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Frogs
come back to defeat Hawaii
After getting the game-winning hit Sunday in the TCU baseball team’s 5-4 victory over Hawaii, senior left fielder Tom Bates said Monday’s game was “a must win.” “It’s huge,” Bates said. “There was no reason we should lose.” The Horned Frogs (25-17, 15-8 Western Athletic Conference) did win Monday, but it took a two-out rally in the ninth inning for TCU to comeback and beat Hawaii (18-22, 8-16 WAC), 6-5. Trailing 5-4 in the ninth inning, things did not start off well for the Frogs. Junior Rudy Ontiveros, pinch hitting for sophomore second baseman Ramon Moses, grounded out and senior center fielder Rudy Rivera flied out to center field. The Frogs were down to their final out, and it appeared as though they were going to blow what was a 4-1 lead. That’s when things changed. Sophomore right fielder Terry Trofholz walked and junior short stop Erick Macha followed that up with a double to left to score Trofholz, who was mobbed by teammates on his way to the dugout. “I was a little tired,” said Trofholz, who scored all the way from first. “Erick took a good swing, and I knew I was scoring if there was a hit.” Hawaii then opted to go the bullpen, inserting Aaron Pribble to face Bates. Bates said he had faced Pribble before and knew that his curveball does not break much. “I just got the right pitch at the right spot,” Bates said. “His curveball doesn’t really spin. It is more like a slider.” Bates singled, and Macha avoided the throw to the plate and slid under catcher Jacob Flick to score the game-winning run. It marked the second day in a row Bates had the game-winning single. Macha said he wasn’t sure he would beat the throw to the plate. “I had a wide turn at third,” Macha said. “But I was able to slide under.” Head coach Lance Brown said the win was a big relief. It would have been embarrassing to cough up the game, he said. “You can’t lose to someone you swept on the road and have them come in and win two out of three,” Brown said. Entering the top of the eighth inning, the Frogs appeared to have things in control with a 4-1 lead and senior pitcher David Tombrella on cruise control. Tombrella had retired 10 of the last 12 batters, giving up one single and hitting a batter during that span. But with two on and one out, first baseman Danny Kimura doubled down the left-field line to score a run. Junior pitcher Patrick Newburn the relieved Tombrella, who pitched 7 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on nine hits and struck out four. After getting a strike out, Newburn allowed a single to left fielder Kevin Gilbride to score Kimura. When the inning was over, the Rainbows had scored three runs on three hits to take the lead. “All game I thought we had it in the bag,” Brown said. “We were up 4-1, and we haven’t gave up too many. I thought we had it in the bag.” The Frogs comeback in the ninth was a valuable lesson, Brown said. TCU had not had a come-from-behind victory in the ninth all season. “We will have confidence after we have been there before,” Brown said. “I don’t care what people say can tell you about experience. (It’s hard to win from behind) until you have done it.” Trofholz, Macha and Bates combined to go 9-for-12 with five doubles, including three by Trofholz, who tied a program record for doubles in a game. Moses tied the school record for assists in a game with 10. Senior pitcher Chad Durham will start against Texas-Austin at 7:05 p.m. today at The Battle at the Ballpark at The Ballpark in Arlington. Outfielder Thompson out for season Just when things started looking up for redshirt freshman outfielder Kenny Thompson, things took a turn for the worse. Thompson had started three of the last four games before Monday’s game and was finally starting to get playing time after coming off the bench for most of the first half of the season. Monday he had a bad break. Literally. Thompson broke his arm in three places diving for a ground ball during practice. “That’s how it goes,” Thompson said. He’s expected to miss the rest of the season. Scouts on campus to watch the prospects
Pitching in front of a handful of professional scouts surely didn’t help. Five pro scouts were in attendance at Friday’s game to see Bradshaw pitch five innings and allow four runs on seven hits. He took the loss and dropped his record to 6-4. Despite Bradshaw’s subpar performance, Kansas City Royals scout Gerald Turner gave Bradshaw a good grade. “He has some arm strength,” said Turner, who has seen Bradshaw pitch five times since he was in high school. “He has an idea of how to pitch.” Turner said he was also impressed by sophomore first baseman Walter Olmstead. Jerome matches up against Texas Freshman reliever Clayton Jerome will be the first pitcher out of the bullpen today, and with good reason. Jerome has pitched eight scoreless innings against Texas this season, allowing five hits and striking out seven Longhorns. Jerome earned the first win and save of his career against Texas Feb.4 and March 6. Patience is a virtue, sometimes “I don’t think we are very patient,” Brown said after Sunday’s game. The Frogs did not walk during the game and were pressing for much of the game until the team scored four runs in the eighth inning. Brown said the team’s aggressiveness has irked the coaching staff at times this season, but they have stopped bothering players about it. “Now we don’t say anything,” Brown said. “I guess that is our style of hitting. At times being aggressive is successful. So we just live with it.” Brandon
Ortiz |
