Frogs Host League-Leading USF For Three Games
4/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 7, 2005
Fort Worth, Texas - The No. 31 TCU baseball team will have a chance to jump into first place this weekend as they host the league-leading USF Bulls in a three-game Conference USA series beginning Friday night. The series begins Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at Lupton Stadium with Lance Broadway on the mound for the Frogs. Game two is slated for a 2:00 p.m. start on Saturday and the series finale will get underway at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.
About the Series
This is one of the most pivotal series of the season for the Frogs as they host the league-leading USF Bulls for three games over the weekend. TCU is just 1.5 games behind the Bulls in fourth place and would move ahead of them with a series win this weekend. The Frogs have won their previous three Conference USA series and are looking to do the same this weekend. The Bulls have also been victorious in all three series they've played, losing just one game so far, that coming against Memphis in the series finale two weeks ago. TCU has won two straight and five of its last seven contests, while the Bulls come into the weekend following a disappointing home loss to UCF this past Tuesday.
About The Frogs
The Frogs have been clicking on almost every level over the last two weeks, with just a few minor bumps along the way. Tuesday night began the second half of the Frogs 56-game schedule and as the old adage goes, "it's not how you start, but how you finish," the Frogs are hoping to have a dominating finish to the regular season. The Frogs played perhaps their best game of the campaign to start their second season against the UT-Arlington Mavericks. They hit the ball hard, pitched well and played near flawless defense in the 11-2 victory. The Frogs used six pitchers to shut down the Maverick offense and Zach Ashwood earned his first collegiate victory with two innings of scoreless relief of starter Chad Underwood. Four different Frogs found their home run swing as Andrew Walker, Austin Adams, Chad Huffman and Keith Conlon each delivered. The four long balls accounted for eight of the Frogs 11 runs. For Conlon, the home run was the first in his career at TCU. Walker and Adams have seven-game hit streaks coming into the weekend, while Stuart Musslewhite is working on a six-game hit streak of his own. Also putting streaks on the line this weekend are pitchers Lance Broadway and Tim McGough. Broadway has gone 33.2 innings without allowing an earned run, while McGough has gone 19.0 innings without allowing an earned run.
About The Bulls
The Bulls have proven to be one of the streakiest teams in the league this season. Through their first 19 games of the season, the Bulls were at 9-10, but since that point have gone 11-4 to improve to 20-14 and 7-1 in conference play. The turn around came after a disappointing 1-4 trip to the Rainbow State at the beginning of March. The USF pitching staff is talented enough to compensate for a less-than-potent offense. Only four guys are hitting over .300 led by the Baisley brothers. Jeff Baisley is the leader with a .376 average and Brian Baisley at .305. The Bulls are a power-oriented offense as opposed to average oriented as is evidenced by 34 long balls to go with just a .273 batting average. Daniel Thomas is the staff leader with a 2.81 ERA to go with a 6-2 record. Casey Hudspeth is the ace with a 6-1 record in nine starts and a 3.30 ERA. His 59 strikeouts are tops on the team. Tim Mattison is the last guy out of the bullpen and has six saves in 15 appearances. He has struck out 26 while walking just six batters.
TCU vs. USF Base Knocks
• Friday's contest will mark just the 12th meeting all-time between TCU and USF.
• TCU leads the series against USF by one game, 6-5.
• The Frogs took two-of-three from the Bulls in Tampa a year ago. USF won the opener 4-3, but the Frogs took games two and three by scores of 7-6 and 7-1.
• USF is just 1-2 all-time at Lupton Stadium with their only visit to the stadium and to Texas coming in the 2003 campaign.
• The Bulls eliminated the Frogs from the Conference USA post-season tournament two years in a row in 2002 and 2003.
The Weekend Match-Ups
As usual, the Frogs will send their ace to the mound on Friday night as Lance Broadway will be going for his seventh victory of the season. The Frogs are undefeated in games that Broadway starts and have not lost a Friday game all season. Broadway is in the midst of a six-game stretch that has seen him dominate every team he faces. He has not allowed an earned run to cross the plate since March 4, a span of six appearances and 33.2 innings. He leads the Frogs and Conference USA with 68 strikeouts.
The Bulls will counter with right-handed pitcher Casey Hudspeth. Hudspeth is the ace of the staff with a 6-1 record to go along with a 3.30 ERA. He was a preseason all-conference pick following a dominating freshman campaign that saw him earn freshman all-American honors. In his last outing, Hudspeth pitched six innings, allowing two runs on six hits against Louisville for his sixth victory. He struck out three and walked one. Opponents are hitting just .229 off of the righty.
On Saturday, Brad Furnish will be looking to rebound from his shortest outing as a starter this season against East Carolina. The lefty was tagged four five runs on six hits in just 4.2 innings. On the season, Furnish has been one of the Frogs most effective pitchers, seeing time as a reliever and a starter. He will be making his seventh start of the season. He is tied for second on the team with 44 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .180 batting average.
