TCU
29-15, 13-5
San Diego State
25-19, 11-7
TCU earns series win with 13-6 victory
4/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 27, 2008
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Another strong offensive outing by the TCU Horned Frogs helped them secure their fourth straight conference series victory as they defeated San Diego State 13-6 Sunday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium. TCU tallied 18 hits, led by a four-hit game from Clint Arnold. Matt Carpenter hit his team-leading fifth home run and finished with three RBIs in the contest.The Aztecs struck first in the bottom of the first inning, scoring a run on two hits, but TCU stormed right back in the top of the second to take a lead it would never relinquish.
TCU scored four times on five hits to take a 4-1 lead. Steve Ellington worked a lead-off walk and moved to second on an errant pick-off throw. Bryan Holaday followed with a single and Carpenter tied the game with a base hit through the right side. After a Hunt Woodruff sacrifice, Matt Vern put the Frogs up 2-1 with a ground out that plated Holaday.
A controversial call that would have ended the inning went the way of the Frogs. Ben Carruthers hit a ground ball up the middle that the second baseman was able to track down. His off-balance throw pulled the first baseman, but he was called out. After a consultation with the home plate umpire, Carruthers was ruled safe to keep the inning alive. The Frogs made it hurt as Bryan Kervin lined a single through the left side to make it a 3-1 contest and Arnold followed with a double to right to drive in Carruthers for a 4-1 lead.
San Diego State cut into the deficit, picking up a run on two hits in the bottom of the second. Nick Castro doubled with one out and scored on a Bubba Ruddy base hit.
Both teams settled into a rhythm with neither team getting much going through the middle innings. The Aztecs looked to have something brewing in the fourth inning with two on and one out, but Holle got Ruddy to line into an inning-ending double play.
In the fifth, the Aztecs again stirred up some one-out trouble. The Frogs called on the bullpen and Trent Appleby came up big for the Frogs as he retired the final two batters of the inning to keep the score 4-2.
Holle went 4 2/3 innings in the no-decision. He allowed two runs on eight hits, walked one and struck out three. Appleby was great in relief for the Frogs as he tossed 2 2/3 innings. He allowed just one run on two hits to improve to 3-1 on the season.
TCU finally broke through again in the sixth, scoring two runs to restore its four-run advantage. Woodruff led off with a double and scored on a Vern double. After a fly ball moved Vern to third, he raced home on a wild pitch to make it 6-2. The Aztecs got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a run on two hits and after six it was 6-3.
A two-run shot in the seventh inning by Carpenter gave the Frogs some breathing room as they took an 8-3 lead.
In the eighth, the Frogs tacked on four more runs to break the game open. The highlight of the inning was a perfectly executed suicide squeeze from Steve Ellington that scored two runs. Singles from Woodruff and Vern accounted for the other run in the inning. San Diego State tried to make it an interesting game as they plated three runs with two outs and had the bases loaded. Andrew Cashner came on and fanned Troy Hanzawa to leave the bases full of Aztecs and keep the Frogs in control.
TCU pushed across a run in the top of the ninth and Cashner worked around two walks to end the game.
TCU improves to 29-15 on the season and regains lead of the conference standings with a 13-5 mark. The Frogs return home briefly for a Tuesday night match-up against Top-10 ranked Texas A&M. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Lupton Stadium.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Appleby, Trent (3-1)
L: KAUFMAN (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Kervin, Bryan 1 ; Arnold, Clint 1 ; Holaday, Bryan 1 ; Woodruff, Hunt 1 ; Vern, Matt 1
HR: Carpenter, Matt 1
RBI: Kervin, Bryan 1 ; Arnold, Clint 1 ; Ellington, Chris 1 ; Ellington, Steve 2 ; Carpenter, Matt 3 ; Woodruff, Hunt 1 ; Vern, Matt 3
SH: Ellington, Steve 1 ; Woodruff, Hunt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Carruthers, Ben 1 ; Kervin, Bryan 2 ; Arnold, Clint 1 ; Ellington, Steve 1 ; Holaday, Bryan 3 ; Carpenter, Matt 3 ; Woodruff, Hunt 1 ; Vern, Matt 1
SB: Arnold, Clint 1
Batting:
2B: GLOVER 1 ; CASTRO 1
RBI: COLWELL 1 ; DECKER 1 ; HANZAWA 1 ; RUDDY 3
Base Running:
RUNS: COLWELL 1 ; GREEN 1 ; GLOVER 2 ; CASTRO 1 ; RUDDY 1
CS: HANZAWA 1
HBP: JOHNSON,C 1
