TCU baseball to host Rice
3/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Rice o Friday, March 30 o 2:35 p.m. o TCU Diamond o Fort Worth
Rice o Saturday, March 31 o 1:05 p.m. o TCU Diamond o Fort Worth
Rice o Sunday, April 1 o 1:05 p.m. o TCU Diamond o Fort Worth
KTCU 88.7 FM (Chuck LaMendola)
FROGS RETURN TO TCU DIAMOND, HOST TOP-RANKED RICE
The TCU Horned Frogs (20-9, 11-2) return to the TCU Diamond this weekend,
March 30-April 1, to host the top-ranked Rice Owls (25-6, 14-1) in a
three-game Western Athletic Conference series. The Frogs have won seven
straight games, while the Owls have won seven of their last eight games.
Last weekend, TCU swept Hawaii-Hilo, while Rice swept a three-game set
against Fresno State. Both teams were rained out in midweek games. TCU's
seven-game winning streak is the longest since the 1996 Frogs also won seven
straight. Rice enters the contest ranked number one in the nation by
Baseball Weekly/ESPN and number two by Baseball America and Collegiate
Baseball.
104th SEASON OF TCU BASEBALL
This is the 104th edition of TCU baseball. The Frogs have an all-time mark
of 1522-1316-25 for a winning percentage of .536. Last year, the Frogs
recorded a 22-34 win-loss mark, including a 12-18 record in conference play.
Next season, TCU will become a member of Conference USA.
WAC PLAY
The Frogs are in their fifth and final season in the Western Athletic
Conference. TCU has compiled a conference record of 75-56-0 in five WAC
seasons. Last year, TCU ended conference play with a record of 12-18. Always
tough at the TCU Diamond, the Frogs have a record of 44-20 in home (WAC)
conference games. On the road, the Frogs have compiled a record of 31-36 in
WAC games.
GAME COVERAGE
TCU baseball is carried on KTCU 88.7 FM with Chuck LaMendola calling the
action. TCU fans can access the radio broadcast of any TCU game from
anywhere in the world via the internet at www.ktcu.tcu.edu. The TCU pregame
show will begin 15 minutes before the first pitch of every TCU game.
HEAD COACH LANCE BROWN
The 2001 Horned Frogs are under the guidance of head coach Lance Brown (TCU,
1967). Brown, TCU's all-time winningest coach, has a record of 440-411. In
his 15th season at TCU, Brown is assisted by Donnie Watson, Barry Takahashi
and Tom Hardgrove.
TCU-RICE SERIES
When TCU and Rice begin play on Friday, it will be the 224th meeting between
the two teams... the Frogs lead in the overall series, 114-108-1... last
season, the Owls won four of six games, including three of four played at
the TCU Diamond... the two teams split a rain-shortened two-game series at
Reckling Park... TCU won the opener, 3-0, then dropped game two, 12-3... due
to the rainout in Houston, the teams played a four-game series in Fort
Worth... Rice won the first three by scores of 11-1, 3-0 and 8-3... TCU
avoided the sweep on the final day, winning game four, 3-2... since joining
the WAC in 1997, Rice holds a 16-6 edge in the series... this will be the
last time the two teams will meet in Fort Worth as WAC rivals... TCU's final
series as a member of the WAC will be at Rice on May 18-20... Lance Brown
has a record of 24-35 vs. Rice.
REVISED SCHEDULE
Due to all of the recent rainouts, the Frogs have a number of schedule
changes... due to the rainout at San Jose State, the Frogs and Spartans will
play a four-game series when San Jose visits Fort Worth... the Texas Tech
contest that was postponed on Feb. 27 has been rescheduled for April 11...
TCU and UTA have added a contest for April 12 at the TCU Diamond... and, the
Frogs and Nevada will play a four-game series in Reno, due the rainout on
March 11.
NEARLY PERFECT
Chris Bradshaw threw a no-hitter in TCU's 9-0 win against Hawaii-Hilo,
missing a perfect game by a narrow margin... he allowed three base runners
in the game, including the first two in the ninth inning on a strikeout-wild
pitch and a hit batsman... he retired the final three men, including back to
back strikeouts to end the game... the only Hilo player to reach base in the
first eight inning was on a throwing error... Bradshaw struck out 10 and did
not walk a batter in the complete game performance... the no-hitter was the
first by the Frogs since 1995, when four pitchers (Toby Dollar, Derek Lee,
Scott Atchison and Flint Wallace) combined to no-hit Abilene Christian...
overall, it was only the 7th no-hitter in school history, and the second in
a nine-inning contest... Bradshaw was named National Player of the Week by
Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers
Association... he also earned WAC pitcher of the week honors.
