April 19, 2011
Final Stats
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 7 TCU Horned Frogs hit three solo home runs and the pitching staff made it stand up as they defeated No. 6 Texas A&M 4-2 Tuesday night at Olsen Field. Four pitchers combined to hold the Aggies to four hits in the game.
Andrew Mitchell (3-0) was outstanding in his fourth career start. The freshman allowed one unearned run on two hits in 5 2/3 innings of work. He walked two, hit a batter and struck out four.
Trent Appleby surrendered one run on two hits and struck out one in two innings of work. Erik Miller retired the only batter he faced in the eighth. Stefan Crichton pitched a perfect ninth inning for his second save of the season.
With one swing of the bat, Josh Elander put the Frogs on top 1-0 in the second inning. The solo shot with one out in the frame was his first of the season.
The Aggies got the run right back in the bottom of the inning, tallying an unearned run on two hits. Gregg Alcazar singled to open the inning. An infield single by Adam Smith and an errant throw put runners on the corners with nobody out. Mitchell got a big first out to hold the runners, but a soft ground out by Kevin Gonzalez tied the game at one. After issuing a walk, Mitchell worked the third-to-first move to perfection and picked off Charlie Curl to end the inning.
Following the walk, Mitchell retired 10 straight Aggies to get the game into the sixth inning.
Meanwhile, the Frogs built a 3-1 lead on solo home runs in the fourth and fifth by Zac Jordan and Jantzen Witte. Both home runs led off the inning for the Frogs.
The Aggies put together a rally in the sixth after a hit batter and a walk with one out. Mitchell got Jacob House to fly out for the second out then gave way to Appleby. On one pitch, Appleby got a pop out to end the threat.
Texas A&M's bats came to life with two outs in the eighth. Tyler Naquin doubled to right with two outs and scored on a triple by Krey Bratsen. Miller came on and battled House through an 11-pitch at-bat before getting him to ground out to Joe Weik at first base.
TCU tacked on an all-important insurance run in the top of the ninth. Taylor Featherston led off the inning with a single. The first pitch to Coats sailed to the backstop, moving Featherston to second. Jason Coats drove Featherston home with a bouncer up the middle to make it a 4-2 game. Crichton took the mound in the ninth and shut the door on the Frogs' victory.
TCU improves to 26-11 on the season. The Frogs will return home for a three-game series against UNLV. Kyle Winkler will take the mound Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.
Game Notes:
• Josh Elander hit his first home run of the season. His last home run came on April 24, 2010 against UNLV at Lupton Stadium.
• Prior to tonight's contest, the Frogs had homered just three times against left-handed pitching. They connected for three against Texas A&M starter Brandon Parrent.
• Jantzen Witte's sixth inning home run was his fourth of the season and it extended his hitting streak to 14 games.
• Taylor Featherston pushed his hitting streak to eight games with a base hit in the fourth.
• Jason Coats extended his hitting streak with a single in the ninth inning. He has now hit safely in 17 straight.
• TCU's last win in College Station came on April 30, 1994. There was a gap between 1996 and 2007 when the teams did not play each other.
• The Frogs improve to 7-2 against the Big 12 this season.
• Andrew Mitchell's second-inning pick-off was the team's 15th of the season.
