Winning streak halted by gray skies
Four canceled games leave baseball team hoping for sunshine

Brandon Ortiz
Skiff Staff

With the threat of more rain in the forecast, and the possibility it could cool the Horned Frog baseball team’s current hot streak, don’t be surprised to see players and coaches chanting, “Rain, rain, go away. Pray to God the wins will stay.”

Rainy weather has rained out four games in the last three weeks — including games for Tuesday and Wednesday — and has limited the Frogs’ practice time.

Photo by Tim Cox - Skiff Staff Rainy weather has prevented the baseball team from having fielding practice at the TCU Diamond all week. The Horned Frogs last two games have been rained out. Forecasters predict more rain this weekend, raising the possibility that the Frogs’ series against Texas-Pan American could be rained out as well.

The string of bad weather began Feb. 13, when the Frogs’ game against Sam Houston State was rained out in Huntsville. The weather was bad for most of the week and caused the Frogs’ Feb. 17 game against Hawaii-Hilo to be postponed until the next day. Despite worries by some players that the team would be a bit rusty, the Frogs swept the series.

Bad weather followed the team to California , where Saturday’s game against San Jose State was rained out.

Sophomore first baseman Walter Olmstead said the Frogs can’t escape the bad weather.

“We can’t buy a break,” Olmstead said.

The bad weather has come at a time when the Frogs have played their best baseball of the season. The Frogs had a five-game winning streak until it was snapped against San Jose State Sunday.

“It kind of affected us a little bit,” Olmstead said.

He said the team was not mentally prepared after Saturday’s rainout, losing, 8-2, Sunday.

“We came out Friday and everybody was ready to play,” Olmstead said. “Saturday we didn’t know we were going to play. I think it (hurt) our focus as a team. We were not ready to play. Pitchers were leaving pitches up.”

Head coach Lance Brown said he is not sure if the wet weather will put a damper on the Frogs’ current momentum.

“Every time you have this time off, it’s like starting over again.” Brown said. “You don’t have a clue. I don’t think you have any earthly idea how you can play.”

Because of the rainy weather, the Frogs have been practicing underneath the stands of Amon Carter Stadium, where there are batting cages and pitching mounds set up.

The team also goes to Sluggers, an indoor practice facility. At Sluggers, the team can work on batting and pitching.

Brown said even though practicing under the stands at Amon Carter and at Sluggers is better than nothing, the team isn’t able to work on fielding.

“We haven’t been able to do anything,” Brown said. “The things that we need to work on, we can’t work on.”

Despite the lack of practice time, the Frogs have only committed three errors in the past six games.

Senior pitcher Chris Bradshaw said it was ironic that the defense has played so well despite such little practice.

“Maybe we should have some more bad weather.” Bradshaw said laughing.

Bradshaw said that even though he hasn’t been affected by the off days yet, it can still get a player out of his routine.

“It throws you off track a lot,” Bradshaw said. “It (affects us a) little bit because you can’t stay in a groove.”

In addition to causing problems with practice, the rain has also given Brown less opportunities to evaluate personnel, before the Frogs are fully immersed in Western Athletic Conference play. It also makes it harder for players to break into the starting lineup, Brown said.

“Whatever experiments we might want, we don’t have time to do them,” Brown said. “The pitchers are probably the ones who are hurt the most.”

The rainouts also mean the team will have to play more games later in the season, when players could be tired or battling more minor injuries. Some games, like the one against Sam Houston, probably won’t be made up, Brown said. Others, like Saturday’s against San Jose State, have to be made up.

Bradshaw said that even though other teams will be in the same position as the Frogs, the team still doesn’t want to have to deal with the extra late-season workload.

“You don’t want to have all those games in the same week,” Bradshaw said.

But Brown said the rainouts may not be that bad. It could keep the team fresh early in the season, thus preventing burnout later on, he said.

“I think you get tired early (rather than late),” Brown said. “I think if you have a bad schedule, you travel early (in the season) a lot and you get worn out, then you never catch up.”

Olmstead said it could also help the team recover from Sunday’s loss.

“After a day like Sunday, it can help us regroup,” Olmstead said. “Everyone can focus, get our pitchers refreshed, get our legs fresh.”

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