Frogs Host Houston In Key Conference USA Series
4/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 28, 2005
Fort Worth, Texas - The No. 28 Horned Frogs will look to keep a four-game winning streak alive as they host Conference USA rival, Houston for a pivotal three-game series beginning Friday night. The Frogs are just a game-out of first place behind Tulane, while the Cougars are in a tie for sixth place. The series opener is set for a 7:00 p.m. start at Lupton Stadium on Friday. Game two is slated for a 2:00 p.m. start on Saturday with the series finale set for a 1:00 p.m. start on Sunday.
About the Series
The series against Houston is one of the most important so far this season. The Frogs are just a game back of league-leading Tulane and need to continue picking up series wins to keep pace with the Green Wave. The Frogs are 6-0 in C-USA series this season and are riding a four-game winning streak. The Cougars will be seeking revenge on the Frogs after suffering four defeats versus just two victories on their home field a year ago. The Frogs ended the Cougars season in the Conference USA Tournament played at Cougar Field.
About The Frogs
The offense continues its torrid pace, as they have scored no fewer than eight runs in the last five games. They have strung together four straight victories and picked up 11th series win of the season. In the last five games, they have hit at a .428 clip with 39 extra-base hits. The hottest hitter during that stretch has been Stuart Musslewhite. Chad Huffman has been the top run producer with 11 runs driven in over the five games. Austin Adams has been the power guy with four home runs to run his season total to seven. The return of Shelby Ford to the lineup has also been a lift as he's hitting .440 in the last six games. Despite a rough outing in game one at Charlotte, the Frogs pitching staff has also been on fire. They have a combined ERA of 2.50 in the last four games. The bullpen has been nearly lights out, surrendering just one run in 14.1 innings pitched and zero in the last eight innings. Leading the way out of the bullpen has been two dominating performances from Ryan Nesloney, who has pitched 5.1 innings of scoreless relief. In the two-game series against UTPA, the Frogs were able to get some young guys some work to boost their confidence. Zach Ashwood and Sam Demel each earned victories during the week with five strong innings a piece. The defense is still struggling, but has not proved to be costly in the four-game winning streak. Despite seven errors in the last four games, the Frogs have allowed just two unearned runs.
About The Cougars
The Cougars enter the weekend following a disappointing loss to the Rice Owls on Tuesday. The Cougars watched a big lead slip away in the late innings before losing in the bottom of the ninth inning. An always tough Cougar squad, even though their sub .500 record might not show, enters the weekend with four wins in their last 10 games. They play one of the toughest schedules in the nation as is evidenced by 21 games against ranked opponents. They are 7-14 in those games. Although the overall numbers don't indicate a highly offensive squad with a .285 average, the Cougars led Conference USA with a .313 average in C-USA play. They are led by two of the most underrated two-players in the nation. Brad Lincoln is hitting .358 this season and has a 4-5 record on the mound with a team-high 68 strikeouts. Kevin Roberts is second with a .354 average at the plate and a 4.06 ERA to go along with a 4-3 record. Justin Vaclavik is the team's closer with six saves this season. Matt Farrington is the ace of the staff with a 6-3 record to go along with a 2.71 ERA.
TCU vs. Houston Base Knocks
• Tuesday's contest will mark the 90th meeting all-time between TCU and Houston.
• Houston leads the series 37-50-2.
• The Frogs and the Cougars have been conference foes in two different leagues. They were opponents as members of the SWC when Houston joined in 1973 until the league was broken up in 1996. The resumed the rivalry in 2002.
• As members of C-USA, Houston has won two of the three series they played.
• The Frogs and the Cougars met six times last season, with TCU winning four of those meetings, all of them taking place at Cougar Field in Houston.
• The Frogs ended the Cougars season last year with a doubleheader sweep en route to the Conference Championship.
The Series Match-Ups
Friday night the Frogs will send their ace to the mound as Lance Broadway will get his second chance at win No. 10 on the season. Broadway turned in his worst performance of the season in a no-decision last week against Charlotte. He didn't make it out of the second inning as the 49ers tagged him for seven runs on six hits. Despite the bad outing, Broadway is still one of the ERA leaders in the league with a 2.38 ERA.
