Frogs Begin Six-Game Homestand With Midweek Series Against UTPA
4/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 25, 2005
Fort Worth, Texas - The Frogs will return to Lupton Stadium on Tuesday night to begin a two-game series with the UT-Pan American Broncs. The Frogs are fresh off a road series victory over the Charlotte 49ers. The two-game series will start a six-game homestand for the No. 28 Horned Frogs. Game time on Tuesday is set for a 7:00 p.m. start, while Wednesday's series finale is slated for an 11:00 a.m. start. The Frogs will welcome the Fort Worth ISD middle school students for the first annual Kid's Day at Lupton Stadium on Wednesday.
About the Series
TCU comes into their first midweek series of the year on a roll. The offense came alive against the 49ers this past week and are looking to carry that momentum into the midweek series against the UT-Pan American Broncs. The Frogs have had a successful April and are 7-3 in their last 10 contests. The Broncs enter the game with a 14-31 overall record after dropping the series finale to Western Kentucky at home this past weekend. They have struggled on the road with a 1-16 record, while the Frogs have dominated in their home park with 17 wins versus four losses.
About The Frogs
The story of the Frogs in the past three games has been the offensive show they've put on. They have now won all but one weekend series with a 2-1 win over Charlotte. The Frogs showed their muscle, pounding out 17 home runs over the weekend led by Matt McGuirk and Austin Adam's three long balls. All three of Adam's home runs came in game two, while McGuirk posted his first career multi-home run game in the series finale. Stuart Musslewhite collected 11 hits over the week, including two four-hit contests. Shelby Ford made a successful return to the lineup, hitting .412 over four games this weekend. Uncharacteristically, the Frogs struggled on the mound as the pitchers as a whole struggled in the game one loss. Lance Broadway suffered his shortest outing of the season, while the bullpen surrendered eight runs in the loss. Tim McGough improved to 6-0 on the season as he was the beneficiary of a strong offensive output in game two. Brad Furnish also made his second start of the week and earned his fifth win of the season. After a shaking outing on Saturday, Chad Underwood settled down and pitched three strong innings on Sunday. A bright spot in game two was the solid performance of Ryan Nesloney out of the bullpen. The defense also continues to improve as only one unearned run crossed the plate last week.
About The Broncs
The Broncs have had a rough season this year as is evidenced by the 14-31 overall record. Their best victory by far this season was a 7-0 win over Arizona in Edinburg back on February 20. On Sunday they wrapped up the home portion of their schedule and will play their final 11 games on the road beginning with the two-game series against TCU. They will play five games in the next five days. They have struggled in all three facets of the game, hitting at a .248 clip this season, pitching to the tune of a 6.72 ERA and fielding at a .935 percentage. Their 112 errors have led to 73 unearned runs. The best hitter on the squad is Loui Alamia who has a .365 batting average in 43 games. As a team, they have hit only 13 home runs with Aaron Flowers and Zach Smith each with three. On the mound Tim Haines has amassed five saves in 24 appearances, while Aaron Guerra has five of the 14 total victories. They are not a quick team either, stealing just 26 bases all season in 43 attempts. Alamia is the base-running threat with seven steals in 12 attempts.
TCU vs. UTPA Base Knocks
• Tuesday's contest will mark the 37th meeting all-time between TCU and UT-Pan American.
• TCU leads the series 22-13-1.br> • The Frogs and the Broncs have not met since the 2002 campaign when they played a single game at the Express College Classic played at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas. The Frogs dropped the contest by a 5-4 score.
• The Frogs last played a series against the Broncs in 2001 when they met in Edinburg, Texas. TCU swept the doubleheader by scores of 9-5 and 21-2.
• The Broncs have not made the trip to Fort Worth since the 1987 season when they played two doubleheaders. The Frogs won the series 3-1, splitting the day one doubleheader and sweeping day two.
The Series Match-Ups
Sam Demel is slated to be the series-opening starter on Tuesday night. Demel will be looking to improve on a 2-4 record in 13 appearances. He will be making his ninth start of the season. His last appearance on the mound came in a 15-14 loss at Charlotte over the weekend. He allowed two runs on three hits in just two-thirds of an inning pitched. He has struck out 58 batters in 56.1 innings pitched this season.
Facing Demel for the Broncs will be right-hander Mark Rodriguez. Rodriguez is 1-0 this season in eight appearances. He has made just one start, that coming back on April 20 against UT-San Antonio. He got a no-decision as he allowed three runs on six hits in four innings of work. He walked two and struck out three. He has a 6.91 ERA in 14.1 innings of work. He has walked 10 and struck out 10. Opponents are hitting .321 off of the righty.
Wednesday morning the Frogs will send another freshman to the mound as Zach Ashwood will get his third career start. The appearance will be his tenth of the season. He has pitched 14.2 innings this season, striking out 12 and walking nine. He is 1-0, picking up a win in relief against UT-Arlington back on April 5. He appeared in the loss at Charlotte, pitching just 0.1 innings, recording a strikeout.
The Broncs will send lefty, Ryne Foster to the mound Wednesday. Foster will be making his 14th appearance and 12th start of the season. He will be going for his first win of the season as he sits at 0-6 on the campaign. He has an 8.22 ERA in 53.2 innings pitched. He ranks second on the squad with 37 strikeouts. In his last outing he pitched five innings, surrendering eight runs (four earned) on eight hits in a no-decision against Western Kentucky on April 22.
Offensive Outburst
Over the weekend, the Frogs put on an offensive display not often seen. In the three games against Charlotte, the Frogs hit at a .462 clip, had a slugging percentage of .924 and an on-base percentage of .532. All but two starters hit over .300 on the weekend, led by Austin Adams (.700, 7-for-10) and Stuart Musslewhite (.625, 10-for-16). Nine different Frogs connected for a home run in the series, while five had at least two long balls. TCU averaged just over 20 hits per contest and a little over 16 runs per game. As well as getting on via the hit, they were give 22 free base runners, 17 with by walks, four by hit-by-pitches and one reached on an error.
Fresh Contributions
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 .321 (127-396) with 78 runs scored and 85 runs driven in. Forty-two of their base hits have gone for extra bases, including 19 long balls. Andrew Walker is the team leader with 11. They've demonstrated their patience, drawing 48 walks. In conference play, they have been equally as effective with a .330 (61-185) batting average. On the mound, they account for three wins, one save and 78 strikeouts.
Power Surge
Saturday's doubleheader saw the Horned Frogs connect for 14 home runs in the two games. In game two alone, the Frogs tied a school-record with nine home runs. On Sunday, TCU added three more home runs to bring the weekend total to 17 home runs over three contests. The last team to hit nine home runs in a game came back on March 15, 2001 against Iowa State. Previous game highs have been six home runs. Austin Adams was the only Frog in game two to hit more than one as seven different Frogs went yard. The Frogs now have 60 home runs this season, just 16 away from tying the single-season record. There are at least 15 games remaining in the regular season.
On Fire
Since being inserted into the lineup in the series finale against USF, Matt McGuirk has been on a tear. He is in the midst of a nine-game hit-streak over the last two weeks. During that streak, McGuirk has hit seven home runs, including his first multi-home run game of his career on April 24 when he hit two. During the streak, he is hitting .515 (17-for-33) with 15 runs scored and 21 runs driven in. He has struck out just twice and drawn two walks. He has two doubles and one triple to go along with the home runs. His slugging percentage is at 1.273 while he's posted a .541 on-base percentage. On the season, he leads the Frogs with a .380 average and a .696 slugging percentage. He has 29 total RBIs.
Racking Up The Hits
Stuart Musslewhite had a monster week at the plate. He collected 11 hits in 21 at-bats over the week and was even better in the Charlotte series, getting 10 hits in 16 at-bats. Since an 0-for-5 day in the series finale at Memphis, Musslewhite has raised his average from .273 to .306. He's the only Frog to start and play in all 40 games this season as he's been a constant at shortstop. He posted two four-hit contests over the weekend and now leads the team with 16 multi-hit games. His home run in game one against Charlotte gave him four on the year, which is a season-high for the right-handed hitter.
Diamond In The Rough
In a doubleheader that saw the Frogs use seven pitchers in game one, the Frogs got a welcome relief in game two as Ryan Nesloney pitched the final 2.1 innings of the game. After a lead-off double to the first batter he faced, Nesloney shut down the 49ers offense, retiring the last seven batters he faced. He recorded three strikeouts, two of which ended the game. On the season, Nesloney has a 3.60 ERA and has combined on two of the Frogs three shutouts. He has not allowed a run in his last five appearances, spanning 6.2 innings of work. He has struck out 13 and walked just three in eight appearances.
Austin Powers
Austin Adams had an outstanding day at the plate on Saturday afternoon as he recorded his second-career multi-home run game. Last season, he smoked two home runs against Louisville in the Conference USA Tournament. He did himself one better on Saturday, becoming just the 10th player in school history to hit three home runs in a game. His first home run was a lead-off shot in the seventh inning. He repeated the feat in to lead-off the ninth inning with his second home run of the game. The Frogs batted around in the inning, giving Adams a crack at home run number three. He delivered, crushing his third home run and second of the inning over the left center fence. The last Frog to hit three, ironically, is Adams roommate, Kyle Dahlberg, who hit three against Louisville last season.
Midweek Numbers
With a two-game series against UT-Pan American coming up, the Frogs are hoping to even up their midweek record at 5-5. TCU won its last midweek contest, a 2-1 win over No. 8 Baylor last week at Lupton Stadium. The Frogs have struggled offensively, hitting .265 as a team, led by Shelby Ford's .500 batting average. The defense has struggled, committing 18 errors for a .945 fielding percentage. The 18 errors have cost the Frogs 14 unearned runs. Tim McGough, Zach Ashwood and Lance Broadway are the three Frogs to record victories on Tuesday nights. The team ERA on Tuesday's sits at 4.83.
