UK plays 16th ranked TCU (I refuse to acknowledge them as 8th, and don’t even know where UK is getting that number) this weekend for three game set and the first true test of the season for the Cats. TCU will be under the direction of first year head coach Kirk Saarloos. He took the reins for the Horned Frogs after Texas A&M sniped Jim Schlossnagle from them. Sarloos was the long time pitching coach under Jim S. Last year, they went 50-18 on their way to a CWS appearance and they seem to be not missing much of a beat under their new head coach.
Starters:
Austin Krob – A junior left hander off to an outstanding start in 2022. He has a 0.00 ERA through 2 starts and 10 innings pitched. He’s given up 6 singles, 4 walks and has 13 strikeouts. Batters are hitting just .182 against him. In the first game of the year he went 4 innings, gave up 4 hits and walked 1 while striking out 7. It was a 1-0 game, so it looks like his pitch count got up pretty quickly. Only the one walk, but a pretty good number of balls and some long innings in there. Against Nebraska he went a full 6 and only have up 2 hits while walking 3 and striking out 6. So, not really a huge strike out guy, but he gets out and limits damage. Again, all singles. No extra base hits this year given up in 2 outings. Krob is going to heavily use the slider. He throws the mid-80s pitch about 40 percent of the time. So, UK should know what is coming. The fastball is around 92 most of the time, but doesn’t have a whole lot of run on it. Has some other offerings, but they aren’t great. He’s a solid Friday starter, but I don’t think the stuff is the most overpowering that we’ll see this year. Also, as a note, TCU hasn’t given him much run support this year, he’s just 1-0 on the year and TCU won 5-3 against San Diego State and 4-0 against Nebraska in his two starts.
Riley Cornelio – A sophomore righty has struggled compared to the other pitchers for TCU, and he’s still had a pretty good start to 2022. His first start was against California where he went 5.1 innings, gave up 3 hits and 2 runs, both earned. He walked 2 and struck out 5. He has been a bit prone to give up the home run, as he’s given up 1 in each start. His second start against Nebraska he went 6 full giving up just 3 hits and 2 runs, both earned and picking up 7 strikeouts. So, overall he carries a 3.18 ERA through 11.1 innings, having given up 6 hits, 4 earned runs with 2 walks and 12 strikeouts. He gave up 1 double and 2 home runs. Opponents hitting just .154. So, clearly the kid has good stuff, but he’s just left some up over the plate at times and he’s been taken deep. 3 of the 4 runs he’s given up have come that way, and 3 runs were IIRC in the 4th. Corneilo is a big time prospect. A possible 2nd rounder out of high school ranked 68th overall by Baseball America. His fastball sits in the mid-90s with a chance to run higher and throws a slurve type of breaking ball for strikes as well as a low to mid 80s change. Good stuff from him and he can really dominate a game if he keeps the ball down and doesn’t hang that slurve.
Brett Walker – A grad student righty with a 1.32 ERA through 13.2 innings pitched will go for TCU on Sunday. He is a transfer from Oregon where he had an 11-6 record and a 3.98 ERA in 47 appearances. His first start for TCU came in a 10-0 win against Houston where he went 6.2 innings, gave up 7 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks and had 5 strikeouts. Against Nebraska he went a full 7 innings in a 5-3 win, giving up 6 hits, 2 earned runs, with 0 walks and 6 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .250 against him with a double and a home run.
In close games TCU will turn to River Ridings. The sophomore lefty already has 4 saves this year and a 0.00 ERA. As a freshman he was a PG 1st Team Freshman All American and had a 1.08 ERA in 33.1 innings pitched. This year he has given up 5 hits in four innings, (.294 average against), but he also has 7 strikeouts. So, he’s been hit pretty regularly in the 4 innings, but he’s limited the damage. 0 walks for him is also a massive help. Looks like he comes at you submarine style, so seeing that different arm angle is a big factor in his success.
Marcelo Perez is also an arm that UK will see this weekend. He’s a short righty junior that has also appeared in 4 games and has 4 innings pitched this season. He also has a 0.00 ERA and has given up just 2 hits. He has given up a run and has walked 2 to go with 4 Ks. Opponents hitting just .154.
Caleb Bolden is another who has been used more extensively, having gone 3.2 innings in 3 appearances. Bolden is a grad student transfer from Arkansas that throws from the right side. He was a successful starter with the Razorbacks but he’ll come out of the pen this season. So far he carries, of course, a 0.00 ERA and has given up just 2 hits against 14 batters with 1 walks and 7 strikeouts. Both hits were doubles.
Overall this team’s strength is pitching. They get a good number of strikeouts and they don’t walk a whole lot of hitters. They limit extra base hits, only giving up 12 total as a team through 8 games. I went ahead and put UK’s pitching stats under TCU’s in case you want to compare.
