May 11, 2009
Final Stats
DALLAS, Texas - The No. 14 TCU Horned Frogs staked themselves to an early 5-0 lead and made it stand up in a 5-3 victory over Dallas Baptist Monday night.
Matt Carpenter led all hitters with two hits, while
Chris Ellington drove in two runs. Eric Miller shut the door on a Patriot rally with 2 1/3 scoreless innings for his second save of the season.
TCU jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, scoring a run on two hits with two out in the inning. Matt Carpenter started the rally with a base hit up the middle. With Chris Ellington at the plate, Carpenter swiped second base for his ninth stolen base of the year. Ellington made the move pay with a single to the right-center gap for a 1-0 TCU lead.
In the second, the Frogs added another run to their lead, taking advantage of a lead-off double by Matt Vern. With one out, Dallas Baptist starter Victor Black uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Vern to advance to third. After a walk to Jason Coats, Jimmie Pharr laced a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Vern for a 2-0 TCU lead.
The Frogs kept the run-scoring trend alive in the third inning, adding another run to their lead. A one-out walk to Taylor Featherston followed by a double by Carpenter had the Frogs' in business. Ellington collected his second run batted in of the evening with a ground out to third.
Dallas Baptist threatened to get back in the game in the bottom of the frame as they had runners on second and third with only one out. TCU starter Greg Holle induced a ground ball to third off the bat of Travis Meiner. A head's up defensive play by Carpenter cut down Clay Kelly at the plate, erasing the potential run. Holle got Ryan Goins to fly out to end the inning.
Another run in the fourth inning pushed the Frog lead out to 4-0. Vern worked a lead-off walk and promptly stole second base. Bryan Holaday dropped down sacrifice fly to move Vern to third and Coats plated him with a double down the left field line.
Holaday connected for his ninth home run of the season in the sixth inning to extend the Frog lead out to 5-0.
The Patriots finally broke through with three runs in the sixth inning to crawl back within two. A single and a double from Jason Krizan and Brandon Bantz ended Holle's evening. Ryan Thompson doubled to drive in DBU's first two runs of the game. Austin Knight followed with a run-scoring single to make it a 5-3 contest. Taylor Cragin settled in and retired the final two batters of the inning.
Dallas Baptist threatened again with two walks in the seventh inning, but Miller came on and struck out Bantz on three pitches to end the inning. He worked a perfect eighth inning and pitched around a lead-off walk in the ninth to lock down the victory.
Holle (5-1) tossed 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits in the victory. He walked just one and struck out five. Taylor Cragin surrendered a run on two hits with two walks and a strikeout. Miller finished the night with four punch outs.
TCU improves to 32-14 on the season. The Frogs will stay on the road as they head to UNLV for their final series of the regular season. They need two wins this weekend to lock up the regular season title. First pitch for Thursday's series opener is set for 9 p.m. (CST).
