Frogs Host Louisville In Final Home Series Of 2005
5/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 12, 2005
Fort Worth, Texas - The No. 24 TCU Horned Frogs will host Louisville in their final home series of the 2005 season. The Frogs will be looking to build on a record 22 wins at home beginning Friday night against the Cardinals. TCU will be going for its ninth Conference USA series win this season. Game time for Friday and Saturday is set for 7:00 p.m. at Lupton Stadium. The Frogs will honor the 2005 seniors prior to the series finale, which is set for a 1:00 p.m. start on Sunday.
About the Game
The Frogs and the Cardinals will be jockeying for their position in the upcoming Conference USA Tournament. While the Frogs have already locked up a berth in the tournament, the Cardinals are locked in a tie for seventh, just three games ahead of ninth-place Charlotte. TCU fell back a step last weekend in the race for the regular season championship as the Green Wave swept and the Frogs went 2-1, giving Tulane a two-game lead in the standings. The three-game series will mark the final weekend at Lupton Stadium in 2005.
About The Frogs
Sunday saw the Frogs post one of their strongest wins of the season as they rallied from an 11-1 deficit after three innings to post a 15-13 win, winning their eighth consecutive Conference USA series of the season. Every TCU starter had a hit, highlighted by Shelby Ford's 4-for-5 day at the plate that saw him hit for what is believed to be the first cycle in TCU history. The Frogs are the top-hitting team in the league with a .337 average against conference opponents. Keith Conlon is the league's leader with a .464 average in conference play. Along with Stuart Musslewhite, the duo is putting together two impressive hitting streaks as Musslewhite has hit in 13 straight and Conlon has a streak of 12 straight games with a hit. Chad Huffman continues to sizzle at the plate, raising his average to .345 over the weekend, as he has hit in six straight contests. After going without a home run for seven straight games, the Frogs found their home run stroke in the finale at Cincinnati, as both Ford and Austin Adams connected in the eighth inning in the come-from-behind victory. On the mound, Lance Broadway continues to dominate his opponents, picking up his record-tying 11th win on Friday against Cincinnati. He is just eight strikeouts away from setting the single season strikeout record. Sam Demel continues to be a strong arm out of the bullpen as he held the Bearcats in check on Saturday afternoon. The Frogs got another boost in the bullpen on Friday night as Chase Perry recorded his longest outing of the season, pitching two shutout innings to help preserve the Frogs fifth shutout of the season.
About The Cardinals
The Cardinals opened up the Conference USA portion of their schedule on a tear and have a series win over Tulane under their belts this season. Since getting swept by the USF Bulls in week three, the Cardinals have struggled to regain their footing and sit at 12-11 in league play. As a team, they are hitting .290, led by Boomer Whiting's .344 average. Whiting is also the league's top base stealing threats as he has swiped 23 bages in 26 attempts. J.T. LaFountain is the leading home run threat with seven long balls and a team-leading 39 RBIs. On the mound, the Cardinals have relied heavily on B.J. Rosenberg, who has a team-leading 11 starts this season. He is 4-3 with a 5.00 ERA. Brian Halford has been one of the top closers in the league with six of the Cardinals nine saves. He has a 3-1 record to go along with a 4.26 ERA in 22 innings pitched. Defense has been a strong point for the Cardinals in 2005 as they have just 54 errors for a .970 fielding percentage.
TCU vs. Louisville Base Knocks
• Tuesday's contest will mark just the 13th meeting all-time between TCU and Louisville.
• TCU leads the series against Louisville 8-4.
• In three meetings last season, TCU took 2-of-3 games at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville. The Frogs won the opener, dropped the second game and took the rubber match.
• The Frogs took 2-of-3 from Louisville at Lupton in 2003. After losing the first contest, the Frogs rebounded to win the next two.
• After handing the Frogs their first losses in each of the 2002 and 2003 Conference USA tournaments, the Frogs doled out their revenge, eliminating the Cardinals from the C-USA tournament last season.
The Series Match-Ups
In his final home start of the season, Lance Broadway will be attempting to break two long-standing TCU single season records. He will be going for win No. 12 as well as attempting to break the single-season strikeout record of 120 set back in 1988 by Tim Mauser. Broadway is just eight strikeouts away from owning the record. In his last outing, Broadway combined to shutout his third opponent of the season. He has not allowed a run in his last 11 innings pitched or an earned run in his last 15 innings pitched.
The Cardinals will counter with right-handed pitcher B.J. Rosenberg. Rosenberg will be making his 12th start of the season. He is 4-3 with an even 5.00 ERA. He has struck out 39 in 66.2 innings pitched. In his last outing, the Charlotte 49ers tagged him for seven runs on seven hits in 2.1 innings pitched. He struck out two and walked one in the no-decision.
Saturday, Tim McGough will take the mound for his 12th start of the year. He is 6-1 on the season and winless in his last two starts. His 2.10 ERA is second in the league behind teammate Lance Broadway. He has struck out 39 batters in 60 innings pitched this season and is holding opponents to a .247 batting average. He was touched four seven runs (two earned) in just 1.2 innings of work against Cincinnati on May 8.
The Cardinals will send Scott Jenkins to the mound. Jenkins will be making just his fourth start of the season. He is 1-1 with a 4.37 ERA in 45.1 innings pitched. He has appeared in nine games out of the bullpen this season, before making the adjustment to the starting rotation. In his last outing against Charlotte, Jenkins went 6.1 innings in the no-decision. He allowed just two runs (one earned) on seven hits. He struck out three and walked two.
