Frogs Right The Ship, Take Series With 6-1 Win

Sunday, March 13

Lupton Stadium

1:00 PM

TCU

10-5

Houston Baptist

1-15

Houston Baptist

TCU

Steven Maxwell tallied his first win of the season.

Frogs Right The Ship, Take Series With 6-1 Win

3/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 13, 2011

Final Stats

FORT WORTH, Texas - The TCU Horned Frogs put together a complete game to earn the series win with a 6-1 victory over Houston Baptist Sunday afternoon at Lupton Stadium. Steven Maxwell tossed seven innings for the win and Jerome Pena drove in two to lead the offense.

After giving up five hits in the first three innings, Maxwell (1-0) settled into a groove to pick up his first win of the season. He surrendered one run on five hits, walked one and struck out seven in seven innings of work. Tony Rizzotti gave up a hit, two walks and struck out one in one-plus innings of work. Erik Miller shut the door in the ninth, retiring the lone batter he faced for his fourth save of the season.

For the first time this weekend, the Frogs jumped out to an early lead. Brance Rivera led off the first with a walk and stole second. A miscue by the second baseman allowed Rivera to score, giving the Frogs a 1-0 lead.

Houston Baptist battled back to tie the game in the top of the second, picking up a run on two hits. Kolby Arnst led off the inning with a base hit. Two wild pitches had Arnst standing on third and he scored on a base hit off the bat of Garrett Tully.

TCU would get the run right back in the bottom of the inning. Zac Jordan singled with one out and moved to second when Joe Weik was hit by the pitch. A balk moved both runners up 90 feet and Davy Wright put the Frogs on top with a sacrifice fly to make it a 2-1 contest.

In the third inning, the Huskies looked poise to get back in the game as the first two batters reached on base hits. Jantzen Witte snared a line drive and turned it into a double play and Josh Elander ended the inning, gunning out Collin Hetzler trying to steal second to end the inning.

TCU would cling to the one-run lead until it broke through with a furious two-out rally in the fifth. Taylor Featherston started the push with a base hit through the left side. An error kept the inning alive and Pena made it hurt as he line a double down the left field line to drive in a pair of runs and give the Frogs a 4-1 lead. Elander followed with another double to push the lead to 5-1.

Following the third inning, Maxwell sat down 12 of the next 13 batters he faced to get the game into the eighth inning before giving way to the bullpen.

TCU added an insurance run in the eighth inning with another two out rally. Davy Wright dumped a single into centerfield with two outs. Pinch runner Kyle Von Tungeln went first-to-third on a base hit by Rivera then raced home on a wild pitch to make it a 6-1 ballgame.

After pitching a scoreless eighth inning, Rizzotti ran into trouble in the ninth as the Huskies loaded the bases with nobody out. Elander erased the runner at third with a back-pick and Miller induced a game-ending double play ball off the bat of Arnst to preserve the victory.

The Frogs improve to 10-5 on the season. TCU hits the road for four straight beginning Tuesday night in Arlington. The Frogs will wrap up their season series with UT Arlington at Clay Gould Ballpark. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.

Postgame Quotes:
TCU Head Coach JimSchlossnagle
On the team's demeanor after this weekend:
"The loss was debilitating for me. Our guys worked hard and I don't want to say anything bad about us and make the performance by Houston Baptist less important. It isn't about the best team; it is about the team that plays the best. They played better than us on Saturday and we have to be more consistent going forward."

On trying to perfect the team's mentality:
"I tell the guys all the time, this isn't the 2009 team or the 2010 team. We are the 2011 team. I say that because it is our responsibility to write our own story. We don't need to talk about Bryan Holaday or Matt Curry, and I don't think there is, but I think our guys are trying to find themselves. We are going through some issues pitching wise where we can't seem to get things in order in terms of our rotation and we don't know when that will change but hopefully we can get there soon. These guys care a lot, and they take a lot of pride into trying to win a game. When we lose it shouldn't be as devastating as it is, but it is for where our program is right now.

TCU Pitcher Steven Maxwell
On his performance today:
"I have been confident all season long. I have recently been working out some kinks here and there with my off-speed pitches, but my focus is on being as competitive as possible and to keep us in the game. I don't want to do too much and press, just do what I do to keep us close."

TCU Second Baseman Jerome Pena
On the mood of the team:
"Everyone is excited about this win but we can't forget about the loss on Saturday. It will be on our minds for awhile to help us keep a cornered dog mentality; we are back at the bottom now and we have to build our way back up. That is the way I like to play baseball, with something to prove."

Game Notes:
• Tony Rizzotti made his collegiate debut in the eighth inning.
• Brance Rivera extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a base hit in the eighth inning. He finished the afternoon 1-for-4.
• Jerome Pena's double in the fifth gave him a 14-game hitting streak. He went 1-for-4 on the day with two RBIs.
• The seven strikeouts for Steven Maxwell were a season-high for the senior.
• Zac Jordan was the lone Frog to tally multiple hits in the game, going 2-for-4 at the plate.
• Davy Wright's base hit in the eighth was his first hit of the season. He also collected his first RBI of the season.
• Erik Miller faced just one batter to collect the save. He is 4-for-4 in save opportunities this season.