TCU Horned Frogs vs...
at Rice * Friday, March 31 * 7 p.m. * Reckling Park * Houston
at Rice * Saturday, April 1 * 2 p.m. * Reckling Park * Houston
at Rice * Sunday, April 2 * 1 p.m. * Reckling Park * Houston
KTCU 88.7 FM (Chuck LaMendola)
FROGS RESUME WAC PLAY, TRAVEL TO RICE
The TCU Horned Frogs (12-20, 3-6 WAC) travel to Houston this weekend to face
longtime rival Rice (16-16, 5-7 WAC) in a three-game series at Reckling
Park. The series will consist of single-games on Friday (7 p.m.), Saturday
(2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) The Frogs have won four of their last five,
including a 7-5 win at Texas Tech on Tuesday. The Owls have won two
straight, including a 14-4 win over Lamar on Tuesday. Last weekend, Rice
lost two of three at Fresno State, but they did win the finale. Following
the Rice series, TCU will play 12 of the final 18 conference games at the
TCU Diamond.
103rd SEASON OF TCU BASEBALL
This is the 103rd edition of TCU baseball. The Frogs have an all-time mark
of 1492-1294-25 for a winning percentage of .538. The Frogs are closing in
on the 2800th game in school history and 1500 wins. The March 10th contest
at Hawai`i was the 2800th baseball game in TCU history. The Frogs are eight
victories away from 1500 wins.
HEAD COACH LANCE BROWN
The 2000 Horned Frogs are under the guidance of head coach Lance Brown (TCU,
1967). Brown, TCU's all-time winningest coach, surpassed the 400 win mark in
TCU's 13-9 win over UTA. In his 14th season as the head coach at TCU, Brown
has a record of 410-388. He is assisted by Donnie Watson, Barry Takahashi
and Chris Connally.
WAC PLAY
The Frogs are in their fourth season in the WAC. TCU has compiled a
conference record of 55-42-0, finishing second in all three seasons in the
WAC. Last season, TCU ended conference play with a record of 19-10,
advancing to the Championship game of the WAC Tournament. Always tough at
the TCU Diamond, the Frogs have a record of 33-14 in home conference games.
On the road, the Frogs have compiled a record of 22-28. This season, TCU is
2-1 at home in WAC play and 1-5 on the road.
GAME COVERAGE
All three games this weekend can be heard on KTCU (88.7 FM) with Chuck
LaMendola calling the play-by-play. TCU fans can access the radio
broadcast of any TCU game from anywhere in the world via the internet at
www.broadcast.com. The TCU pregame show will begin 15 minutes before the
first pitch of every TCU game.
TCU-RICE SERIES
When TCU and Rice get things started on Friday night, it will be the 219th
time the two teams have met between the lines TCU leads in the overall
series, 112-105-1 since the two teams joined the WAC in 1997, Rice has won
12 of 17 games, including three of four in 1999... last year, Rice won the
first two games, 6-1 and 8-7 in 12 innings... the Frogs took game three by a
score of 4-2... Rice also defeated TCU in the WAC Championship game in
Fresno... in the last three seasons, the Frogs are 2-7 against the Owls in
Houston ... TCU has won one game in each of the last two seasons at Rice...
Lance Brown has a record of 22-31 against the Owls.
FROGS KNOCK OFF RED RAIDERS IN LUBBOCK
TCU's 7-5 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday allowed the Frogs to sweep the
season series, two games to none... the win was only the fourth road victory
of the season for TCU... TCU had 12 hits, including five for extra-bases...
TCU scored runs in six of the nine innings, including two in the fifth on
Shaun Wooley's sixth home run of the season... Mark Hamilton added a solo
home run in the ninth... Levi Groomer had two hits and was hit by a pitch...
Hamilton and Macha each had three hits... Marshall Wilson had two hits,
including a two-out single in the eighth that gave the Frogs a 6-5 lead...
Brad Rogers had two RBIs... Macha scored three of the seven runs... Josh
Gardner earned the win in relief, his first as a Horned Frog... Gardner
pitched two scoreless innings in relief of starter Shawn Thompson... Stan
Newton did not allow a run in 1.2 innings of relief, earning his second save
of the season.
TRENDS
Twenty three of the 32 games this season have been decided by three runs or
less... the Frogs have a record of 8-15 in the 23 games... TCU has a record
of 3-4 in one-run contests, 2-2 in two-run games and 3-9 in games decided by
three runs... the Frogs are now 16-16 in one-run games over the last three
seasons... thus far, the Frogs have a record of 7-8 in the month of March
with two games remaining... TCU has a record of 8-7 at home and 4-13 on the
road (includes neutral sites)... TCU has scored 185 runs this season, an
average of 5.78 runs per game... in the last 11 games, the Frogs have scored
52 runs, an average of 4.7 runs... after 32 games, TCU has a record of 12-10
against righthanded pitchers and 0-10 against lefties... the Frogs are 8-6
when they scores first... TCU is 1-3 in night games... all four night games
were played on the trip to Hawaii... TCU has eight night games left on the
schedule.
