|
Oklahoma
falls; Frogs win fourth straight Senior David Tombrella allowed only one run in eight innings as the Frogs defeated Oklahoma, 6-1, Tuesday at the TCU Diamond. TCU, which is 19-45 against the Sooners, had not defeated Oklahoma since a, 21-9, victory April 27, 1996. After struggling at the Round Rock Express College Classic and at the Astros College Baseball Classic at Enron Field earlier in the season, the Frogs have won four consecutive games at home. The metamorphosis of the baseball team is related to more than just head coach Lance Brown’s jersey number change, he said. Brown, who said he will wear any number that fits, changed his jersey number to 43 before the season. But he said the Frogs’ current success is based on defense and pitching, not superstition.
“It was a different year, so I got a different number,” he said. “After the Round Rock and Enron tournaments, we sat down and discussed focusing on playing good baseball and then wins will come.” The wins have come in part due to TCU’s pitching. The Frogs have given up only four runs in their last four games, and Tombrella’s performance Tuesday kept the string of good pitching alive. He allowed six hits and struck out two batters. Tombrella retired 10 batters in a row during a stretch between the third and seventh innings. “We’ve had four pretty good pitching outings by four pitchers,” Brown said. “We decided to just get four pitchers and go with them. They know when they throw, and they are prepared to start.” Sophomore first baseman Walter Olmstead said that along with the pitching emergence, the Frogs’ defense and offense has been ignited over the four-game winning streak. “We’re playing great team baseball right now,” he said. “The pitchers have been throwing really well, and everybody is contributing. We don’t have one game-breaking player, so we’ve all got to contribute.”
The TCU defense didn’t make an error Tuesday, and the offense recorded 11 hits. All but three players in the Frogs’ starting lineup scored a run against Oklahoma. Four TCU players had multiple hits against the Sooners, including Olmstead, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. “I’m just trying to see the ball and hit the ball,” Olmstead said. “The ball is looking real fat right now. Confidence is really a key for me.” Olmstead drove home the first run of the game when his triple brought in junior designated hitter Justin Crowder for the score. The Frogs scored three runs in the first two innings. Brown said getting off to a fast start is something TCU has focused on. “A lot of times a team will relax in the first three innings, and before you know it, you’re losing,” he said. “We want to play as hard in the first inning as we do in the ninth. Most of the time, the team that scores first wins.” TCU scored four runs before Oklahoma scored against Tombrella. With the Frogs leading, 4-1, in the bottom of the eighth inning, a home run by senior catcher Jason Price and an RBI single by senior center fielder Rudy Rivera gave TCU a 6-1 lead. But Brown wasn’t completely satisfied with the Frogs’ offense. “We weren’t very disciplined at the plate today, but it will come,” he said. “We had a lot of key, two-out hits, but we didn’t do a good job of bunting in some situations.” Still, Brown said defense and pitching are what will win games this season. “Our defense was really bad last year, and our pitching was bad,” he said. “We put the focus on throwing strikes and playing good defense. Then we hope we can score enough runs to win.” Six runs was enough Tuesday as freshman Clayton Jerome came into the game to replace Tombrella in the ninth inning. Jerome didn’t allow a hit or a run, and he struck out the Sooners’ Matt Fisher to close the game. |
