No. 24 Frogs Head To Huntsville
2/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 21, 2005
Fort Worth, Texas - The No. 24 TCU baseball team will hit the road for the final game in a four-game road stretch when they travel to Huntsville, Texas to take on the Sam Houston State Bearkats. Game time is slated for 2:00 p.m. The Frogs are currently 2-1 during the road stretch.
No Gametracker
Tuesday afternoon's contest against Sam Houston State will not be featured on Gametracker. Fans wishing to follow along with the game can tune to KTCU on 88.7 FM or listen to the game live on the Interntet.
About the Game
The Horned Frogs will play their fourth straight game away from home when they travel to Huntsville, Texas for an afternoon matchup with the Sam Houston State Bearkats. The Frogs will try and string together two straight wins before returning home for seven-game homestand. TCU is currently 2-1 during their four-game road stretch. All seven games the Bearkats have played this season have come on their home field. They are sent to open a brand new ballpark this season, but due to not being finished, the game that was originally scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start has been moved to 2:00 p.m. TCU is 0-2 in the last two meetings against the Bearkats.
TCU vs. Sam Houston State Base Knocks
• Friday's meeting between the two schools will be the 64th all-time meeting.
• TCU leads the series 35-28-0.
• Sam Houston State has won the last two meetings between the schools.
• TCU dropped an 11-10 decision to Sam Houston State in Huntsville during the 2003 campaign.
• The last time TCU won in Huntsville was in 1996 when they swept a doubleheader from the Bearkats.
• Sam Houston State picked up a 7-3 win over the Frogs last season at Lupton Stadium.
Tearing It Up
Freshman catcher, Andrew Walker had a breakout series against Florida Atlantic. For the series, Walker hit .615 (8-for-13) at the plate, including four runs driven in and two home runs. He recorded multiple hits in all three games and recorded his first two career home runs, both coming in game one of the series. He gave the Frogs a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game one and crushed his second home run a few innings later for TCU's first multi-home run game of the season.
Let's Get It Started
Head coach Jim Schlossnagle made a lineup switch in game three against Florida Atlantic, moving Stuart Musslewhite to the eight hole and inserting Ryan Pack into the leadoff spot, moving him from the nine hole. Pack performed admirably in the lead off spot, drawing 3-2 counts in his first two at-bats and a 3-1 count in his third AB. He delivered a lead-off home run to start the game and delivered a two-out double to give the Frogs a 6-2 lead late in the game. On the weekend, Pack was cluthc, smashing two home runs and driving in four runs driven in, three of which came in the 7-3 win on Sunday
Getting The Monkey Off His Back
For Spencer Jackson, Saturday night's base hit was a long time coming. Jackson had been 0-for-7 in his first at-bats in a collegiate uniform before his double in the second inning. The double also netted Jackson his first career RBI as he gave the Frogs the early 1-0 lead as Andrew Walker scored from second.
Loaded Schedule
The Frogs will play a challenging schedule this season that features teams from seven different leagues and five games against Independent teams. Of the 21 teams the Frogs will square off against, seven of them were tournament teams, while two of them reached the Super Regionals. TCU will play 11 teams that finished with a record above .500. The schedule also features a three-game series against the nation's preseason No. 1, as selected by Baseball America, Tulane. Currently, two of the Frogs opponents are ranked in the top 10 as Rice sits at No. 7.
Frogs Go Pollin'
Going 2-2 last week against quality oppontents, Texas Tech and Florida Atlantic enable the Frogs to keep their grip on the Top 30 . TCU slipped a notch in the Baseball America poll to No. 24, but made their debut in the Collegiate Baseball poll at No. 29. TCU dropped from 22 to 28 in the NCBWA poll The ESPN/Sports Weekly poll has yet to be released this week. Currently, the Frogs are ranked 25th in the coaches poll.
Still Searching
The Frogs are still searching for their first errorless game of the season. They were close in Sunday's 7-3 win over Florida Atlantic, but a ninth inning error ended the chance. TCU has committed 11 errors this season, five of which have come from the pitching position. The middle infield has shined defensivley this season, not commmitting an error in 65 chances. The defense has turned seven double plays this season. One error has been made at first base, three at third and two behind the plate.
Too Many Ks
In the first two games of the series, the Frogs recorded 26 strikeouts, one short of an entire game. The Frogs are striking out at a crazy rate this season, averaging almost 10 K's per inning. After a 11 strikeout game in game one, the Frogs fanned 15 times in game two. TCU turned it around on Sunday as they cut down the strikeouts, fanning only eight times. On the season, TCU has struck out 69 times and drawn only 32 walks.
A New Look
Sunday's lineup against Florida Atlantic had a different look to it as a number of players were at different positions. Shelby Ford made his first appearance at third base this season, while Chad Huffman made his collegiate debut at second base. Also new in the lineup this season was Jerid Buttell who got his first start of the season in left field.
Rally Killers
The Frogs had gone six game before grounding into their first double play of the season, prior to that, they had only lined into two. In Sunday's game, the Florida Atlantic defense turned three double plays, each ending their respective inning to try and stay in the game. The Frogs didn't let the double plays stop them as they put up seven runs on 12 hits in the game.
Going, Going, Gone!!!!!
The Horned Frog bats came alive in game one against the Florida Atlantic Owls as they blasted five home runs out of the park. Andrew Walker hit the first one of the weekend in the first inning, a three-run shot, that was followed up by a solo home run off the bat of Austin Adams. Ryan Pack delivered a solo shot to lead off the sixth inning and Walker hit his second of the game in the seventh. Kyle Dahlberg sent the Frogs final home run sailing over the left field fence to put the Frogs up 11-1, runs that they would need to hold on for the win.
An Implosion
Lance Broadway left Friday night's game with an 11-1 lead and watched it slowly disappear before Shawn Ferguson was able to come in and stop the bleeding. The Owls put up nine runs in the seventh and eighth innings to close the gap to 11-10. FAU was able to bring the go-ahead runs to the plate, but Ferguson closed the door, striking out four of the five hitters he faced. Of the nine runs scored, only two of them were earned as the TCU defense committed three errors.
