtis Byrne launched his first home run of the season down the left field line for a 2-0 lead. An Anthony Silva sacrifice fly in the third plated Peyton Chatagnier to make it a 3-0 ballgame.

UCLA Picked up single runs in the fourth and fifth to pull within a run, but the Frogs had an answer in the form of Brody Green, who's first home run of the year made it a 4-2 contest.

The Bruins once again closed the gap with a run on two hits in the seventh. Zachary Cawyer came on with two on and one out in the inning and retired the final two batters to keep it a 4-3 game.

Ben Abeldt took over with a runner on and nobody out in the eight. He got a double-play ball to erase the lead-off base runner and ultimately retired all five batters he faced to record the six-out save.

Payton Tolle (1-0) was solid in his second start of the season. He limited the Bruins to two runs on three hits, walked four and tied his season-high with seven strikeouts.

Stat of the Game:
2 - TCU turned a pair of double plays in the game, once in the third and once in the eighth. Both helped erase lead-off walks in the inning.

Notes:

TCU is off to its first 5-0 start to a season since the 2020 campaign.
TCU improved to 3-0 in one-run ballgames this season.
TCU scored first for the third time this season.
TCU outhits its opponent for the fourth time this season.
TCU hit multiple home runs in a game for the third time this year.
TCU played flawless defense for the second time this season.
Ben Abeldt recorded his third save of the season and the fifth of his career.
Logan Maxwell stretched his hitting streak to seven games dating back to the 2023 campaign.
Maxwell picked up his 50th career hit in the third inning.
Anthony Silva has hit safely in all five games this season and stretched his hitting streak to eight games dating back to the 2023 season.
Kurtis Byrne hit his first home run of the season and the 17th of his career.
Byrne tallied his first multi-hit game of the year and the 31st of his career.
Byrne registered his second multi-RBI game of the season and the 23rd of his career.
Brody Green hit his first home run of the season and the second of his career.
Green collected his third multi-hit game of the season and the fourth of his career.

Next Up:
With the win, TCU improves to 5-0 on the season. TCU and UCLA will square off in Game 2 of the series Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. Kole Klecker will get the start for TCU. The game will be televised on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.