Frogs Set To Host No. 8 Baylor Tuesday Night
4/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 18, 2005
Fort Worth, Texas - The Frogs will return to Lupton Stadium on Tuesday night for a rematch with the No. 8 Baylor Bears. TCU will be looking to improve on a 2-5 record in midweek contests and to even the season series with the Bears. The Frogs are coming off an extra-inning defeat at the hands of the Memphis Tigers, but are hoping to take advantage of being the home team. The Frogs are 16-4 on their home field this season.
About the Series
The Frogs enter the contest fresh off of an extra-inning loss to the Memphis Tigers on Sunday, while the Baylor Bears come into the game following a road-sweep of the Kansas Jayhawks. Both teams have struggled in Tuesday contests as the Frogs are just 2-5 on Tuesdays and the Bears are 3-5 in midweek contests. The Frogs are looking to salvage the season split with the Bears following a disappointing extra-inning loss to Baylor in Waco on March 15. The Frogs have been successful at home this season with a 16-4 record, while the Bears come ito the game for its fifth straight road contest. They are 10-6 away from Baylor Ballpark.
About The Frogs
The Frogs failed to finish off the sweep on Sunday as they dropped an extra-inning affair to the Tigers in the series finale. TCU now sits one game out of first place behind league-leading Tulane who is 12-3 after 15 conference games. The Frogs were quieted just a bit as they hit just .291 in the series, but the long-ball was ever-present in the three games. TCU pounded out six home runs led by Keith Conlon and J.J. Estrada's two long balls. Also connecting for TCU was Matt McGuirk and Chad Huffman. Conlon remains the Frogs top hitter as he hit .538 over the weekend. Huffman came alive in the series finale with a 4-for-5 day at the plate and he will look to keep that going into this week. The Frogs are also anxiously awaiting the return of Shelby Ford to the lineup. He's not likely to play against Baylor, but should be back for the conference series this weekend. Lance Broadway and Tim McGough continue to lead the Frogs pitching staff as each picked up a win in dominating fashion over the weekend. Broadway improved to an impressive 8-1, while McGough stayed undefeated at 5-0. The Frogs rotation took a hit this weekend with the absence of Brad Furnish on the mound as he is nursing a blister on his throwing hand. The defense showed marked improvement from Tuesday night's debacle, committing just three errors on the weekend.
About The Bears
The Bears are 6-1 in their last seven contests, but all six wins have come against conference foes, while their lone loss came to UT-Arlington a week ago. The Bears were shutout in the contest as they continued to struggle in midweek contests. The Bears, usually an offensive club, have relied heavily on their pitching staff to win ball games. Combined with an impressive defense that is fielding at a .970 clip, they have been able to overcome an offense that is hitting just .270 this season. Only two guys are hitting above .300, led by Zach Dillon's .331 average. Kyle Reynolds provides the pop in the lineup with eight home runs while Kevin Russo is the leader with 27 runs driven in. On the mound, reliever Jeff Mandel has been lights out. In 15 appearances he has a 1.00 ERA. Midweek starter, Sean Walker is 1-3 with a 4.34 ERA. Abe Woody continues to dominate in the closer role as he has tallied seven saves in 17 appearances and has a 4-1 record. As a whole, the staff is holding opponents to an impressive .231 batting average.
TCU vs. Baylor Base Knocks
• Tuesday's contest will mark the 287th meeting all-time between TCU and Baylor.
• Baylor leads the series 151-131-4.br> • The Frogs and the Bears are former Southwest Conference (SWC). The teams squared off as league opponents for 71 seasons (1923-1996) in the SWC.
• The Frogs and the Bears met twice in 2004 when they faced each other once in Waco and once in Fort Worth. The Bears shut the Frogs out in both meetings.
• The last Frog win against Baylor came on March 26, 2002 in Waco when they came away with a 5-3 win.
• The Bears won the first meeting this season in comeback fashion, scoring two runs in the bottom of the 10th to record a 4-3 victory in Waco.
• TCU is 0-for-their-last-6 against the Bears dating back to the 2002 season.
The Tuesday Match-Ups
The Frogs have not yet named a starter for the Tuesday contest. Possibilities for the start are lefties Brad Furnish and Zach Ashwood. Furnish is one of the top guys on the mound for the Frogs but is nursing a blister on his throwing hand. Ashwood is one of the up-and-comers on the Horned Frog staff. He has not seen game action since last Tuesday against Oklahoma and should be well rested should he be called.
