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Horned
Frogs split weekend series with San Jose State After sweeping Hawaii-Hilo Feb. 18-19, the Horned Frog baseball team sat in first place in the Western Athletic Conference, but head coach Lance Brown said more would be learned about his team after a series with San Jose State. TCU (9-6, 4-1 WAC) split two games this weekend against San Jose State (7-5-1, 2-3 WAC), a team that competed in last season’s College World Series. The Frogs won the first game 5-3 Friday off the pitching of seniors Chris Bradshaw and Stan Newton. Bradshaw (3-1, 2.61 ERA) pitched seven and 2/3 innings Friday, allowing only three runs on five hits. Newton entered in the eighth inning with runners at second and third and the Frogs holding a one-run lead. He struck out Spartans’ shortstop Ryan Adams to end the inning and preserve the lead. Newton sailed through the ninth inning to earn the Frogs’ first save of the season. Junior shortstop Erick Macha went 3-for-4 and drove in a run. Sophomore third baseman Mike Settle hit what proved to be the game-winning home run in the eighth inning. The two-run homer gave the Frogs a 4-0 lead. Junior Justin Crowder, who went 2-for-4 with and drove in a run, said the weekend was a good test.
“I think we can hang with them,” Crowder said. “Our pitching has been keeping us in the game lately. We got great pitching, (and we) got bunts down. We executed well.” After Saturday’s game was rained out, the Frogs lost game three of the series on Sunday, 8-2, snapping a five-game winning streak. San Jose State exploded for five runs in the sixth inning to knock Crowder from the game. He allowed eight hits and five runs in five and a 1/3 innings. “They hit the ball well,” Crowder said. “We were leaving some pitches up. We couldn’t really get a rally (started) from there.” Brown said the Frogs handed San Jose State the win. “It was our poor play that gave them the win (Sunday),” Brown said. “It wasn’t like they came out and killed us.” The Frogs committed only one error in the two games this weekend. After a shaky start to the season, the defense has committed only three errors in the last six games. Through 15 games, the Frogs have a .970 fielding percentage. They had a .956 fielding percentage last season. Brown attributed the team’s problems earlier in the season to moves in personnel. “We were moving a lot of people around,” Brown said. “We were just trying to experiment with different lineups. A lot of errors came (from players playing different positions). We have settled down. That always happens early on.” Saturday’s game is tentatively scheduled to be made up as part of a doubleheader April 22. Senior Chad Durham is scheduled to start against Texas Tech at 3 p.m. today in Lubbock.
Brandon Ortiz |
