Baseball To Host Texas At The Ballpark In Arlington
4/10/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
103rd SEASON OF TCU BASEBALL
This is the 103rd edition of TCU baseball. The Frogs have an all-time mark
of 1494-1299-25 for a winning percentage of .538. The Frogs are closing in
on the 2800th game in school history and 1500 wins. The March 10th contest
at Hawai`i was the 2800th baseball game in TCU history. The Frogs are six
victories away from 1500 wins.
HEAD COACH LANCE BROWN
The 2000 Horned Frogs are under the guidance of head coach Lance Brown (TCU,
1967). Brown, TCU's all-time winningest coach, surpassed the 400 win mark in
TCU's 13-9 win over UTA. In his 14th season as the head coach at TCU, Brown
has a record of 412-393. He is assisted by Donnie Watson, Barry Takahashi
and Chris Connally.
WAC PLAY
The Frogs are in their fourth season in the WAC. TCU has compiled a
conference record of 57-45-0, finishing second in all three seasons in the
WAC. Last season, TCU ended conference play with a record of 19-10,
advancing to the Championship game of the WAC Tournament. Always tough at
the TCU Diamond, the Frogs have a record of 34-16 in home conference games.
On the road, the Frogs have compiled a record of 23-29. This season, TCU is
3-3 at home in WAC play and 2-6 on the road.
GAME COVERAGE
All four games this week can be heard on KTCU (88.7 FM) with Chuck LaMendola
calling the play-by-play. TCU fans can access the radio broadcast of any
TCU game from anywhere in the world via the internet at www.broadcast.com.
The TCU pregame show will begin 15 minutes before the first pitch of every
TCU game.
TCU-TEXAS SERIES
When TCU and Texas begin play on Tuesday evening, it will be the 267th
meeting between the two teams...TCU trails in the overall series,
52-212-2... the series dates back to 1897... since the Southwest Conference
folded in 1996, TCU and Texas have met nine times and the Longhorns have won
seven of the nine meetings... seven of those nine contests have been
decided by three runs or less, including each of the last four games....
earlier this year, Texas outscored TCU, 17-15, in Austin... the Horns have
won three straight games against TCU... the Frogs' last win over Texas was
in 1998 at The Ballpark in Arlington, where TCU won 8-7... Lance Brown has a
record of 9-39... TCU is 2-3 against Texas at The Ballpark.
TCU RESULTS at THE BALLPARK
Date Opponent Score Attendance April 20, 1999 Texas Texas, 3-0 14,367 April 28, 1998 Texas TCU, 8-7 14,079 April 8, 1997 Texas Texas, 7-6 (6 innings) 15,649 May 4, 1996 Texas Texas 20-13 (gm 2) 21,043 May 4, 1996 Texas TCU, 11-6 (gm 1) 21,043 April 28, 1996 Oklahoma OU, 7-6 (14 innings) 3,112 May 13, 1995 Texas A&M A&M, 20-15 7,252TCU at THE BALLPARK IN ARLINGTON
The Frogs are playing at The Ballpark for the eighth time... thus far, TCU has a record of 2-5 at The Ballpark... last season, Texas held the Frogs to four hits in the 3-0 shutout... Texas had only six hits in the game... two years ago, TCU's Chris Connally hit a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Longhorns, 8-7... Matt Howe hit two home runs in the game, including a solo shot in the 7th that tied the game... in the 1997 season, Texas defeated TCU, 7-6 in six innings... the game was called after six innings due to a severe thunderstorm... in 1996, TCU and Texas played before a NCAA Regular-season record crowd of 21,043... the two teams split the doubleheader... TCU won the opener, 11-6 and Texas took the nightcap, 20-13... the two teams combined for 58 hits and home runs in the twinbill... TCU also played the Oklahoma Sooners at the Ballpark in 1996... OU won 7-6 in 14 innings... the first college game played at The Ballpark was between TCU and Texas A&M... the Aggies outscored the Frogs, 20-15 in a contest that lasted over four hours... in games played at The Ballpark, the Frogs are hitting .355 (91-256) with 59 runs scored and 10 home runs... opponents' are hitting .332 (87-262) with 70 runs scored and eight home runs... last year's 3-0 shutout by Texas was the first time TCU had been shutout since February 23, 1997 (also by Texas) - a span of 139 games... since then, the Frogs have scored at least one run in 54 consecutive games.
FROGS LOSE TWO OF THREE TO FRESNO STATE
David Tombrella allowed one Fresno State run in seven innings pitched as the
Frogs took game three, 10-1... Fresno State won the first two games (9-7 and
8-3)... in the opener, Fresno scored three runs in the ninth to win, 9-7...
Chris Bradshaw suffered the loss... he pitched a solid 8.2 innings, allowing
eight hits and four earned runs... the TCU defense did not help Bradshaw as
the Frogs committed a season-high six errors, including four in the third...
FSU rallied for seven runs in their final four innings to erase a deficit of
three runs... Erick Macha led the Frogs with four hits and two runs batted
in... Macha and Mark Hamilton each had two triples to tie the single-game
school record... seven of TCU's 12 hits went for extra bases... in game two,
Fresno State again scored late to knock off the Frogs, 8-3... six of the
eight runs scored by Fresno came in the 8th and 9th innings... once again,
errors hurt the Frogs... TCU committed three errors, allowing two unearned
runs... for the second straight game, Macha had four hits... Cade Harris hit
his first home run of the year... Shawn Thompson made his 48th career start,
establishing a TCU career record for game started... Thompson also struck
out six to surpass Scott Atchison for first in career K's... in the finale,
Tombrella took advantage of his first career start as he held the Bulldogs
to one run on six hits... Stan Newton struck out four in two innings...
