TCU baseball locked up a Big 12 series win as Zack James threw eight shutout innings and the Horned Frogs beat Kansas State 4-0 in Manhattan.
FORT WORTH - TCU baseball closed out a strong weekend in Manhattan with a series-clinching 4-0 win over Kansas State on Sunday, and Zack James was the biggest reason why.
The Horned Frogs got a dominant outing from the right-hander, who turned in the best start of his career and kept TCU in control from the first inning on.
READ MORE: TCU Baseball Rallies Past Kansas State 9-3
James was sharp all afternoon for TCU baseball, working a career-high eight scoreless innings while improving to 4-0 on the season.
He gave up only five hits, walked one and struck out five, rarely allowing Kansas State to put together any real pressure. In fact, the Wildcats managed to get just two runners to second base the entire game, a reflection of how thoroughly James controlled the tempo.
TCU didn’t waste time giving him support. The Horned Frogs loaded the bases in the first inning and grabbed a 1-0 lead on Chase Brunson’s sacrifice fly.
An inning later, TCU added breathing room with two outs when Cole Cramer drilled a double off the wall in right field, bringing home Jack Bell and Lucas Franco to make it 3-0.
That was more than enough for James, but Brady Dallimore added another punch in the fifth inning with a solo home run that stretched the lead to four. From there, TCU’s pitching and defense did the rest.
Kansas State’s best chance to break through came in the eighth, but Sawyer Strosnider preserved the shutout with a diving catch in right field. Walter Quinn handled the ninth, working around a double to finish off TCU’s second shutout of the season.
The Horned Frogs also kept up several encouraging trends at the plate. Cramer extended his hitting streak to eight games and recorded his 11th multi-hit game of the year, while Bell and Strosnider each reached safely for the ninth straight game.
With the win, TCU improved to 20-11 overall and 7-5 in Big 12 play heading into Tuesday’s road game at Abilene Christian.
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