Late inning outburst leads TCU to victory

Saturday, May 31

Stillwater, Okla.

1:00 PM

TCU

44-18

Western Kentucky

33-27

Western Kentucky

TCU

Bryan Holaday delivered the game-winning hit in the seventh.

Late inning outburst leads TCU to victory

5/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 31, 2008

Final Stats

STILLWATER, Okla. - With the game knotted at five, Bryan Holaday delivered a two-run bases loaded double and the No. 18 TCU Horned Frogs staved off elimination in a 10-5 victory over Western Kentucky Saturday afternoon. Trent Appleby was outstanding in relief, helping the Frogs recover from an early 4-0 deficit. Matt Vern gave TCU a lead it would never relinquish with a third-inning home run.

"Our team, we have this relaxed intensity in the dugout," said catcher Bryan Holaday. "We don't press. We don't try to do too much and when it's late in the game if we're down or if we're tied, we have enough confidence in our team, in our bats and in our pitching that we'll be able to get the job done either way."

The game got off to a gruesome start for the Horned Frogs as starter Sean Hoelscher struggled to find the strike zone. The first three batters of the game reached via the walk in front of Chad Cregar. He put the Hilltoppers on top with one swing of the bat as he smoked his 21st home run of the season over the right field fence for a grand slam, ending Hoelscher's afternoon.

Appleby came on in relief and retired the first eight batters he faced as the Horned Frog offense battled all the way back to take the lead.

In the bottom of the first inning, TCU cut the deficit in half, scoring two runs on two hits. Ben Carruthers was hit by the pitch leading off the inning. With one out, Clint Arnold executed a perfect hit-and-run, lacing a double to left field and Carruthers raced all the way around the bases to score the first run of the game for TCU. Arnold moved to third on a deep fly ball off the bat of Matt Carpenter and scored on a Chris Ellington base hit up the middle.

The Frogs looked like they were going to climb all the way back in the bottom of the second inning as they had two on with only one out. Carruthers drove the ball to deep left field where Jeremy Coleman made a leaping catch, robbing Carruthers of his second home run of the season to keep it a 4-2 game.

In the third, the Frogs completed the comeback with three runs on three hits. Chris Ellington started the rally with a one-out single. He moved to second when Bryan Holaday was hit by the pitch. Vern turned the deficit into a lead, smashing the ball over the left centerfield fence for his sixth home run of the season and a 5-4 TCU lead.

"We definitely adjusted a little bit better today," remarked Vern. "Musgrave did a good job of mixing and matching yesterday and kept us from hitting balls in the air. Those weren't our kind of swings and the swings that we take when we are doing really well and today we were able to make that adjustment throughout the game and got better pitches to hit and capitalized on it."

From there, the game settled into a pitcher's duel between Appleby and Hilltopper reliever, Colby Beach. Appleby pitched around two two-out doubles in the third and the fifth, while Beach worked around a one-out double in the fifth.

The stalemate was broken in the top of the seventh inning when Matt Hightower launched a towering fly ball off the scoreboard in right field to tie the game at five. Appleby retired the next batter before giving way to Andrew Cashner (9-3), who struck out Cregar to end the inning.

TCU wasted no time regaining the lead as its bats came alive. Steve Ellington reached on an infield single to open the inning and Arnold was safe on a misplay by the pitcher. Trying to bunt the runner over, Arnold dropped the bunt down the first base line where Beach picked it up just before it crossed into foul territory and all hands were safe.

"It really comes down to having trust in everybody on the team," said Vern. "It takes the pressure off knowing that you have trust in the next guy to possibly get the game-winning hit. We have trust in everybody we put out there and that makes it a lot easier to play and it keeps us relaxed in the late innings."

Western Kentucky picked up a big out on a failed sacrifice bunt, but from there it was all Horned Frogs. Chris Ellington dumped a single over the outstretched glove of the second baseman to load the bases and Holaday delivered with a two-run double to right field for the 7-5 lead. A balk by Bryce Jenney made it an 8-5 contest. Vern worked a five-pitch walk and promptly stole second to stay out of the double play. Bryan Kervin hit a two-run single to left field to double up the Hilltoppers, 10-5.

Derek VerHagen came on and pitched the final two innings to help the Frogs advance. He allowed two hits, walked one and struck out two in his second appearance of the tournament. Cashner earned the win, retiring the only batter he faced. Interestingly enough, the junior played left field the last two innings and caught the final out of the game in left center field.

Appleby was masterful in relief as he tossed 6 2/3 innings. He allowed just the one run on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks. The freshman has allowed just one run in his last 13 2/3 innings pitched.

"I like where we are," said Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle. "We still have Seth Garrison, more than likely he will pitch. Greg Holle, he started 14 games this year. Hoelscher, he had a rough start in the conference tournament last week then I brought him back two days later. If we're still here Monday, then we'll figure it out, but Hoelscher could still come back and pitch and Cashner threw four pitches and got a win. The depth of our pitching has been a strong point for us this year. We're going to have to continue to do well."

The Frogs improve to 44-18 with the win. They stay alive in the Stillwater Regional and will face the loser of the Oklahoma State/Wichita State contest which takes place later tonight.