Feb. 2, 2003

Box Score

FORT WORTH, Texas - With a crowd of 3,105, the largest to ever see a baseball game on the TCU campus, on hand for the debut of Lupton Stadium and Williams-Reilly Field, the Horned Frogs were unable to overcome a late Texas-Arlington home run in falling to the Mavericks 5-3 Sunday afternoon.

TCU third baseman Mike Settle (Fort Worth, Texas/Country Day) capped the Frogs' comeback from a 2-0 deficit with a solo home run in the seventh inning, tying the game at two. The homer was the first to leave Lupton Stadium.

However, UTA center fielder Robby Deevers launched the second long ball in the ballpark's history an inning later, a three-run shot that put the Mavericks ahead to stay at 5-2.

The Frogs were able to muster another run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI groundout by left fielder Chris Meeks (Brownwood, Texas/Brownwood), but went down one-two-three in the ninth to end the game.

Shortstop Shaff Elkouri (Norman, Okla./Asher) went 2-for-4 and preseason all-American Terry Trofholz (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) added a hit and an RBI to help lead the Frogs' offensive efforts.

Despite giving up the game-tying homer to Settle, UTA reliever Mike Snapp picked up the victory while teammate B.J. Brandenberger tossed a perfect inning-and-two-thirds to earn the save. TCU freshman Zach Duncan (Marshall, Texas/Marshall) was saddled with the loss in his collegiate debut.

"It was a great day and the support of the crowd was beyond our wildest expectations," TCU head coach Lance Brown said. "I am disappointed that we didn't play well enough to send the fans home with a win."

The crowd of 3,105 was more than half as many fans as attended TCU's 23 home dates combined in 2002 (5,720).

The Horned Frogs will look to get on the winning track when they host Texas-San Antonio next weekend at Lupton Stadium. Game times are 3:30 on Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

LUPTON STADIUM FIRSTS
Pitch: Chris Osentowski (TCU) to Hunter Pence (UTA) - Called Strike at 2:14 p.m.
Hit: Chris Taylor (UTA) - Double down the left field line (First inning)
Strikeout: Osentowski strikes out Ryan Roberts (First inning)
TCU Batter: Shaff Elkouri - Flies out to right field
TCU Hit: Terry Trofholz - Single up the middle (First inning)
Error: Elkouri (Second inning)
Run: Dustin Bozarth (UTA) - On Taylor two-run single to center field (Fifth inning)
TCU run: Elkouri - On Trofholz groundout (Sixth inning)
Home Run: Mike Settle (TCU) - Solo HR to left field (Seventh inning)