TCU
38-16, 18-6
New Mexico
32-22, 16-7
Frogs claim regular season crown with wild victory
5/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 16, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas - The No. 24 TCU Horned Frogs battled back from an early deficit to hold on for a wild 14-11 victory over New Mexico, sweeping the doubleheader Friday afternoon at Isotopes Park. The victory, TCU's ninth in a row, gives it its third straight regular season Mountain West Conference title with an 18-5 mark in league play. The TCU offense did what it needed to, scoring 14 runs on 16 hits. Andrew Cashner was huge with three shutout innings and six strikeouts. Chris Ellington matched a career high with six RBIs in the game.TCU picked up where it left off in game one, picking up a run on three hits in the top of the first to grab the early lead. Steve Ellington singled with one out and moved to second on a Clint Arnold base hit to left. Chris Ellington put the Frogs up 1-0 with a base hit up the middle.
The New Mexico bats came to life in the bottom of the inning as it grabbed a 3-1 lead. An Ian Hollick two-run shot to left field put the Lobos in front for the first time on the day. A one-out double by Brian Cavazos-Galvez turned into the third run of the inning when he came around to score on a Raphael Neda double.
Not to be outdone, the Horned Frogs wasted no time regaining the lead as they put up a six spot in the top of the second. Matt Vern started the rally with a one-out triple. Brett Medlin drew a walk ahead of Bryan Kervin, who reached on a bunt single. An errant throw by the first baseman Kevin Atkinson, allowed Medlin to score all the way from first to tie the game. Ben Carruthers gave TCU the lead with a ground out to short that scored Kervin, who had made it to third on the previous play.
Steve Ellington kept the inning going with a base hit up the middle, his sixth straight hit on the afternoon. After Arnold was plunked, Chris Ellington unloaded, crushing his fifth home run of the season off the scoreboard in left center for a 7-3 TCU lead.
The lead was short lived as New Mexico answered with a six spot of its own to regain the two-run lead. After getting a line-drive double play off the bat of Mike Brownstein, seven straight Lobos reached. Cavazos-Galvez doubled in two runs to make it 7-5 and Atkinson tied the game with a two-run triple. A Neda single gave the Lobos the 8-7 lead and Cody Wilson made it 9-7 with a double to right center. Trent Appleby was finally able to get out of the inning, getting Scott Gracey to line out sharply to right field.
TCU began to creep back into the game as it pushed across a run in the fourth inning. Carruthers doubled with one out and scored on a two-out base hit from Arnold to pull the Frogs within one, 9-8.
Appleby, who was touched for three runs in the second, settled and threw up zeros for four innings, allowing the Frogs to climb back into the game. He retired 11-of-13 batters through the middle frames, holding the Lobos to a single hit, while fanning two.
A four-run seventh turned the game back in favor of the Frogs as they took a lead they would never relinquish. Arnold started things with a one-out single, ending Lobo starter Jacob Norton's afternoon. An errant pick-off throw from reliever Daniel Grubbs moved Arnold to second, where he scored on a Chris Ellington base hit to tie the game at nine. Following a Matt Carpenter base hit, Bryan Holaday gave the Frogs the lead with a two-run double, ending Grubbs' afternoon. Vern greeted Clinton Cox with a double to center that sent home Holaday for the 12-9 lead.
The Lobos answered right back, pushing across two runs in the bottom of the inning to close back within one. Gracey's two-out double drove in the two runs. Cashner got out of the jam as he froze Brownstein looking to end the inning and preserve the lead.
TCU got the runs back in the next inning as it regained its three-run cushion. Arnold hit a long sacrifice fly for his second RBI of the game and Chris Ellington followed with an RBI single up the middle to give TCU the 14-11 lead.
Cashner pitched out of jams in each of the eighth and ninth innings to nail down his eighth save of the year. In the ninth after the first two batters reached base, he struck out the final three batters, freezing Hollick on a 3-2 pitch to end the game.
Sean Hoelscher lasted just 1 2/3 innings in the start. He allowed six runs on six hits, walked one and struck out one. Appleby (6-1) earned the win with 4 1/3 innings of work. He was tagged for five runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out two.
The Frogs improve to 38-16 overall and 18-5 in league play. They will go for the sweep Saturday afternoon as they look to close out the regular season on a 10-game winning streak. Game time is slated for a 1 p.m. (CST) start. TCU will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MWC tournament at Lupton next week.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Appleby, Trent (6-1)
L: GRUBBS, D (2-2)
S: Cashner, Andrew (8)
Batting:
2B: Carruthers, Ben 1 ; Holaday, Bryan 1 ; Vern, Matt 1
3B: Vern, Matt 1
HR: Ellington, Chris 1
RBI: Carruthers, Ben 1 ; Arnold, Clint 2 ; Ellington, Chris 6 ; Holaday, Bryan 2 ; Vern, Matt 1
SF: Arnold, Clint 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Carruthers, Ben 2 ; Ellington, Steve 3 ; Arnold, Clint 2 ; Ellington, Chris 2 ; Carpenter, Matt 1 ; Holaday, Bryan 1 ; Vern, Matt 1 ; Medlin, Brett 1 ; Kervin, Bryan 1
CS: Arnold, Clint 1
HBP: Ellington, Steve 1 ; Arnold, Clint 1
Batting:
2B: HIBBITTS, M 1 ; CAVAZOS-GALV 1 ; ATKINSON, K 1 ; NEDA, R 1 ; WILSON, C 1 ; GRACEY, S 1
3B: ATKINSON, K 1
HR: HOLLICK, I 1
RBI: HOLLICK, I 2 ; CAVAZOS-GALV 2 ; ATKINSON, K 2 ; NEDA, R 2 ; WILSON, C 1 ; GRACEY, S 2
Base Running:
RUNS: BROWNSTEIN 1 ; HOLLICK, I 2 ; HIBBITTS, M 1 ; CAVAZOS-GALV 2 ; ATKINSON, K 2 ; NEDA, R 2 ; GRACEY, S 1
HBP: GRACEY, S 1