Houston will likely counter with Brad Lincoln on Friday night. Lincoln will be making his 12th start of the season. He is 4-5 with a 4.18 ERA. His 71 innings pitched are tops on the team, as are his two complete games and 68 strikeouts. In his last outing, he pitched eight strong innings in a win over USF. He struck out a season-high 13 batters, while walking just one. He allowed two runs on nine hits while throwing 115 pitches.
Saturday will see a familiar face on the mound as Brad Furnish will make his 10th start of the season and 16th appearance. He is 5-3 with a 3.56 ERA after two starts last week. He ranks second on the team with 65.2 innings pitched, has 60 strikeouts and is holding opponents to just a .192 batting average. In his last start, Furnish pitched five innings, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out six.
The Cougars will send Kevin Roberts to the hill for his 11th start of the season. He is 4-3 on the season with a 4.06 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .237 off of the righty. He has struck out 56 batters in 57.2 innings of work. His last outing, a loss to USF, saw him surrender three runs on seven hits in five innings of work. He walked four batters in the game and didn't record a strikeout.
Tim McGough will go for win no. seven on Sunday as he makes his 10th start of the year. He leads the league with a 1.76 ERA in 51 innings pitched. In his last outing, he gave up seven runs (six earned) in 6.2 innings of work. He struck out three and walked one in the victory over Charlotte.
Matt Farrington will take the mound for Houston on Sunday. He is the leader of the staff with a 6-3 record in 12 appearances. On the season, he has pitched 66.1 innings, struck out 41 and walked 23. His last outing was his first relief appearance of the season against Rice on Tuesday. Farrington picked up the loss as he surrendered a run on three hits in 0.2 innings pitched.
Early Projections
With Regional play a little over a month away, two different websites have begun to projected its field of 64 for the NCAA Regionals. As of April 8, Baseball America had projected the Frogs to be a No. 2 seed in Austin, Texas with the University of Texas as the host team. The other two teams projected are Washington and Miami (Ohio). SEBaseball.rivals.com updates their field of 64 each week. Despite a 3-1 record last week, the Horned Frogs dropped from a two seed in the Austin Regional to a three seed. Texas is listed as the one-seed, while Clemson is listed as the two seed. Army rounds out the regional as the fourth seed. Three other Conference USA teams were listed in the projections in Tulane, Southern Miss and East Carolina. Six of the Frogs opponents are also listed as regional contenders. Texas Tech, Rice and Baylor are all projected in the field along with the three Conference USA squads.
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 .320 (131-409) with 81 runs scored and 85 runs driven in. Forty-four 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 56 walks. In conference play, they have been equally as effective with a .330 (61-185) batting average. On the mound, they account for five wins, one save and 85 strikeouts.
Offensive Outburst
In the last five games, the Frogs have put on an offensive display not often seen. In the last five games, the Frogs have hit at a .428 clip, had a slugging percentage of .811 and an on-base percentage of .489. Nine different Frogs have connected for a home run in the last five games, while five had at least two long balls. TCU averaged just over 17 hits per contest and a little over 13 runs per game. As well as getting on via the hit, they were give 25 free base runners, 20 with by walks, five by hit-by-pitches and one reached on an error. The leading hitter during the stretch has been Stuart Musslewhite with a .522 average. Three other Frogs are hitting an even .500. Austin Adams has connected for four home runs in the last five games as well.
Record Breaking Crowds
Wednesday marked the first annual Kid's Day at Lupton Stadium. The students from Fort Worth ISD came out in massive numbers and set an all-time attendance record for a baseball game at TCU. 3,251 fans filled the stadium to see the Frogs defeat UTPA 8-0. This season has seen the fans pass through the turnstiles in record numbers. Five of the top 10 crowds have come during this season, while four of the top five series have posted the most fans. Against UTPA, 4,612 fans attended the two-game series to set the all-time mark. For a three-game series, 4,462 fans came to the ballpark to see the Frogs take two-of-three from East Carolina. TCU is averaging 1,607 fans per game. Already 35,354 fans have visited Lupton Stadium with seven games left on the home schedule.
