Redshirt sophomore outfielder Xavier Perez (37) during Houston’s 7-1 defeat to TCU at Globe Life Field on Wednesday, May 23, 2025 | Ashton Grissom/The Cougar
ARLINGTON—Senior infielder Cole Cramer and freshman infielder Noah Franco were the bulk of No. 3 seed TCU’s offense in going a combined 4-for-9 with six runs batted in, handing No. 11 seed Houston baseball a 7-1 loss to end its postseason run in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on Thursday.
“Those guys just fought to the end,” coach Todd Whitting said. “We scratched in a run at the end, had some baserunners and had a couple of chances to take swings to get back into it, and it just didn’t work out.”
Sophomore Tommy LaPour held the Cougars to just two hits in 6.1 innings of work, having retired the first 13 he faced and earning the winning decision for TCU to improve to 8-2 on his season.
“I thought LaPour was really, really good,” Whitting said. “There’s not many teams in the country that could beat him tonight.”
Scoring opened in the bottom of the first for the Horned Frogs, when freshman outfielder Sawyer Strosnider’s one-out triple down the line in right set the table for an infield RBI single by Cramer to give TCU an early 1-0 lead.
After allowing an infield single and a walk to open the bottom of the second, junior pitcher Chris Scinta was lifted in favor of graduate reliever and Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Antoine Jean, whose use was intended to be saved from Houston’s opening round win.
In recording just three outs, Scinta surrendered three earned runs and allowed three walks, handing him the loss to end his season with a 4-2 mark.
Four pitches into his outing, Jean hit sophomore infielder Colton Griffin to load the bases. On the way to the bag at first, Griffin was ejected after appearing to have shouted back towards home plate, leaving coach Kirk Saarloos and the TCU dugout barking in disapproval of the umpiring crew’s decision.
What ensued for the Horned Frogs was a one-out explosion fueled by the momentum of Griffin’s ejection.
On a 3-0 green light, Cramer chopped a two-run infield single to make it 3-0. In the process, a throwing error by redshirt sophomore outfielder Xavier Perez allowed pinch-running senior infielder Brody Green to advance to third.
Franco followed on the next pitch with a two-run single up the middle to inflate TCU’s lead to 5-0, capping off the crooked second.
With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Franco took advantage of a mistake from Jean to break the contest wide open with a solo home run to right, making it 6-0.
Jean took a standing ovation in stepping off the mound one last time as a Cougar, after surrendering two earned runs on four hits in four innings of work.
“It meant a lot to me to have that moment,” Jean said. “Obviously, it was a little emotional, but stuff happened.”
Jean still earned praise from his coach, who acknowledged the limits of using a single pitcher.
“I’ve had very few guys, maybe not any, with the competitiveness that he had,” Whitting said. “I wish it was kind of like softball where I could throw him in every game, but I can’t.”
Also in his final game as a Cougar, senior two-way player Malachi Lott managed to salvage a one-out single in the top of the seventh.
“When I was at Sam Houston, especially playing against UH, it just felt wrong,” Lott said, in describing what being a Cougar meant to him. “I was wearing the wrong colors, I was wearing the wrong uniform, and so it just means everything. The people that I’ve met along the way, I’ll never forget.”
In the bottom of the seventh, freshman catcher Nolan Traeger singled through the right side to bring home sophomore outfielder Chase Brunson, giving TCU its largest lead of the night at 7-0.
Houston managed to avoid the shutout down to its final three outs when Perez laced an RBI single into left, but TCU’s lead held firm.
The Cougars, whose RPI rating dropped to 92 following the loss, ended the season with an overall record of 30-25 and an overall run differential of +10.
Despite a five-win improvement in Big 12 play and a win in its first conference tournament game, Houston faces a daunting offseason.
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“Houston baseball routed by TCU in Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal exit” was originally posted on The Cougar