The Bulls will send right-hander Daniel Thomas to the mound. Thomas has the lowest ERA among the starters with a 2.81 average. He has a 6-2 record in 11 appearances and seven starts. Thomas pitched 4.1 innings against Louisville a week ago, allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out three and walked three in the win.
Sunday will see Tim McGough make his second straight Conference USA start and his seventh of the season. McGough leads Conference USA with a miniscule ERA of 0.89. He has not allowed an earned run since March 8 against Texas Tech, a span of three appearances and 19 innings. He pitched five scoreless innings on Sunday against East Carolina for his third win of the season.
The Bulls have not named a starter for Sunday's contest.
The Untouchables
Lance Broadway and Tim McGough have proven themselves to be two of the top pitchers in the country. They are both in the midst of some impressive streaks without allowing an earned run to cross the plate. Broadway gave up a grand slam in the first inning on Friday, but all the runs were unearned due to an error earlier in the inning. After that, he settled in and pitched seven shutout innings. His streak without allowing an earned run spans 33.2 innings over five appearances and four starts. He has yet to allow an earned run in conference play. Additionally, McGough extended his streak without allowing an earned run to 19 innings, spanning three appearances. He threw five shutout innings on Sunday and worked around six walks, allowing only three hits.
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 .310 (85-274) with 47 runs scored and 46 runs driven in. Twenty-two of their base hits have gone for extra bases, including eight long balls. Andrew Walker is the team leader with seven. They've demonstrated their patience, drawing 41 walks. In conference play, they have been equally as effective with a .307 (28-91) batting average. On the mound, they account for three wins and 59 strikeouts.
Stepping In
Right fielder, J.J. Estrada, turned his ankle in batting practice and was removed from the starting lineup prior to Sunday's game time. In his place was opening day starter, Keith Conlon. Conlon did his job, coming into the game and collecting two base hits in four at-bats. His second hit of the contest was a huge one as it gave the Frogs a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the eighth. His performance on Sunday earned him a start against UT-Arlington on Tuesday. He delivered there as well, giving the Frogs the lead with his first home run in a TCU uniform, a three-run blast over the left field fence. He also doubled in the game, picking up his second straight multi-hit contest and multiple-RBI contest. In the last two contests, Conlon has raised his batting average 81 points from .154 to .235.
The Wall Behind The Plate
Recently named to the Johnny Bench award watch list, catch Kyle Dahlberg demonstrates on a game-by-game basis why he is being considered for the award. Dahlberg has the unenvious task of handling a very good pitching staff that throws a lot of breaking balls. Between Lance Broadway and Shawn Ferguson's breaking ball, Dahlberg has his work cut out for him. He is praised for his defensive ability behind the plate and his ability to call a great game for the pitchers. He has cut down six runners trying to steal a base this season. This past weekend, he also did some damage offensively driving in two big runs in an 8-5 win over East Carolina.
Austin Powers
Over the course of the last six games, no bat has been hotter than the one Austin Adams has been swinging. He is in the midst of a season-long hit streak of seven games during which he is hitting .423 (11-for-26). He has driven in five runs and hit two home runs. He has been the Frogs starter in center field since the start of the conference portion of their schedule and is second on the team with a .412 batting average against C-USA opponents. He has played flawless defense for the Frogs all season and ranks fourth on the squad with a .333 batting average.
Continued Improvement
Over the last seven contests, the Frogs bullpen continues to show major improvements. After two back-to-back games that saw the bullpen lose both games, they have responded with 23.1 strong innings. Seven different Frogs have come out of the bullpen to pitch scoreless innings. In the last six contests, the bullpen has surrendered 13 runs (eight earned) for an ERA of 3.09. Shawn Ferguson has pitched his last four outings without giving up a run over the span of four innings and has eight strikeouts. The bullpen has limited the opponents to a .233 batting average and struck out 25. They have combined on two shutouts as well.
Dominating Rotation
Six different Frogs pitchers have started for TCU this season. TCU sports one of the best starting rotations in the country with the likes of Lance Broadway, Sam Demel, Brad Furnish, Tim McGough, Zach Ashwood and Chad Underwood. Ashwood has two no-decisions in his two starts as does Underwood in his only start of the season. Broadway and Demel each lead the team with seven starts apiece. Broadway sports a 0.74 ERA in 48.1 innings pitched. He is 6-0 with 64 strikeouts and only 11 walks. McGough is 3-0 in six start with a 0.89 ERA. He has 18 Ks in 30.1 innings pitched. Furnish is holding opponents to just a .164 batting average in 38 innings, while Demel ranks second with 43 strikeouts in 37.0 innings. Opponents are only hitting .221 off of a staff that averages 5.2 innings per start. As a group they have an ERA of 2.88 and have struck out 168 batters.