Fresno used nine pitchers on the day... the Frogs had 12 hits and played
errorless baseball... Jeff Reed, Jason Price and Marshall Wilson each had
three hits... Reed and Wilson reached base in all five plate appearances...
Reed, Price and Mike Settle drove in two runs each.
TRENDS
Twenty one of the 36 games this season have been decided by three runs or
less... the Frogs have a record of 8-13 in the 21 games... TCU has a record
of 3-4 in one-run contests, 2-2 in two-run games and 3-7 in games decided by
three runs... the Frogs are now 16-16 in one-run games over the last three
seasons... the Frogs ended the month of March with a record of 8-8... TCU is
0-2 in April... TCU has a record of 8-8 at home and 5-15 on the road
(includes neutral sites)... TCU has scored 206 runs this season, an average
of 5.72 runs per game... in the last eight games, the Frogs have scored 36
runs, an average of 4.5 runs... after 36 games, TCU has a record of 13-12
against righthanded pitchers and 0-11 against lefties... the Frogs are 9-8
when they scores first... when TCU leads after 7 innings, they are 11-4...
TCU is 2-3 in night games... the Frogs have night wins at Hilo and Rice...
TCU has six night games left on the schedule.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Several freshmen have made a strong impact this season, most notably Ramon
Moses... the Panama City native has a .337 batting average in 24 games
played... Moses, TCU's starting second baseman is second on the team with 84
assists... freshman third baseman Mike Settle made his debut against
Oklahoma... he drove in one run on one hit in three at-bats and he fielded
all 11 chances successfully... freshman first baseman Walter Olmstead is
hitting .250 with one home run and six runs batted in in 20 games played...
outfielders Greg Bratton and Jeff Reed are hitting .226 and .222,
respectively... sophomore shortstop Erick Macha is hitting .289 with a
team-high nine stolen bases... Macha has a .957 fielding percentage.
FROG HITTING NOTES
TCU has a team batting average of .290 in the last eight games... the Frogs
have only 23 hits in the last three games... the Frogs have reached double
figures in hits in only three of the last 14 games... the Frogs have been
outscored 39-36 in the last eight games... in the who's hot department...
Mark Hamilton is hitting .419 (13-31) in the last eight games... he has put
together a six-game hitting streak... Erick Macha is hitting .367 (11-30)
in the last eight games... Brad Rogers is hitting .346 (9-26) with three
home runs and 10 runs batted in in the last eight games... all three home
runs came against Texas Wesleyan... Rogers hit two in game two of Friday's
doubleheader and then hit a two-run HR in Saturday's 4-3 win... Levi Groomer
is hitting .320 (8-25) with six runs scored in the last eight games...
Groomer has been hit by a pitch six times in the last eight games...
overall, he has been hit 18 times this season and five times in the last
five games.... in his career, Groomer has been hit 27 times... last year,
catcher Mark Silva was hit a school-record 19 times... freshman second base
Ramon Moses returned to the lineup on Tuesday at Oklahoma... Moses had
missed the previous nine games due to an eye injury... Mike Settle picked up
his first career hit and RBI with a single against the Sooners.
WAC'S LEADING HITTER
Mark Hamilton continues to lead the team in virtually every offensive
category... Hamilton is hitting .419 (13-31) in the last eight games with
three RBIs... overall, Hamilton leads the team in average, at-bats, runs,
hits, home runs, runs batted in... he also has a team-leading 19 multi-hit
games... Hamilton has hit safely in 19 of the last 20 games, and 31 of the
35 games played... he has already surpassed his 1999 season total for base
hits... in WAC action, Hamilton is hitting .478 (22-46) with 14 runs scored,
four home runs and 12 runs batted in... Hamilton was named the WAC Player of
the week after the San Jose State series... he is the only Frog to receive the
honor this season... against San Jose State, Hamilton hit .625 (10-16) with
seven runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and six runs batted in...
Hamilton has a career batting average of .365.
PITCHING NOTES
Shawn Thompson has 44 strikeouts in 63.0 innings, raising his career total to
304 - three behind Scott Atchison's record setting total of 307... Thompson
ranks second in K's and second in innings pitched with 323.2 innings... on
Sunday afternoon, Thompson will make his 47th career start, surpassing Frank
Johnstone for first in career starts... Thompson has a career record of
19-19... he is tied for fifth in career wins... Chris Bradshaw is 2-1 with a
1.62 ERA in his last four starts... he has allowed six runs, five earned on
20 hits in 27.2 innings... David Tombrella has not allowed an earned run in
his last 5.2 innings... the TCU pitching staff has allowed 35 runs in the
last eight games, an earned run average of 4.70... opponents are hitting
only .254 in that span... the Frogs have not recorded a complete game all
year... Josh Gardner earned his first career win on Tuesday against Tech...
TCU relief pitchers have walked only three batters in the last five games --
a span of 14 innings... all three walks were issued by Gardner.
DIAMOND NOTES
TCU's next seven games are at home, including Tuesday night's Battle at the
Ballpark... overall, 16 of the next 23 games are at home... TCU is 3-7
against teams from the Big 12 with one game remaining... the Frogs are also
playing a total of 14 games against former SWC opponents... thus far, the
Frogs are 3-5 after the first eight games... the Frogs have fiven games
remaining... six of the seven are against the Rice Owls... the other contest
is against Texas at The Ballpark... TCU has four non-conference games
remaining on the schedule.
