By Rusty Simmons staff reporter Some horrors from Spring Break in Cancun or South Padre Island include alcohol poisoning, arrests or sun burns. But the TCU baseball team came back from a Spring Break in Hawaii with horror stories of poor pitching, a lack of timely hitting and multiple errors as the Frogs lost five of six Western Athletic Conference games over the break. "Nothing went our way," junior catcher Jason Price said. "Every game we didn't do something, whether it was defense, pitching or hitting." Hawaii scored 23 runs in a three-game series against Frog pitching as the Rainbows swept TCU in Honolulu, Hawaii, March 10 to 13. In the series opener, Hawaii's Jamie Aloy allowed two runs while striking out six batters in a complete-game performance. Aloy (3-1) kept the Frogs off the bases for the majority of the game, but his foe, senior pitcher Shawn Thompson suffered a different fate in the 6-2 loss. Thompson allowed six runs on seven hits and four walks. Four of the six runs came in the second inning, highlighted by the Rainbows' Rory Pico's three-run double. TCU's only runs came in the top of the sixth inning on one of freshman second baseman Ramon Moses' three hits on the day. But Hawaii answered back and put the game out of reach for the Frogs in the bottom of the sixth inning, adding two runs to a 4-2 lead. Freshman outfielder Greg Bratton said having to play from behind hurt the Frogs in Hawaii. "If you get a lead, it means people are hitting and it becomes contagious," he said. "Also it takes a lot of pressure off of the pitchers." Hawaii got another complete game on the mound in game two of the series as the Rainbows' Randon Ho allowed only one earned run in the 3-2 win over the Frogs. Junior pitcher Chris Bradshaw kept TCU in the game, matching Ho for the first five innings, but Hawaii took advantage of the Frog bullpen when Bradshaw left the game after the seventh. Junior pitcher David Tombrella allowed a run in his only inning of work, but the Rainbows' 3-1 lead was too much for the Frogs to overcome. Freshman Rudy Rivera, pinch running for junior right fielder Tom Bates, scored on an errant throw in the ninth inning, but TCU could not score either of the other two runners that reached base in the inning. Price said some of the difference in the two wins against San Jose State in the Frogs' opening WAC series was timely hitting. "We had double-digit RBIs with two outs against San Jose," he said. "In Hawaii, we just didn't get the job done." The series finale did not follow suit with the other pitching duels between Hawaii and TCU. The Rainbows pounded out a season-high 20 hits en route to a 14-6 victory. Junior pitcher Chris Frazier lost his fourth consecutive start, giving up five runs in four and 2/3 innings. Hawaii added two runs against pitcher Stan Newton and five runs against junior pitcher Chad Durham. But Price said the pitchers are not the only ones to blame. "The whole team has to be there for the team to win," he said. "Just like our offense hasn't been solid all year, our pitchers have struggled a little." TCU opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the second inning and added four runs in the sixth inning. But the Frogs could not match Hawaii's offense in the end as the Rainbows scored seven runs in their final three plate appearances. The Frogs started the three-game series with Hawaii-Hilo Thursday through Saturday with a win, but TCU pitchers allowed 13 runs in the final two games to finish the series 1-2. Thompson threw seven shutout innings in the first game of the series, leading the Frogs to a 6-3 win. He ended TCU's five-game losing streak while improving his record to 3-2. Price said Thompson's win was an example of the Frogs' misfortune in Hawaii. "Nothing was different (in Thompson's loss to Hawaii) than in his win over Hawaii-Hilo," he said. "He pitched a great game both times, but it just didn't go his way in the Hawaii game." Junior second baseman Mickey Scala and senior left fielder Mark Hamilton each hit multiple-run home runs in the first two innings to give the Frogs a 5-0 lead. TCU added an insurance run in the fifth on two sacrifice bunts. "The power we showed in this game really put us up," Bratton said. "We needed timely hitting the whole time we were in Hawaii, but I would like to see more hits in the hit column in general." Game two of the series went10 innings and ended 3-2 on a RBI double by Hawaii-Hilo's Dana McCracken. Bradshaw and Newton held Hawaii-Hilo to two runs over nine innings, but after TCU threatened to break the 2-2 tie in the ninth inning, Hawaii-Hilo took advantage. Resembling the series finale against Hawaii, TCU pitchers gave up a season-high 16 hits to Hawaii-Hilo in a 10-6 loss. Hawaii-Hilo gained a 2-0 lead in the first inning on five hits and added four runs in the fourth inning. Down 9-2, the Frogs tried to claw back into the game, scoring four runs in the seventh inning. In the eighth inning, junior center fielder Marshall Wilson and senior catcher Brad Rogers reached base which brought the tying run to the plate. But Hawaii-Hilo's closer Jason Lippert got three straight outs to shut the door. TCU will have this week off of WAC play facing Texas Tech twice and both Texas Wesleyan and Tarleton State in a single game. Price said this will be a defining moment in the Frogs' season. "We've got to get refocused and get our goals set again," he said. "This team has talent. We are just missing one thing to help us gel, and we cannot figure out what it is."