Starters:
Austin Krob – A junior left hander off to an outstanding start in 2022. He has a 0.00 ERA through 2 starts and 10 innings pitched. He’s given up 6 singles, 4 walks and has 13 strikeouts. Batters are hitting just .182 against him. In the first game of the year he went 4 innings, gave up 4 hits and walked 1 while striking out 7. It was a 1-0 game, so it looks like his pitch count got up pretty quickly. Only the one walk, but a pretty good number of balls and some long innings in there. Against Nebraska he went a full 6 and only have up 2 hits while walking 3 and striking out 6. So, not really a huge strike out guy, but he gets out and limits damage. Again, all singles. No extra base hits this year given up in 2 outings. Krob is going to heavily use the slider. He throws the mid-80s pitch about 40 percent of the time. So, UK should know what is coming. The fastball is around 92 most of the time, but doesn’t have a whole lot of run on it. Has some other offerings, but they aren’t great. He’s a solid Friday starter, but I don’t think the stuff is the most overpowering that we’ll see this year. Also, as a note, TCU hasn’t given him much run support this year, he’s just 1-0 on the year and TCU won 5-3 against San Diego State and 4-0 against Nebraska in his two starts.
Riley Cornelio – A sophomore righty has struggled compared to the other pitchers for TCU, and he’s still had a pretty good start to 2022. His first start was against California where he went 5.1 innings, gave up 3 hits and 2 runs, both earned. He walked 2 and struck out 5. He has been a bit prone to give up the home run, as he’s given up 1 in each start. His second start against Nebraska he went 6 full giving up just 3 hits and 2 runs, both earned and picking up 7 strikeouts. So, overall he carries a 3.18 ERA through 11.1 innings, having given up 6 hits, 4 earned runs with 2 walks and 12 strikeouts. He gave up 1 double and 2 home runs. Opponents hitting just .154. So, clearly the kid has good stuff, but he’s just left some up over the plate at times and he’s been taken deep. 3 of the 4 runs he’s given up have come that way, and 3 runs were IIRC in the 4th. Corneilo is a big time prospect. A possible 2nd rounder out of high school ranked 68th overall by Baseball America. His fastball sits in the mid-90s with a chance to run higher and throws a slurve type of breaking ball for strikes as well as a low to mid 80s change. Good stuff from him and he can really dominate a game if he keeps the ball down and doesn’t hang that slurve.
Brett Walker – A grad student righty with a 1.32 ERA through 13.2 innings pitched will go for TCU on Sunday. He is a transfer from Oregon where he had an 11-6 record and a 3.98 ERA in 47 appearances. His first start for TCU came in a 10-0 win against Houston where he went 6.2 innings, gave up 7 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks and had 5 strikeouts. Against Nebraska he went a full 7 innings in a 5-3 win, giving up 6 hits, 2 earned runs, with 0 walks and 6 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .250 against him with a double and a home run.
In close games TCU will turn to River Ridings. The sophomore lefty already has 4 saves this year and a 0.00 ERA. As a freshman he was a PG 1st Team Freshman All American and had a 1.08 ERA in 33.1 innings pitched. This year he has given up 5 hits in four innings, (.294 average against), but he also has 7 strikeouts. So, he’s been hit pretty regularly in the 4 innings, but he’s limited the damage. 0 walks for him is also a massive help. Looks like he comes at you submarine style, so seeing that different arm angle is a big factor in his success.
Marcelo Perez is also an arm that UK will see this weekend. He’s a short righty junior that has also appeared in 4 games and has 4 innings pitched this season. He also has a 0.00 ERA and has given up just 2 hits. He has given up a run and has walked 2 to go with 4 Ks. Opponents hitting just .154.
Caleb Bolden is another who has been used more extensively, having gone 3.2 innings in 3 appearances. Bolden is a grad student transfer from Arkansas that throws from the right side. He was a successful starter with the Razorbacks but he’ll come out of the pen this season. So far he carries, of course, a 0.00 ERA and has given up just 2 hits against 14 batters with 1 walks and 7 strikeouts. Both hits were doubles.
Overall this team’s strength is pitching. They get a good number of strikeouts and they don’t walk a whole lot of hitters. They limit extra base hits, only giving up 12 total as a team through 8 games. I went ahead and put UK’s pitching stats under TCU’s in case you want to compare.
| TCU | ERA | WHIP | W-L | APP-GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | 2B | 3B | HR | AB | B/AVG | WP | HBP | BK | SFA | SHA |
| Totals | 2.56 | 1.21 | 7-1 | 37-8 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 70.1 | 60 | 23 | 20 | 25 | 89 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 263 | 0.228 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| UK | ERA | WHIP | W-L | APP-GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | 2B | 3B | HR | AB | B/AVG | WP | HBP | BK | SFA | SHA |
| Totals | 3.9 | 1.42 | 8-1 | 40-9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 83 | 83 | 44 | 36 | 35 | 109 | 14 | 2 | 9 | 326 | 0.255 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