Sunday will see Brad Furnish on the mound, making his 12th start of the season. He has a 5-4 record on the season with a 3.84 ERA. His 77.1 innings pitched are second on the team, while his 72 strikeouts are third on the squad. Opponents are hitting just .211 off of the lefty. He suffered the tough luck loss last Saturday against the Cardinals, surrendering four runs (two earned) on eight hits. He struck out five and walked three.
Justin Valdes will take the mound on Sunday afternoon, making his 10th start of the season. He is just 1-4 with a 5.89 ERA. He is second on the squad with 47.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 36 batters, but has surrendered a team-high seven home runs. He gave up four runs on six hits in just three innings of work against the 49ers a week ago. He struck out two and walked two in the no-decision.
Streaking Along
On April 19th, Stuart Musslewhite went 1-for-5 at the plate against the Baylor Bears. Thirteen games later, Musslewhite has recorded at least one hit, posting the Frogs longest hit-streak of the season. During the stretch, Musslewhite has hit .441 (26-of-59), driven in 15 runs, scored 16 runs and drawn eight walks. Of his 26 hits, he has blasted eight doubles and picked up his career-high fourth home run. Seven of the 13 games have seen him record two-or-more hits, bringing his season total to 20 multi-hit games, tops on the team. His batting average has climbed 49 points from .273 to .322. He has posted career highs in hits, home runs, RBIs and walks this season.
Sweet Swing
Another Frog has been on a tear over the last three weeks, as Keith Conlon has a hitting streak of 12 games heading into this weekend. He is hitting .367 (18-of-49) with 14 runs driven in and nine runs scored. He has posted five multi-hit games and six multiple-RBI contests during the streak. Conlon got off to a slow start in 2005 campaign, hitting just .154 in his first 12 games of the season, but got a chance in the series finale against East Carolina. Since then, Conlon has been a staple in the lineup and is hitting .416. Opponents have only held him hitless in three of the 22 games since getting back into the lineup. He leads the team with 31 RBIs and 37 hits over that span. He leads the conference with a .464 average against conference foes.
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 .319 (150-470) with 98 runs scored and 100 runs driven in. Fifty-one 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 67 walks. In conference play, they have been equally as effective with a .321 (75-234) batting average. On the mound, they account for six wins, one save and 99 strikeouts.
Chasing History
Friday night could see two impressive single-season records fall when Lance Broadway takes the mound for his final home start of the 2005 season. With 11 wins already this season, Broadway will go for win an historic win No. 12 against the Cardinals. Only three Frogs have ever recorded 11 victories in a season. Frank Johnstone was the last Frog to accomplish the feat, winning 11 in 1974. Since that time, only four Frogs have posted 10-win seasons. Broadway will also be chasing the single season strikeout record. In 1988, Tim Mauser struck out 120 batters. Broadway sits at 113 strikeouts this season and needs just eight to set the record. He is averaging 7.5 strikeouts per start, but has posted back-to-back double-digit strikeout games.
Ford Hits For The Cycle
Sunday saw Shelby Ford accomplish one of the most impressive feats in baseball as he is believed to be the first Horned Frog to hit for the cycle in a game. Ford got the cycle started in the first inning with a one-out double. He added the triple in the third inning to lead off the inning. Ford walked in his next at-bat and flew out to center to end the fifth inning, before collecting a single in his fifth plate appearance of the game. Ford completed the cycle in the eighth in a big way, drilling a home run over the right field fence. The two-run shot gave the Frogs a 12-11 lead, their first of the game as TCU rallied from an 11-1 deficit.
Another Successful Campaign
This weekend marks the final three games at Lupton Stadium in the 2005 campaign. The Frogs have already won a record 22 games at Lupton and will look to improve on a 22-5 home record. The Frogs have enjoyed the friendly confines, hitting .305 as a team. Shelby Ford is the leading hitter at Lupton this season with a .385 batting average. The Frogs have hit 17 home runs, smoked 10 triples and 66 doubles at home this season. The pitching staff has a 3.46 ERA at Lupton led by Tim McGough's 0.83 ERA and Lance Broadway's 0.99 ERA. Broadway is undefeated at 6-0 as is Sam Demel with a 4-0 record. Opponents are hitting just .239 at Lupton and have an ERA of 6.50.
Early Projections (May 10th Edition)
With Regional play less than a month away, two different websites have 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. With a 3-1 record over the last week, the Frogs remained the two seed after dropping to a three seed two weeks ago. After being projected in the Austin Regional for most of the spring, the Frogs were projected to play in Waco at the Baylor Regional last week. This week, the Frogs are projected back in Austin. The Frogs are listed as the two seed. Rounding out the field is three-seed Clemson and fourth-seed Quinnipiac. Three other Conference USA teams were listed in the projections in Tulane, Southern Miss and East Carolina. Five of the Frogs opponents are also listed as regional contenders. Rice and Baylor are all projected in the field along with the three Conference USA squads.
Saying Goodbye
On Sunday, the Frogs will honor eight seniors who will be playing their final home game of their careers. Chris White, Kyle Dahlberg, J.J. Estrada, Chad Underwood and Ryan Nesloney have played all four of their years in the purple and white. They have been apart of a team that has seen drastic changes in the program, including a new stadium, a new coach, a conference championship, a school-record 39-wins and a berth in the playoffs. In four years, they have compiled a record of 138-92 posting at least 30 wins in each of the four seasons. They have finished no lower than fourth place in Conference USA. Frog fans will also bid adieu to Bo Cogbill, Tim McGough and Stuart Musslewhite. Cogbill has spent two seasons with the Frogs, while McGough has been with TCU for three seasons. Musslewhite joined the Frogs in the fall and will end his collegiate career in a Horned Frog uniform.