Rusty Simmons
By Chris Gibson staff reporter The TCU men's track and field team finished higher than any other Horned Frog team in history at the NCAA Nationals in Fayetteville, Ark., March 10 and 11. Using top-three finishes in the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash and a national championship in the 4x400-meter relay, the Frogs were able to score 34 points, good enough for fourth place at the national event. Favored Arkansas was first, followed by Stanford, Southern Methodist, TCU and Florida. "We all felt really good going into the meet," senior Johnny L. Collins II said. "We knew that we didn't have a big group (that qualified), but we felt confident that those we did have could get the job done." TCU started the meet with junior Kim Collins setting a school record in the 200 meters. He finished third (20.52), surpassing his own record set last month at the same facility. Junior Darvis Patton earned a seventh-place finish (20.89) in the event, giving the Frogs eight points. Team members said the highlight of the day came from the 4x400 meter relay team. The team, consisting of juniors Roy Williams, Anthony Amantine, Kendrick Campbell and Collins, was able to edge Oklahoma by three-tenths of a second to win the national title. The title was the first indoor title for TCU and the eighth overall relay title. "It was a terrific meet for everybody," Williams said. "Everybody came out and did what they needed to do for us to have a chance. I can' t explain the way that I feel about bringing a national title home to TCU. It is really an honor to go down in the record books." Collins and senior Lindel Frater were also able to qualify for the finals in the 60-meter dash. TCU was the only school with two runners in the finals for both the 200-meter and 60-meter dashes. Collins' qualifying heat time (6.53) is the fastest time run by a collegian this season. Collins also qualified for the finals in the 400-meter dash, and Patton placed 13th in the long jump. The Frogs entered the first day of competition with the title in reach. Collins and Frater again produced in the 60-meter dash, contributing second- and third-place finishes respectively. Collins garnered two points in the 400-meter dash final by placing seventh. "I really didn't run a smart race, so I'm happy with (where I finished)," Collins said. "Considering I hadn't even qualified a few weeks ago, it was really an accomplishment for me to finish seventh in the nation. That's not that bad." The NCAA Nationals finished off the most successful indoor season in history for the men's program. The Indoor Western Athletic Conference champions will continue their season Saturday, moving outdoors at the Louisiana State Five-way Collegiate Series in Baton Rouge, La. "You would think we would slack off a little, but success just makes us want to work harder and do even better," Williams said.
Chris Gibson
By Adam Vilfordi Skiff staff With a Heisman Trophy hopeful in junior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson, most defensive coordinators will be planning to stop TCU's running game, coaches said. While defenses plan to stop Tomlinson, the Horned Frogs are planning to do something that most teams will not expect. The Frogs are going to throw the football. Nationally, most of the attention the Frogs get will be on Tomlinson. This allows other players to step up on the TCU offense. Two players expected to share the spotlight with Tomlinson are freshman quarterback Casey Printers and freshman wide receiver LaTarence Dunbar. Printers is quite unassuming at 6-2, 200 lbs. However, while defenses concentrate on stopping the run, Printers will try to beat the opposition with his arm. "We are a multiple-formation team, and we will be throwing the ball short and long," Printers said. "We are going to take what the defense gives us, but we are also going to take our shots down the field." Printers said he realized that the passing game was an important ingredient to winning games next year. He said that while the team would still run the ball, defenses would have to play against both the run and the pass.
"This is my year to step up, and this year is my best opportunity to become a more versatile part of the offense," Dunbar said. "When defenses try to stop LT, Casey (Printers) and I are going to have our rhythm and timing down, and with one-on-one coverage, I'll have a lot of catches and touchdowns." With Dunbar standing 5 feet 11 inches and 190 lbs., most defenses might overlook the speedy receiver. But what Dunbar doesn't have in size, he makes up for in quickness and speed. He realizes that in Koenning's new passing attack catching passes on short routes will allow him to exploit defenses with his agility. "We will be able to run some short complex patterns, where if the defense misses a tackle, you could go 50 or 60 yards," Dunbar said. "Also, defenses who look at films of us from last year will not be ready for what they see this year, and we will be able to keep some teams guessing." Both Dunbar and Printers said they are excited about the prospects of a more West Coast passing attack, that is based on rhythm and timing. Dunbar said that there must be other younger players who will step up and make an impact on offense. With head coach Dennis Franchione's offseason addition of Koenning, the Frogs will place an extra emphasis on throwing the football. Koenning said that he thinks that with Tomlinson in the backfield it will be beneficial to the passing game. "With LT in the backfield it will allow for some one-on-one coverage and, in turn, it will create some big-play opportunities down the field," Koenning said. Koenning said that in his short time at TCU, he has been impressed with the ability of the players to pick up the new passing system and that he is especially impressed with the speed of the players at TCU. "The biggest difference between being at the University of Houston and here is the speed of the athletes that are here," Koenning said. While the TCU players have speed and ability Koenning said there must be consistency for the offense to be effective. "In order for the offense to avoid becoming one-dimensional (running the ball), we must establish two things," Koenning said. "First, we must be consistent in the passing game, and second, we must have a high completion percentage." Koenning said that there must be some "big time players" who step up to make "big time plays." While the attention will be on Tomlinson and his pursuit of the Heisman, players like Dunbar and Printers will have the opportunity to sneak up on defenses and make some big plays.
Adam Vilfordi |
With Printers dropping back to pass the ball, the Frogs'
wide receivers will be challenged to get open and make plays with the ball,
passing coordinator Les Koenning Jr. said. Dunbar said he sees an opportunity
to become a complement to Tomlinson.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |