Baseball Travels to Fresno State
5/3/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
at Fresno State * Thursday, May 4-6
Beiden Field * Fresno, California
Radio
KTCU 88.7 FM (Chuck LaMendola)
FROGS HIT THE ROAD FOR FINAL TIME IN WAC PLAY
The TCU Horned Frogs (20-28, 11-12) hit the road for the final time in
Western Athletic Conference play this weekend as they travel to Fresno State
(34-15, 14-10) for a three-game series. The Bulldogs, who were swept last
weekend by San Jose State, dropped to 22nd in the USA Today Baseball Weekly
Top-25 poll this week. The Frogs won two of three against Hawaii at the TCU
Diamond. This will be the second series of the year between TCU and Fresno
State. Since the teams last met, the Frogs have a record of 7-3 and the
Bulldogs are 7-5.
103rd SEASON OF TCU BASEBALL
This is the 103rd edition of TCU baseball. The Frogs have an all-time mark
of 1500-1302-25 for a winning percentage of .538. The Frogs achieved two
milestones this season, both against Hawaii. The March 10th contest at
Hawai`i was the 2800th baseball game in TCU history and the 7-1 win over the
Rainbows on April 28 was TCU's 1500th win.
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 418-396. 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 63-48-0, 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 39-17 in home conference games.
On the road, the Frogs have compiled a record of 24-31. This season, TCU is
8-4 at home in WAC play and 3-8 on the road.
TCU-FRESNO STATE SERIES
When TCU and Fresno State begin play on Thursday, it will be the 12th meeting
between the two teams...the Frogs trail in the overall series, 5-6-0...
earlier this year, Fresno State defeated TCU twice in a three game series...
the Dogs won the first two games of the series (9-7 and 8-3)... TCU won the
finale (10-1).... in the series, TCU outhit Fresno State, 33-27, but the
Frogs committed nine errors in the series, including six in the opener...
only 12 of the 18 runs scored by Fresno State were earned runs... last year,
TCU won two of three at Beiden Field... the Frogs lost the opener (7-1) and
then took games two and three (7-6 and 14-8)... overall, TCU played eight
games at Beiden Field in the 1999 season... including the WAC tournament,
TCU had a record of 5-3... the Frogs compiled a 3-2 record in the WAC
tournament, advancing to the championship game... in his career, Erick Macha
is hitting .429 (12-28) against Fresno State... overall, the Frogs are 3-2
in five games against Fresno State at Beiden Field... the two teams split
two games in 1987... Lance Brown has a record of 5-6 against Fresno State.
FROGS WIN TWO-OF-THREE AGAINST HAWAII
TCU's six-game winning streak at home came to an end in the finale against
Hawaii... the Frogs won the first two games of the series by scores of 4-1
and 7-1... the game two victory was the 1500th win in TCU baseball
history... Hawaii won the third game, 7-6... in the opener, Chris Bradshaw
held the Bows to one run on eight hits in his first complete game of the
year... Brad Rogers' two-run home run in the sixth keyed a three-run inning
for TCU, increasing the lead to 4-0... Jason Price and Levi Groomer each had
two hits... the win was only the second against a lefthanded starter... in
the second game, Shawn Thompson pitched TCU's second straight complete
game... Thompson held the Rainbows to one run on eight hits... a trio of
Frogs combined for nine hits... Groomer, Erick Macha and Tom Bates each had
three hits... Groomer had three singles, Macha singled, doubled and
tripled... Bates singled, homered and tripled... Rudy Rivera had two hits...
seven of TCU's 15 hits went for extra bases... after Hawaii scored a single
run in the third, TCU countered with one run in both the third and fourth
innings, three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh... after playing two
solid games on Thursday and Friday, the Frogs struggled in game three... the
Frogs outhit Hawaii, 12-11, but they committed five errors, allowing three
unearned runs... starter David Tombrella allowed three runs, two earned, on
four walks, two hits, plus he committed a throwing error... Stan Newton
allowed four runs, two earned in five innings of middle relief... once
again, Groomer, Macha and Bates led the Frogs as they combined for eights,
two by Groomer and Macha and four by Bates... Bates had two doubles and a
home run... Hawaii jumped out to a 5-1 lead, scoring three in the second and
two in the third inning... TCU's scored three runs in the fifth inning to
take a 6-5 lead... however, Hawaii scored the final two runs, picking up one
in the sixth and one in the seventh... lefty Randon Ho held the Frogs to one
run on five hits in the final five innings.
TRENDS
Twenty seven of the 48 games this season have been decided by three runs or
less... the Frogs have a record of 12-15 in the 27 games... TCU has a record
of 4-5 in one-run contests, 4-2 in two-run games and 4-7 in games decided by
three runs... the Frogs are now 17-17 in one-run games over the last three
seasons... the Frogs ended the month of March with a record of 8-8 and they
were 7-7 in April... TCU has a record of 14-11 at home and 6-17 on the road
(includes neutral sites)... TCU has scored 278 runs this season, an average
of 5.8 runs per game... in the last 12 games, the Frogs have scored 72 runs,
an average of 6.0 runs per game... TCU has a record of 18-15 against
righthanded pitchers and 2-13 against lefties... when TCU leads after 7
innings, they are 17-6... TCU is 3-4 in night games... the Frogs have night
wins at Hilo, Rice and San Jose State... TCU has three night games left on
the schedule, two at Fresno State and one in Round Rock... TCU is 11-3 in
games they do not commit an error... the Frogs have won the last six games
in which they did make an error... TCU has been outscored 42-13 in the
eighth inning... TCU is hitting .324 with the bases loaded, .289 with
runners on base and .297 with runners in scoring position.
FROG HITTING NOTES
The Frogs lead the WAC in hitting with a .298 average... TCU leads the league
in doubles and triples... the Frogs are second in home runs... TCU has a
team batting average of .313 in the last 12 games... the Frogs hit .330
against Fresno State (33-100), .302 (29-96) against Hilo, .284 (29-102)
against San Jose State and .333 (34-102) against Hawaii... the Frogs have
reached double figures in hits in five of the last seven games... the Frogs
have outscored their opponent 72-61 in the last 12 games... TCU has been hit
by a pitch 57 times this season... Levi Groomer has been hit a single-season
school-record 22 times... in two seasons at TCU, Groomer has been hit 31
times... former catcher Mark Silva was hit a school-record 37 times in his
four-year career... TCU's four triples on April 8 against Fresno State tied
the school record for triples in a game... Erick Macha has seven triples
this year and 12 in two seasons at TCU... record holder Brad Wallace had 14
in his career... Macha is tied for third in career triples... in the who's
hot / who's not department over the last 12 games... Tom Bates is hitting
.464 (13-28) with five doubles, two triples, three home runs and seven
RBIs... Groomer is hitting .406 (13-32) with six runs scored, three walks
and he has been hit four times... Macha is hitting .358 (19-53) with four
doubles, three triples, one home run and nine runs scored... Brad Rogers is
hitting .333 (15-45) and Mark Hamilton is hitting .333 (13-39)... Rogers has
hit in 12 straight games... Rudy Rivera is hitting .318 (7-22) with three
doubles... Ramon Moses is hitting .160 (4-25), Trey Crawford is hitting
.182 (2-11) and Cade Harris is hitting .214 (3-14)... Mike Settle picked up
his first career hit and RBI with a single against the Sooners... Brad
Rogers has the only two home run game this year... he hit two in game two of
TCU's doubleheader against Texas Wesleyan.
The WAC's LEADING HITTER
Mark Hamilton continues to lead the team in virtually every offensive
category... overall, Hamilton leads the team in average, at-bats, runs,
hits, home runs, runs batted in and walks... he also has a team-leading 23
multi-hit games... Hamilton has hit safely in 37 of the 47 games he has
played in this season... he has reached base safely in 43 of the 47 games
played... he has already surpassed his 1999 season total for base hits... in
WAC action, Hamilton is hitting .412 (34-77) with 25 runs scored, five home
runs and 23 runs batted in... Hamilton was named the WAC Player of the week
after the San Jose State series and the Hawaii-Hilo... he is the only Frog to
receive the honor twice 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... he hit .636 (7-11) against Hilo with three doubles, one triple
and a home run... Hamilton has a career batting average of .369.
PITCHING NOTES
Shawn Thompson has 66 strikeouts in 94.1 innings, raising his career total to
326... his 6 K's against Fresno State (Apr. 8) moved him past Scott
Atchison's record-setting total of 307... Thompson ranks second in innings
pitched with 355.0 innings... Frank Johnstone own the record for career
innings pitched with 378.0 innings... in the WAC record books, Thompson
ranks eighth in career innings pitched... Thompson also has moved past Frank
Johnstone into first in career starts with 51... he has a career record of
22-20... his 22 career wins ranks third... Thompson has won his last three
starts, picking up wins over Hilo, San Jose State and Hawaii... he has
allowed five earned runs in 24.0 innings pitched, an earned run average of
1.88... Chris Bradshaw is 2-2 with a 5.72 earned run average in his last
four starts... he has allowed 18 earned runs in 28.1 innings... opponents
are hitting .296 against Bradshaw... David Tombrella has allowed 10 earned
runs in his last 20.2 innings, an earned run average of 4.35... the three
starters have combined for a record of 6-4 in the last 12 games with a
earned run average of 4.26... the TCU bullpen has a 1-1 record and a 2.81
earned run average... Stan Newton has struck out 17 in the last 13.1 innings
- a span of six appearances... he has allowed five runs, three earned on 10
hits and three walks for an earned run average of 2.03... Thompson and
Bradshaw have combined for three complete games in the last 12 played...
therefore, the TCU bullpen has combined for 15 appearances... besides
Newton, Shaun Wooley is the only pitcher to have made more than
appearance.... Chad Durham has not pitched since the Fresno State series in
Fort Worth.
DIAMOND NOTES
The Frogs are 6-11 against teams currently ranked in one of the three top-25
polls... Erick Macha is ranked among the national leaders in triples...
four of TCU's last eight games have been played in two hours or less... in
TCU's April 14th win over Hilo, the Frogs won in 1:51... all four of the
games were nine-inning contests... in WAC action, the Frogs are 7-5 in games
decided by three runs or less and 4-5 in games decided by five runs or more.