HILO RECAP
Two ninth inning rallies and a no-hitter allowed the Frogs to sweep a
three-game set at Hawaii-Hilo... after splitting six games with Hilo last
year, the Frogs won all six games from Hilo this season... TCU won the
opener, 7-4, behind a three-run home run by Tom Bates in the ninth... in
game two, Chris Bradshaw's no-hitter led the Frogs to a 9-0 win... then in
the finale, TCU rallied for three runs in the final two innings to defeat
Hilo, 3-1... in game one, Hilo scored a pair of runs in the 8th to tie the
game at 4-4... then in the top of the 9th, Bates' two-out home run to right
lifted the Frogs to the win... Stan Newton pitched the final 1.1 innings to
earn the win... David Tombrella allowed only three runs on five hits in 7.0
innings... Greg Bratton and Bates led the Frogs with three hits each, and
Terry Trofholz had two hits, including his first home run... in game two,
the Frogs jumped out to an early 5-0, scoring five runs in the first
inning... the five runs came on only four walks, a hit batsmen and two hits,
including a Jason Price two-run double... after the first inning, the Frogs
did not have another hit until the fifth, and they did not score another run
until the 8th inning... Bates, Walter Olmstead, Mike Settle each had two
hits in the game... Settle also scored twice and drove in a pair of runs...
the story of the game was Bradshaw, who after allowing the leadoff man to
reach in the second on a throwing error, retired the next 20 hitters... in
game three, Hilo starter Ben Siff held the Frogs to one run on five hits in
7.0 innings... TCU threatened early in the game, but was unable to score,
leaving a combined four men on base in the first two innings... after the
first two men reached in the second, Siff retired 17 of the next 19
hitters... finally in the 8th, the Frogs tied the game at 1-1 on a leadoff
single, a sac bunt, a Hilo error and a Bates base hit... in the 9th, TCU
took the lead for the first time, scoring a pair of runs on a Price double
and two Hilo errors... TCU starter Justin Crowder kept the Frogs in the
game, holding Hilo to one unearned run on four hits in 7.1 innings... Newton
earned his second win of the series, shutting out the Vulcans in the final
1.2 innings... overall, Bates led the Frogs with six hits in 14 at-bats,
driving in four runs... the TCU pitching staff held Hilo to five runs, four
earned, on 11 hits in the series.
AT THE PLATE
The Frogs lead the WAC in hitting with a .330 batting average... the Frogs
are also first in runs scored, triples and walks... TCU easily set a
season-high total for hits (24) in the 29-4 win over Iowa State... beginning
with the Iowa State contest, the Frogs had six straight games with at least
11 hits, before Hilo held the team to seven in the third game of the series
in Hilo... the Frogs had 18 hits in both game two and three of the Hawaii
series... before the Iowa State game, the Frogs' previous season-high of 18
came in the second game of a doubleheader vs. Texas Pan American... the
Frogs have now scored at least 20 runs in a game twice... they scored 21
runs against Pan Am... the last time TCU scored at least 20 runs in a game
was March 23, 1999, when TCU scored 23 against UTA... when the Frogs score
first, they are 17-3... when the opponent scores first, TCU is 3-6... all
three of those wins occurred on the Hawaii trip... dating back to the 1997
season, the Frogs are 93-46 when they put the first run on the scoreboard...
the Frogs have done most of the damage offensively in the first three
innings... entering the Rice series, the Frogs have scored 101 runs in the
first three innings (39 in the first, 35 in the second and 27 in the
third)... however, the 8th inning has been the best for the Frogs as they
have scored 42 runs in the 8th alone... thus far, TCU is 16-2 when they have
at least 10 hits in a game... in the last five seasons, the Frogs are 100-45
when they have at least 10 hits in a game... the Frogs are hitting .392
(20-51) with three grand slams when hitting with the bases loaded... Tom
Bates' 10-game hitting streak is the longest active streak... Erick Macha's
14-game hitting streak is the longest of the year... the streak was a
career-best for the junior shortstop... Bates is the fourth TCU player to
have a hitting streak reach double digits... Macha has hit safely in
25-of-29 games... Macha also leads the team with 13 multi-hit games... Mike
Settle, who had an 11-game hitting streak earlier this season, has also hit
safely in 25-of-29 games... Settle is first on the team and second in the
WAC in doubles with 12... catcher Jason Price had a 10-game streak earlier
this year... TCU has 22 triples this season, including five by Rudy
Rivera... Rivera also leads the team with a .375 average and four sac
bunts... the 1998 Frogs hit a school record 33... Macha's two triples this
season have raised his career total to a school-record 15...he surpassed
Brad Wallace, who hit 14... Walter Olmstead ranks among the league leaders
in batting average (.349), hits (38), RBIs (27), doubles (10), triples (2),
home runs (5), total bases (67)... however, he is hitting only .222 (6-27)
in the last seven games... Olmstead has 11 multi-hit games and he has hit
safely in 21 of 27 games... he drove in a career-high six runs in game one
of the Prairie View doubleheader, and he had five RBIs in game two of the
UTPA doubleheader... Bates has already walked 17 times this season, which
surpasses his career total of nine from the last three seasons... last
year, he walked three times in 157 plate appearances... sophomore Ramon
Moses is one of the hottest hitters on the team... the second baseman has 12
hits in his last 19 at-bats, raising his batting average from .143 to the
current .295... he has eight runs scored and seven RBIs in the 19 at-bats...
