April 8, 2008
Final Stats
WACO, Texas - The TCU Horned Frogs withstood a furious two-out rally by No. 30 Baylor Tuesday night to hang for the 4-3 victory at Baylor Ballpark. The victory is the sixth straight for the Horned Frogs and helps them improve to 11-0 in midweek contests this season.
Clint Arnold was 4-for-5 at the plate, while
Chris Ellington tallied two RBIs.
Paul Gerrish was outstanding in relief to earn the victory.
With two runs in and the winning run at first base, Andrew Cashner nailed the door shut, freezing Aaron Miller at the plate to pick up his third save of the season. Cashner relieved Gerrish with a runner on in the ninth and quickly got two outs. A walk put two on and Dustin Dickerson reached on a wild pitch after striking out to load the bases. Adam Hornung singled through the left side to make it a one-run contest, but it was too late.
The Frogs two-out rally in the bottom of the first was stopped on a great running catch in center field by Raynor Campbell, taking away an extra-base hit away from Steve Ellington. Clint Arnold and Chris Ellington got the rally started with two out singles off Baylor starter Tim Matthews.
Baylor had a run on two hits in the bottom of the first inning before the Frogs had recorded an out. Shaver Hansen tripled to lead off the frame and scored on a Beamer Weems base hit. After issuing a walk to Dustin Dickerson, TCU starter Seth Garrison got Adam Hornung to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play. A hit-by-pitch and a walk loaded the bases, but again Garrison was able to pick up a big out, getting Ben Booker to ground out to end the inning with only the one run scoring.
The Frogs saw a golden opportunity to tie the game in the top of the fourth go by the wayside. Steve Ellington doubled with one out, but got no further than second. With two outs, the Bears pitched around Matt Carpenter as he drew a four-pitch walk. Jimmie Pharr battled to a full count but swung through a Matthews offering to end the inning.
After having base runners on most of the night, the Frogs were finally able to cash in in the top of the fifth inning. With two outs, Bryan Kervin singled to start the rally. Arnold worked a seven-pitch at bat and dumped in a single to center field to put runners on the corners. Chris Ellington continued his torrid hitting streak, driving the ball off the wall in center field for a bases-clearing triple. Campbell struggled to field the ball allowing Ellington to race all the way around the bases and score to give TCU a 3-1 lead.
Seth Garrison did his job on the mound in the no-decision. He went 4 2/3 innings allowing a run on three hits. He walked five and struck out one. He left with two runners on, but Gerrish (3-2) came on in relief and struck out Aaron Miller to end the inning. Gerrish tossed 3 1/3 innings. He allowed a run on two hits, struck out five and walked one.
TCU added an insurance run in the top of the sixth inning, taking advantage of a two-base error by Weems at short. Bryan Holaday moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly to right off the bat of Carpenter to make it a 4-1 contest.
The Frogs had other opportunities to tack onto their lead, but the Bears' bullpen came up with big pitches at the right time. TCU stranded nine runners in the game. On the flip side, Baylor also had chances in the game, but couldn't come up with the big hit as they left 11 runners stranded.
TCU improves to 20-12 on the season. They will host UNLV in a key Mountain West Conference series this weekend beginning Friday night. Game time for the series-opener is set for 6:30 p.m.
Game Notes:
• Clint Arnold has hit safely in five straight contests.
• Chris Ellington has 11 RBIs in his last six games played.
• The Frogs have won 82 straight games when leading after eight innings.
• The Frogs have now won four straight against Baylor and five of the last six dating back to 2007.
