March 11, 2011
Final Stats
FORT WORTH, Texas - The seventh-ranked TCU Horned Frogs cruised to a 7-1 victory over Houston Baptist Friday night at Lupton Stadium.
Kyle Winkler tossed six innings and
Jantzen Witte collected four RBIs in guiding the Frogs to their fifth straight victory.
Winkler was dominant for the fourth straight start as he allowed just an unearned run in six innings pitched. The junior gave up just three hits, walked one and struck out seven to improve to 4-0 on the season. Winkler had the lead runner on in three of the six innings, but each time retired the next three batters he faced to keep the Huskies off the board. Andrew Mitchell tallied his first career save with three scoreless innings of work. He allowed just one hit and fanned a career-high six batters.
Houston Baptist took advantage of a two-out error and turned it into a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Robbie Buller reached on the miscue and scored on a Jacob Gonzalez double.
The Frogs wasted no time tying the game and taking the lead. Rivera led off the first with a double and raced home from second on a ground out off the bat of Witte. A Jason Coats base knock started a two-out rally that would see the Frogs score two more runs. Coats moved to second on a balk and he came around to score on a base hit by Jerome Pena. Elander tripled to left center to put the Frogs up 3-1 after one inning of play.
That's where the game would remain until the Frog bats finally came back to life in the fifth inning. Joe Weik led off the frame with a base hit and gave way to pinch runner Kyle Von Tungeln. Rivera slashed a double down the left field line to put two runners in scoring position. Witte tallied two more RBIs as he bounced a single through the infield to give the Frogs a 5-1 lead. The Huskies attempted to turn an inning-ending double play, but an errant throw on the relay to first went wide and Witte raced home with the Frogs' sixth run of the night.
In the eight, the Frogs took advantage of the fourth Huskie error of the night to build a 7-1 lead. Von Tungeln reached on the error to lead off the inning and scored on Witte's second hit of the evening.
Mitchell took over in the seventh inning for Winkler and retired nine of the 10 batters he faced. He struck out the side in the seventh and pitched around a lead-off double in the eighth before setting the side down in order again in the ninth.
TCU improves to 9-4 on the season. The Frogs will send LHP Matt Purke to the mound Saturday afternoon in game two of the series. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. at Lupton Stadium. The game will be available online only through the webstream.
Postgame Quotes:
Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
On his team's performance:
"I was impressed with the way we swung the bat. The wind was blowing in today and I thought we made an effort to try and hit hard ground balls and line drives. Taylor Featherston was 0-for-4 but he lined out a couple times. Jason Coats is swinging it well and Brance Rivera has been our most consistent hitter all year long. When your two-hole guy is leading the team in RBI's that is a pretty good thing."
Joe Weik batting in the DH position:
"Joe Weik made an adjustment with his stance and he has started getting his swing off, taking aggressive swings. He hit one ball hard tonight. We need him to come out of it so I am going to keep giving him opportunities to hit. He was a big part of our Regional and College World Series run, he is a senior and he has a good track record. I am going to keep giving him at-bats so we can try and get him off the schnide."
Pitcher Kyle Winkler
On staying motivate against a winless team:
"We know what every game means. Last year the reason we didn't host a Super Regional at home was because we lost to Air Force twice. Houston Baptist hasn't had a good year so far, but that doesn't matter. This game means just as much as a game against Cal State Fullerton or any team that is ranked highly."
TCU Infielder Jantzen Witte
On his four RBI's in the game, the most by a Horned Frog in a game this year
"I have been trying to just stick with the same approach, just hit the ball hard up the middle and that is basically what I did tonight. In each situation I hit it up the middle and it worked out for me."
Game Notes:
• Kyle Winkler has yet to allow an earned run this season. The streak has reached 28 1/3 innings over four starts.
• Winkler now has 26 strikeouts and just two walks this season.
• Brance Rivera extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a double in the first.
• Rivera has extended his streak in his first at-bat in nine of the 13 games.
• Jerome Pena stretched his streak to 12 games with a 1-for-3 night at the plate.
• Jason Coats has pushed his hitting streak to five games with a 2-for-4 day at the plate.
• TCU fanned a season-high 13 batters in the victory.
