Baseball team falls to 3-3
TCU defense falters in loss to D-II Missouri Southern

By Brandon Ortiz
Skiff Staff

Head baseball coach Lance Brown sat quietly with his head down in the bullpen, visibly upset.

His Frogs had just lost 9-6 to Division II Missouri Southern Wednesday at the TCU Diamond. The loss evened the team’s record at 3-3.

Brown had reason to be angry as the Frogs had four errors and could muster only two runs after the first inning against a team that lost its first game to Arkansas, 25-6, and was supposed to be an easy win.

Sarah Kirschberg - Photo Editor Senior designated hitter Tom Bates takes a swing Wednesday in the Frogs’ 9-6 loss to Missouri Southern. TCU committed four errors and surrendered a 5-2 lead in falling to 3-3 on the season.

Brown said there were no bright spots in the loss.

“If you can’t beat a team like this, you probably aren’t going to win down the line,” he said.

Leading 5-2 through three innings, things fell apart for the Frogs in the fourth, when they allowed seven runs on six hits.

With one out in the fourth inning and runners at second and third, Lions third baseman Richard Petty singled to center and the ball went through senior Rudy Rivera’s legs. Both runners scored. Freshman pitcher Clint Mokry allowed a triple down the right-field line to the next batter, tying the game, 5-5.

Brown replaced Mokry with junior Patrick Newburn, who got shortstop Jonathan Wengert to line out to first. Right fielder Matt Meyr knocked in a run by singling to left and advanced to second when junior left fielder Jared Lundeen misplayed the ball. After Newburn allowed a double and a single to score two more runs, sophomore third baseman Mike Settle made an errant throw to first to allow another run to score.

Settle’s error was the third of the inning.

“(The errors) became contagious,” Settle said. “I think everybody had an off day today.”

The wind was blowing hard to left field for most of the day, but would sporadically change directions. Settle said the changing winds played tricks with the ball.

“It was actually real funky when you were throwing the ball,” Settle said. “You had to put a lot on it.”

The Frogs had a chance to tie the game in the eighth inning. With two runners on and no outs, sophomore second baseman Ramon Moses flew out to center and Rivera struck out. Right fielder Terry Trofholz walked, loading the bases for senior catcher Jason Price. But Price hit a soft grounder to Petty, who tagged third for the final out of the inning.

From the fifth inning on the Frogs offense was dormant, getting just two hits and scoring only one run.

Brown said changes will probably be made for this weekend’s Express College Classic in Round Rock.

“We are just experimenting,” Brown said. “We will move people around and see if there is something that works.”

The Frogs used five different pitchers in the game.

Only six games into the season, the Frogs are still in the stage of evaluating personnel.

“I think early on, you try and figure out who can play and who can’t,” Brown said. “You will find people who can’t get the job done, and you’ll give some other people a chance to see if they can. It they can’t get the job done, then you just have a bad ball team. (That) is what it amounts to.”

Brandon Ortiz
b.p.ortiz@student.tcu.edu