Frogs Open C-USA Tournament Play Wednesday
5/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 24, 2005
Hattiesburg, Miss. - The No. 26 TCU Horned Frogs will begin defense of their tournament title from a year ago when they open up play in the Conference USA Tournament Wednesday at 4:00. The second-seeded Frogs will meet the seventh-seeded Louisville at Pete Taylor Ballpark on the Southern Miss campus. TCU is 37-18 overall entering the tournament.
About the Tournament
The Frogs head to Hattiesburg, Miss. for the Conference USA Tournament presented by POWERade on the Southern Miss campus. TCU will be attempting to defend its title won a year ago in Houston. The Frogs enter the tournament as the second seed and will be in a bracket with the host school, Southern Miss, USF and Louisville. The Frogs will open play in the tournament on Wednesday at 4:00 following the Tulane/UAB contest. The field also includes East Carolina and Houston.
About The Frogs
TCU enters the tournament following just its second series loss this season. The Frogs went 1-2 against the nation's top ranked team on their home field. The Green Wave cooled off the Frog bats this week, holding them to just a .210 batting average in the three game series. Stuart Musslewhite and Chad Huffman saw their impressive hitting streaks come to end. Huffman was the leading hitter for the Frogs in the series, hitting .400 (4-for-10) with two home runs and three runs driven in. Austin Adams and Matt McGuirk each picked up three hit contests. After sitting out two games, J.J. Estrada made it back in the lineup and went 4-for-8 in two games. Despite getting only one hit in the series, Shelby Ford seemed to be on base a lot as he was plunked four times. The Frogs struggled to get good starting pitching in the two losses, but got some strong efforts out of the bullpen. Sam Demel through six strong innings in Friday's game one loss and Chase Perry turned in a scoreless inning relief. Chad Underwood and Shawn Ferguson were also strong in Saturday's game three loss. Lance Broadway was masterful in a complete-game shutout to help the Frogs even the series on Friday night. He threw nine innings, allowing just four hits. The defense was solid in the two games, making just two errors. They also showed some speed on the bases, swiping three bags in three attempts.
About The Frogs Bracket
For the second straight season, the Frogs will be on the same side of the bracket as the host school. The Southern Miss Golden Eagles are the three seed in the tournament, while USF as the sixth seed and Louisville as the seventh seed round out the bottom half of the bracket. The Golden Eagles come into the tournament with a 39-17 record, while USF is 32-29 and Louisville is 32-22. The Frogs are 7-2 against their half of the bracket this season. They took two-of-three from Southern Miss to open the C-USA portion of their schedule. When the Bulls came to Lupton, they left with an 0-3 record, becoming the only C-USA team the Frogs swept this season. Louisville dropped two-of-three at Lupton in the Frogs final home series of the 2005 season.
TCU and C-USA Tournament Base Knocks
• The Frogs came out of the loser's bracket a year ago to post five straight victories en route to the C-USA Tournament Championship.
• Austin Adams was the Tournament MVP in 2004,
• The Frogs own an all-time record of 6-6 in the C-USA Tournament.
• TCU went 1-2 in 2002 as the three-seed, topping Louisville and falling to USF and East Carolina.
• The Frogs were swept in 2003 as the tournament's two-seed, falling to USF and Louisville.
• The Frogs eliminated Louisville, East Carolina, Houston and Southern Miss en route to the title in 2004 as the tournament's four seed.
The Tournament Field
Tulane: The Green Wave are ranked No. 1 in three of the major polls at the end of the regular season with a 47-9 record. They paced the league with a 24-6 record in conference play, four games ahead of the second placed teams. They led the league in all three statistical categories with a .316 batting average, a 3.82 ERA and a fielding percentage of .976. The pitching staff picked up seven shutouts and saved a league-high 17 games. Brian Bogusevic is the go-to guy on the team as he is the ace of the pitching staff and one of the best hitters on the team.
Southern Miss: The Golden Eagles will be the third seed in the tournament which will be played on their home field. The Golden Eagles pose a big threat offensively with a .314 team average to go along with 58 home runs. They've been one of the hottest teams in the month of May, posting an 8-4 record. They won seven out of 10 C-USA series, including three series sweeps. They have one of the best closers in the country in Daniel Best who is 3-0 with 11 saves and a miniscule 0.52.
East Carolina: The Pirates struggled at the opening of the Conference USA season, dropping the first three series. Since then, they have won the last seven C-USA series, moving up to finish fourth in the league. Ricky Brooks has been one of the most effective starters for East Carolina, throwing the league's first complete-game no-hitter against Memphis. As a team, they rely on solid defense (.972) and strong hitting (.307).
Houston: The Cougars consistently play one of the toughest schedules in the country so their 26-27 record can be deceiving. They have played 28 games against teams ranked in the top 35 in the country and are 10-18 in those games. Their starting rotation boasts three two-way players as Matt Farrington, Kevin Roberts and Brad Lincoln each play in the field when not on the mound. They are a speedy team with 60 stolen bases and 14 triples.
USF: The only team the Frogs swept in Conference USA, the Bulls enter the tournament field for the first time since 2003. They enter the tournament fresh off of a sweep of the Cincinnati Bearcats to close out the regular season. The Bulls were the last team to punch their ticket to the tournament, but thanks to the sweep were able to jump up to the sixth seed. Jeff Baisley is the go-to guy as he leads the team and the league with 26 doubles. He has driven in 68 runs and stolen 13 bases.
