Frogs Open Homestand Friday; Hosts Santa Clara
4/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Saturday, April 18 • 4 p.m. (CT) | TV: FSSW | Radio: KTCU 88.7 FM | Listen |
Sunday, April 19 • 1 p.m. (CT) | Radio: KTCU 88.7 FM | Watch |
FORT WORTH - TCU will take a break from conference action this week as it welcomes Santa Clara to Lupton Stadium for a three-game series. Friday's contest kicks off a seven game homestand.
Pitching Rotation:
Friday: RHP Mitchell Traver vs. RHP Reece Karalus
Saturday: RHP Preston Morrison vs. RHP Eric Lex
Sunday: LHP Alex Young vs. LHP Evan Brisentine
TCU NOTABLES
• TCU has scuffled to start the month of April with a 6-3 record.
• The Horned Frogs bounced back from a series loss at Kansas State with a 7-1 victory at UTA on Tuesday.
• For the 15th time this season, the Horned Frog pitching staff limited an opponent to one run or less.
• Drew Gooch made his collegiate debut on Friday.
• Preston Morrison returned to form on Saturday with his second complete-game shutout of the season.
• TCU ranks fourth nationally with its 2.30 ERA, a mark that also leads the league.
• TCU has been successful in 10-of-its-last-13 stolen base attempts over the last four games and leads the league with 69.
• Cody Jones was 3-for-4 in stolen bases and now is tied for the league-lead with 15.
• Connor Wanhanen raised his batting average to .386 after hitting .467 over the last four games. The .386 average is tops in the Big 12 and top 40 in the nation.
• The Frogs continue to lead the league with a .980 fielding percentage, a mark that ranks fifth nationally.
SANTA CLARA NOTABLES
• Santa Clara is just 3-7 in its last 10 games but is coming off a thrilling 6-5 extra-inning walk-off victory over Stanford.
• Joe Becht hit the walk-off single in the 10th inning to give the Broncos the victory.
• The Broncos have been swept in each of their last two series (vs. San Francisco and at Pepperdine).
• Offensively, Jose Vizcaino, Jr. leads the squad with six home runs, 25 RBIs and seven stolen bases.
• As a team, the Broncos are hitting just .255 and are averaging 4.5 runs per game.
• The Broncos have swiped just 22 bases in 44 attempts this season.
• On the mound, the pitching staff has a combined ERA of 4.43 and opponents are hitting .267 against them.
• Friday's starter Reece Karalus had been the go-to guy in the bullpen with a team-leading 19 appearances. He has all nine of the Broncos saves this season.
• Defensively, the Broncos have committed 53 errors for a .960 fielding percentage.
• They have limited opponents to just 36 stolen bases in 60 attempts.
SERIES NOTABLES
• TCU and Santa Clara have never met on the baseball diamond.
• The 2015 schedule featured four opponents the Horned Frogs have never faced before: Southern Illinois, Vanderbilt, Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara.
• TCU is 5-0 against new teams this year having swept Southern Illinois and picked up wins over Vanderbilt and Loyola-Marymount.
HOME NOTABLES
• The Horned Frogs will play 30 home games in 2015.
• TCU holds an all-time mark of 294-102 at Lupton.
• TCU owns a 126-36 all-time record in conference games at Lupton Stadium.
• TCU has won 20 or more games at Lupton in 11 of 12 seasons.
• TCU ranks 12th nationally in attendance with an average of 3,695 fans per game.
HOME SWEET HOME
After playing nine of its last 10 games away from home, TCU opens up a seven-game homestand Friday night. The Horned Frogs have enjoyed the home cooking to the tune of a 17-2 record.
Offensively, the Frogs are hitting .301 at home and have outscored their opponents 130-45 in the 19 games. Connor Wanhanen has enjoyed his home digs to the tune of a .491 (26-for-53) average. Cody Jones is also hitting a robust .471 (32-for-68) at home.
On the mound, the staff has a miniscule 1.44 ERA and is limiting opponents to a .198 average.
Defensively, the Frogs are fielding .981 with just 14 errors.
LIMITING THE FREE PASSES
TCU ranks first nationally with its 4.66 K:BB ratio. TCU has a solid cushion over Cal State Fullerton with a ratio of 4.37. TCU has fanned 19 more batters (303-284) than Fullerton this season. They have walked an identical number of batters (65)
The pitching staff has issued just 65 walks in 316 1/3 innings pitched this season. The 65 walks are tied for the fewest along with Fullerton in the nation.
Tyler Alexander leads the nation in BB/9 and K:BB ratio. He has issued just three walk in 49 1/3 innings pitched this season. In 148 1/3 career innings pitched, Alexander has 102 strikeouts and just 14 walks.
A MORRISON SPECIALTY
Over the course of the last four seasons, Preston Morrison has shown an incredible knack for bouncing back after a bad start.
Saturday was no different. After getting touched for five runs (four earned) in 4 1/3 innings at Texas Tech last week, Morrison tossed his ninth career complete game and the sixth complete-game shutout of his career. Seven of the nine complete games have come in the last two seasons. Additionally, Morrison surpassed the 400 innings pitched mark.
SETTING THE TABLE
Cody Jones has been a staple at the top of the lineup the entire season. He has hit lead-off in all 35 games this season and in 151 of his 158 career games.
Jones is hitting .458 this season when leading off an inning. In the first inning, Jones has reached base safely in 17 of the 35 games this season.
Jones is hitting .353 this season, a mark that ranks fourth in the Big 12. He leads the league with 34 runs scored.
RUNNING WILD
TCU stole a season-high six bases in Saturday's win over Kansas State. The Frogs have collected 10 total stolen bases over the last four games to increase the league-leading total to 69 stolen bases.
Cody Jones racked up three to move into a tie for first place in the league. He is 15-of-17 on the year. Nolan Brown is the only other Frogs with double-digit steals at 10. Ten Horned Frogs have registered a stolen base this season.
