| Freshman Jake Wood had a two-run double in the second and a three-run home run in the fifth on Tuesday night. |
FORT WORTH — Jason Coats went 3-for-5 with a career-high seven RBIs and seventh-ranked TCU slugged its way past UTSA by a score of 17-12 on Tuesday night in front of 2,495 fans at Lupton Stadium.
Coats led a 20-hit offensive assault on what was a blustery night in the Metroplex with a single in the first, a three-run home run four frames later and two-run double in the eighth. Every Horned Frogs batter had at least one hit, all nine crossed the plate and seven brought home runs. TCU (6-1) scored in every inning but the seventh.
The Frogs got things started with a three-run first off Roadrunners junior southpaw Matt Crocker, who was working on three days rest, but the Birds responded with a five-run second that was highlighted by two-run doubles off the bats of freshman Jake Wood and junior Brett Aguilar.
TCU tied the contest at five with a pair of marks in the bottom of the frame and took the lead for good with a five-run third.
UTSA (5-2) drew within two with a four-spot in the fifth, a panel that featured a three-run bomb by Wood, which was his second homer of the year.
However, the Horned Frogs responded with four tallies of their own in the bottom of the inning to put the game out of reach.
Freshman Ryan Dalton, who finished the contest 2-for-4, accounted for the Roadrunners' final runs of the night when he delivered a three-run long ball to left with two down in the ninth. The tater was his second of the year.
Tyler Lockwood (1-0) picked up the win in relief of start Greg Holle. Lockwood held the Birds scoreless over his 2.1 innings, allowing three hits while striking out a pair.
Freshman right-hander R.J. Perucki (0-1) was charged with the loss after giving up a half dozen runs on nine hits in his 2.1 frames of work.
Senior Lance Brown added a pair of hits and junior Tyler Carpenter singled in the second to extend his season-opening hitting streak to seven games.
Josh Elander, Taylor Featherston, Bryan Holaday and Aaron Schultz also had three-hit nights for TCU.
UTSA continues its eight-game road trip on Friday afternoon when it takes on San Francisco (3-4) in the opener of a weekend four-game series in the Bay Area. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m. (CT) at Benedetti Diamond.