Terry Trofholz is also hitting the ball well... the Creighton transfer is
hitting .375 in the last seven games to raise his average to .349... the two
hottest hitters on the bench are Cade Harris and Greg Bratton... Harris is
hitting .313 (5-16) in the last 20 games, while Bratton is hitting .450
(9-20) on the year.
ON THE MOUND
Senior pitcher Chris Bradshaw (6-1) has already surpassed his career total
for wins with six... Bradshaw won five games in the 2000 season... with 37
starts in his career, he needs to start only four more games to move into
fifth in career starts... his 184 strikeouts is only 30 K's behind Tim
Mauser's fifth-place total of 214... Bradshaw ranks among the WAC leaders in
wins (6), earned run average (2.54), strikeouts (56) and innings pitched
(56.2)... Bradshaw has struck out 31 hitters in the last 25.2 innings...
Justin Crowder struck out a career-best nine in TCU's 5-3 loss to Nevada...
the TCU bullpen has fared well lately, especially right handers Stan Newton,
Patrick Newburn and Clayton Jerome... Newton has allowed only five runs, two
earned, in the last 14.0 innings - a span of 10 appearances... Newton made
four appearances on the six-game trip on the Islands... he allowed three
runs, one earned in 5.2 innings... he earned wins in the first and third
game of the Hilo series... Newburn earned his first win of the season,
against Nevada... in Jerome's last six outings, he has allowed two runs in
9.1 innings... since allowing five earned runs in four innings against
Baylor, David Tombrella has allowed only 10 earned runs in 33.1 innings, an
ERA of 2.7... Josh Gardner has not allowed a run in 3.1 innings.
DIAMOND NOTES
TCU has won seven straight and 16 of the last 20 games played... overall, the
Frogs have a record of 20-9, which places them two wins away from the 2000
full season total of 22... TCU did not win the 20th game of 2000 until April
28 - the47th game of the year... the Frogs are 11 games over .500 for the
first time since April 18, 1999, when they had a record of 26-15... this
season, the Frogs are 4-1 in Tuesday games... last season, TCU finished 2-6
in Tuesday games... TCU's 6-1 win over Oklahoma ended a nine-game losing
streak to the Sooners... the last win over OU came at Norman in the 1996
season... the Frogs have already posted two wins over the Texas Longhorns,
including a win at Disch-Falk Field in Austin... the win at Disch-Falk was
the second in the last four years, and only the fifth all-time... senior
Marshall Wilson, who underwent shoulder surgery on Feb. 9 will redshirt this
season... Jared Lundeen will also redshirt after suffering a shoulder injury
in the first week of the year... freshman Juan Estrada made his collegiate
debut in TCU's 5-3 loss at UTA... Estrada, a native of Guatemala, joined the
program in January... in 23 games played on the Hawaiian Islands, the Frogs
have a win-loss mark of 13-10... TCU's annual Battle at the Ballpark in
Arlington against the Texas Longhorns is scheduled for April 17... tickets
are $5 for the game... TCU has a .968 fielding percentage in the first 29
games, and a .971 fielding pct. in 13 WAC games... the Frogs are 16-3 when
they commit less than two errors, including a 10-1 mark when they are
perfect in the field.
TOUGH SCHEDULE in APRIL
Beginning with the Rice series, the Frogs are entering the most difficult
portion of the 2001 schedule... 21 out of the next 25 games are against
teams that participated in the 2000 NCAA baseball tournament... overall, the
Frogs are scheduled to play 35 games against teams that participated in the
2000 NCAA baseball tournament... thus far, TCU has a record of 4-5 in the
first nine games against these opponents... Rice, Fresno State, San Jose
State and WAC newcomer Nevada all advanced to the NCAA Regionals... San Jose
State reached the College World Series... the remaining 11 games are
against Texas Tech, Baylor, Texas, Southwest Texas and Oklahoma... the Frogs
will play a total of 11 games this season against members of the Big 12...
TCU will face Texas Tech (3 games), Baylor (1 game), Texas (3 games), Kansas
(1 game), Oklahoma (2 games) and Iowa State (1 game)... thus far, the Frogs
are 4-3 against the Big 12 with two wins coming against Texas and one vs.
Oklahoma and Iowa State.
