TCU
4-4
UT Arlington
4-7
Carpenter delivers in ninth; TCU tops UT-Arlington, 3-2
3/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 4, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas - Tied at two in the bottom of the ninth, the TCU Horned Frogs loaded the bases and Matt Carpenter delivered the game-winning hit to help the Frogs defeat UT-Arlington, 3-2 Tuesday night at Lupton Stadium. An outstanding performance on the mound by Sean Hoelscher helped the Frogs secure their fourth victory as he tossed seven scoreless innings in his first career start.After surrendering two runs in the top of the ninth, the Horned Frogs wasted no time reclaiming the momentum as they loaded the bases with just one out. Steve Ellington worked a full count walk to lead off the inning. Pinch runner Brett Medlin moved to second on a Clint Arnold sacrifice setting up the intentional walk to Ben Carruthers.
Matthew Otteman came on in relief of Marcus Limon (0-2) and walked Matt Vern to load the bases. Carpenter delivered the clutch single, driving the ball through a drawn-in infield and into right field to give the Frogs the 3-2 victory.
The Frogs ninth-inning heroics were necessary after the Mavericks had battled back to tie the game in the top of the ninth. Jeff Storms was hit by the pitch to lead off the inning and scored on a one-out double from Otteman. After a walk and a wild pitch put runners on the corners, Danny Slinkman tied the game with a single down the left field line. Andrew Cashner (2-0) was able to work out of the jam, striking out the final two batters in the inning to set up the bottom half.
Hoelscher had dominated up to that point in the game as he faced the minimum through 5 2/3 innings. He had allowed just two singles, but both runners were erased by Bryan Holaday when they attempted to steal a base. Two two-out singles in the sixth by the Mavericks went by the wayside as Hoelscher froze Otteman at the plate to end the inning. He finished the night with seven innings pitched, four hits, no walks and seven strikeouts.
The TCU offense managed to scratch across two runs, but left seven men stranded through the first five innings. In the second, Bryan Kervin drew a one out walk and moved to second on a Holaday two-out single. Steve Ellington continued his hot streak, singling through the right side to plate the first run of the game.
Another run in the fourth pushed the lead to 2-0. Aaron Schultz tallied his first career double to lead off the inning and came around to score on a Holaday triple to right field. Maverick relief pitcher Matt Dunn was able to get out of the runner on third with no outs jam to keep it a 2-0 contest.
Neither team mustered much offense the rest of the way until the ninth inning. Hoelscher gave way to Trent Appleby in the eighth inning who retired all three batters he faced on ground balls to Kervin at short. TCU had another bases loaded situation with one out in the sixth, but again came up empty.
The Frogs improve to 4-4 on the season. They will return to the diamond Wednesday night when they host Texas State at 6:30 p.m. Paul Gerrish is slated to make his second start of the season.
Game Notes:
• TCU has now won 70 straight contests when leading after eight innings.
• Ben Carruthers extended his hit streak to four games as did Bryan Holaday.
• The Frogs played just their second errorless game of the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cashner, Andrew (2-0)
L: Limon (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Otteman 1
RBI: Otteman 1 ; Slinkman 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Otteman 1 ; Storms 1
SB: Slinkman 1
CS: Raley 1 ; Storms 1
HBP: Storms 1
Batting:
2B: Schultz, Aaron 1
3B: Holaday, Bryan 1
RBI: Carpenter, Matt 1 ; Holaday, Bryan 1 ; Ellington, Steve 1
SH: Arnold, Clint 1 ; Woodruff, Hunt 1 ; Holaday, Bryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kervin, Bryan 1 ; Schultz, Aaron 1 ; Medlin, Brett 1
SB: Arnold, Clint 1 ; Vern, Matt 1
HBP: Arnold, Clint 2