For the Bears, who have two midweek contests this week, the pickings for a starter are slim. Options for head coach Steve Smith are righties, Sean Walker or Andy Pape. Walker has made six starts this season, including one against the Frogs, and is 1-3. His troubles come from walks as he has walked 17 in 18.2 innings. Pape has made two starts in eight apearances and is 1-2 with a 3.93 ERA. He has been effective, limiting opponents to a .200 batting average in 18.1 innings of work.
Fresh Contribution
For the second straight season, the Frogs rely on another talented crop of freshman. Added to the freshman from last season, the young lineup has done its job, helping the team to one of its best starts in years. Four freshmen have seen significant playing time in the field, while four have seen time on the mound as well. At the plate, the freshmen are hitting .314 (111-353) with 68 runs scored and 72 runs driven in. Thirty-three of their base hits have gone for extra bases, including 12 long balls. Andrew Walker is the team leader with eight. They've demonstrated their patience, drawing 48 walks. In conference play, they have been equally as effective with a .305 (47-154) batting average. On the mound, they account for three wins, one save and 77 strikeouts.
Another Streak Comes To An End
Tim McGough saw his impressive streak of 27.0 innings without allowing an earned run come to an end on Saturday against the Memphis Tigers. He allowed the lone earned run in the second inning on a bases loaded walk. McGough pitched his final six innings without allowing a run. The run was the first scored by a Conference USA opponent this season. During the streak, he walked nine batters and struck out 18. Opponents only hit .160 (15-for-94) off of him. He was 4-0 over six appearances. In three of the appearances, he allowed just one hit while he was on the mound.
Conference USA Hitter of the Week
In Sunday's win over USF, Matt McGuirk found himself in the starting rotation and made the most of it. He was 1-for-2 in the ball game with three runs driven. He also picked up his first career home run. His good day at the plate earned him a start in Tuesday's game at Oklahoma. He was on fire there as well, going 3-for-4 with five runs driven in. He was just a single shy of hitting for the cycle. He kept right on going, with another five-RBI night and his third home run in as many games in the opener against Memphis. When all was said and done, McGuirk hit .500 for the week (9-of-18) with 10 RBI and nine runs scored.
Frogs In Extras
On Sunday, TCU played its fourth extra-inning game of the season and second in conference action. The Frogs are just 1-3 in those four contests, falling to Baylor, Southern Miss and Memphis. Their lone win in extra frames came in the 11th inning against Manhattan. Sunday the Frogs battled back from a 5-2 deficit in the eighth to tie the game on Keith Conlon's third home run of the season. TCU couldn't push across the go-ahead run and Memphis' Cory Barton came through in the bottom of the 10th with a walk-off home run.
C-USA Dominance
The Frogs are just one game behind Tulane in the league standings despite having won all five Conference USA series they've played this season. After five series, the Frogs are 11-4 with five series wins. Their only series sweep has come at the expense of the USF Bulls. Conversely, Tulane has swept three series, won a series 2-1 over Houston and dropped a series to Louisville. In its three plus seasons in Conference USA, the Frogs have won a series from every league-foe and are 27-8 overall in 35 series played. At home, TCU is 15-3, while they hold an 12-5 advantage in road series.
Midweek Struggles
The Frogs are just 2-5 in midweek contests this season and 1-4 against the Big 12. TCU is hoping to break from those ways on Tuesday night when they host Baylor. At home on Tuesdays, they are 1-2 with a win and a loss to Texas Tech and a loss to Oklahoma. The home field has been kind to the Frogs this season as they boast a 16-4 record at Lupton Stadium. Under the Tuesday night lights, the Frogs are hitting just .278 as a team led by Shelby Ford's .520 average. The defense has struggled committing 17 errors for a fielding percentage of .939. The pitching staff has also struggled with a 5.55 ERA. TCU has been outscored 52-47 on Tuesdays.
Home Sweet Home
The Frogs return home briefly for one game as they host No. 8 Baylor. The Frogs have enjoyed the home comforts provide by Lupton Stadium. In 20 games, they own a 16-4 record. Shelby Ford is the leading hitter at home this season with a .391 batting average, while Chad Huffman and J.J. Estrada each have driven in 18 runs at Lupton. As a team, the Frogs are hitting .306 with 15 home runs and seven triples. The pitching staff has also enjoyed the spacious confines of the stadium, holding opponents to a .250 batting average. They sport a team ERA of 3.96 and have fanned 192 batters. Opponents have hit only eight home runs at Lupton. Chad Underwood and Brad Furnish have seen the most action on the mound in home games.