Louisville: For the fourth consecutive season, the Cardinals and the Frogs will meet in post-season play. The Frogs eliminated the Cardinals from the tournament last season. The Cardinals needed two wins to avoid the eighth seed and picked up a series win over the UAB Blazers to close out the regular season. The Cardinals are hitting just .288 as a team, but have a team ERA of 4.64. Louisville has won four of five coming into the tournament.
UAB: The Blazers are the only team the Frogs have not faced this season. They sport the lowest batting average in the field at .278. They don't hurt themselves defensively as they have a .973 fielding percentage and have surrendered just 31 unearned runs all season. Ryan Huffman out of the bullpen has picked up six wins to go along with four saves. Clint Toomey is the leading hitter with a .337 average.
Broadway A Candidate For Four Major Awards
As the season has progressed, the nation has taken notice of the masterful season that Lance Broadway has been putting together. After being named the Pro-Line Cap National Player of the Week, Broadway was automatically added to the Roger Clemens Award watch list, an award that goes to the nation's top pitcher and was recently named one of 10 semifinalists. He was also named one of 16 semifinalists for the Xanthus-Dick Howser Trophy as well as being one of 13 semifinalists for the Brooks Wallace Award. He is on the watch list for th USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award.
Frogs Finished Tied For Second In C-USA
In just his second season at the helm of the TCU Baseball program, head coach Jim Schlossnagle guided his team to a 37-18 regular season record and a 20-10 record in conference. The 20-10 mark is tied for second in the league, four games back of first-placed Tulane. The Frogs tied with Southern Miss, but will get the two-seed for the Conference USA Tournament due to a 2-1 series win over the Golden Eagles to open the conference season in March.
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 records 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 .309 (162-525) with 106 runs scored and 103 runs driven in. Fifty-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 70 walks. In conference play, they have been equally as effective with a .301 (87-289) batting average. On the mound, they account for six wins, one save and 116 strikeouts.
Total Domination
Friday night against the No. 1 Tulane Green Wave was a night to remember for junior Lance Broadway. Broadway twirled the Frogs first complete-game shut out of the season. It was the first since March 26, 2004 when Clayton Jerome topped Houston 1-0. In the game, Broadway surrendered just four hits, while striking out 10 and walking just one. It was his fourth double-digit strikeout game in a row and his seventh of the season. In six of his outings this season, he hasn't allowed a run. He hasn't given up a run in the last 15 innings he's pitched. He was named C-USA Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week for his efforts.
And Then There Were Two
Since the NCAA began posting nationals statistics, Lance Broadway has been one of the five pitchers to lead the nation in wins. Over the past four weeks, the list has shrunk from five to two. With 13 wins this season, Broadway finds himself in some impressive company. Only one other pitcher in the nation have recorded 13 wins this season. Broadway is at the top with a 13-1 record, while Tennessee's Luke Hochevar sits at 13-2 this season.
Bullpen Horse
In his last five appearances on the Mound, Sam Demel has shown signs of dominance. He made two starts in that stretch and has come out of the bullpen in long relief situations. He threw three innings of relief against Cincinnati, holding the Bearcats to just three hits. His last two appearances have been six inning stints in which he has held the Frog opponents in check. He struck out nine Louisville Cardinals and six Tulane hitters to keep the games within reach. As a reliever, Demel has appeared in eight games and has a team-low 2.93 ERA. He has struck out 26, while walking only eight in 27.2 innings of work.
Conference USA Dominance
Over the past four seasons, the TCU Horned Frogs have been one of the top teams in Conference USA. In 2005, the Frogs lost only one C-USA series, that coming to the No. 1 team in the nation on their home field. Prior to that, the Frogs had won 10 straight C-USA series dating back to last season. In four years, they have won 31 of 40 series. With a series win over Southern Miss earlier this year, they have taken at least one series victory over every member of Conference USA. In home series, they own a 17-3 record, while they've posted a 14-6 record in series on the road. They have posted 12 series sweeps and have been swept just three times. In their last 20 series, the Frogs have lost only four.
Another Blanking
With another blanking on Friday against the Tulane Green Wave, the Frogs picked up their seventh shutout of the season. TCU shut out only two opponents all season in 2004, both of which were complete-game shutouts by former Frog Clayton Jerome. Lance Broadway picked up the Frogs first complete-game shutout on Friday night. Eleven different Frogs have combined to shutout an opponent. Broadway, Chad Underwood and Shawn Ferguson have three combined shutouts, while three others have two combined shutouts. The record for shutouts in a season is 10 set back in 1972. The last time a team had at least seven shutouts was back in the 1975 season when they shut out nine opponents.
A Huff and A Puff
Despite seeing his 11 game hitting streak come to end on Saturday, Chad Huffman had a strong weekend against the No. 1 team in the nation. He was 4-for-10 with four runs scored and two home runs. He set a new career high with his 10th home run of the season in game on Friday afternoon. Friday night in game two, he tied for the team lead with his 11th home run that gave the Frogs a 4-0 lead over Tulane. Since the start of conference play, Huffman has been the hottest hitter on the team, hitting at a .397 clip raising his average from .239 all the way up to .346.
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
In Friday's doubleheader against Tulane, Shelby Ford left the ballpark with four new bruises. In his first plate appearance of the series, Ford took a breaking ball off the earpiece of his batting helmet. In game two, Ford was plunked three more times, upping his season total to 15. In his career, Ford has been hit by the pitch 33 times. Ford is just one hit-by-pitch shy of tying the career record set by Levi Groomer who played at TCU from 1999-2000. He was hit 34 times in his brief two-year career.