FROG HITTING NOTES
TCU has a team batting average of .331 in the last five games and .270 in the
last 11 games... the Frogs have at least 10 hits in the last two games and
three of the last five... during the six-game trip to Hawaii, the Frogs did
not reach double figures in base hits... the Frogs have been outscored 61-52
in the last 11 games... in the who's hot department... Erick Macha is
hitting .560 (14-25) in his seven-game hitting streak... Brad Rogers is
hitting .429 (6-14) with three home runs and eight runs batted in in the
last five games... all three home runs came against Texas Wesleyan... Rogers
hit two in game two of Friday's doubleheader and then hit a two-run HR in
Saturday's 4-3 win... Levi Groomer is hitting .294 (5-17) with four runs
scored in the last five games... Groomer has been hit by a pitch in three
straight games... overall, he has been hit 15 times this season and five
times in the last five games.... in his career, Groomer has been hit 24
times... freshman second base Ramon Moses has missed the last eight games
due to an eye injury suffered on the Hawaii trip... he is expected back for
the Rice series... Moses was hitting .363 (4-11) in his last three games
played... who's not hot... Tom Bates is hitting .084 (2-24) with two RBI in
his last seven games... Rudy Rivera is hitless in his last eight at-bats.
WAC's LEADING HITTER
Mark Hamilton continues to lead the team in virtually every offensive
category... Hamilton is hitting .419 (18-43) in the last 11 games with eight
RBIs... five of his 18 hits have gone for extra bases... overall, Hamilton
leads the team in average, at-bats, runs, hits, home runs, runs batted in...
he also has a team-leading 18 multi-hit games... Hamilton has hit safely in
16 of the last 17 games, and 28 of the 31 games played... he has already
tied his 1999 season total for base hits... in WAC action, Hamilton is
hitting .486 (18-37) with 12 runs scored, three home runs and 11 runs batted
in... Hamilton was named the WAC Player of the week after the San Jose State
series he is the only Frog to receive the honor this season against San
Jose State, Hamilton hit .625 (10-16) with seven runs scored, two doubles,
two home runs and six runs batted in... Hamilton has a career batting
average of .369.
PITCHING NOTES
Shawn Thompson has 44 strikeouts in 60.0 innings, raising his career total to
304 three behind Scott Atchison's record setting total of 307 Thompson
ranks second in K's and second in innings pitched with 320.2 innings on
Sunday afternoon, Thompson will make his 46th career start, tying him with
Frank Johnstone for first in career starts... Thompson has a career record
of 19-18... he is tied for fifth in career wins... Chris Bradshaw is 1-1
with a 1.83 ERA in his last three starts... he has allowed six runs, four
earned on 16 hits in 19.2 innings... in his last five appearances, Stan
Newton is 0-1 with two saves and a 4.26 earned run average... Newton pitched
1.2 scoreless innings against Texas Tech to record a save... Shaun Wooley
is 1-1 with one save... Mark Hamilton has pitched twice in the last five
games... he has allowed six earned runs in 10.2 innings, an ERA of 5.06...
Chris Frazier has allowed 14 earned runs in 12.2 innings in his last three
outings, an ERA of 9.95.... the Frogs have dropped six straight games with
Frazier as the starter... Josh Gardner earned his first career win on
Tuesday against Tech... TCU relief pitchers have walked only three batters
in the last five games -- a span of 14 innings... all three walks were
issued by Gardner.
DIAMOND NOTES
TCU's next five games are on the road, including the TCU-Oklahoma suspended
game... before next Tuesday's 6:30 p.m. contest at Oklahoma, the Frogs and
Sooners will conclude the February 22nd rain-shortened game.... Oklahoma
leads the game 10-8 after five innings... following the trip to Oklahoma,
the Frogs will play seven straight and 15 of the next 21 overall at home...
TCU is 3-5 against teams from the Big 12 with four games remaining,
including the suspended contest against Oklahoma the Frogs are also playing
a total of 14 games against former SWC opponents thus far, the Frogs are
2-4 after the first six games the Frogs have seven games remaining... six
of the seven are against the Rice Owls... the other contest is against Texas
at The Ballpark... TCU has six non-conference games remaining on the
schedule.
WAC STATS
The Frogs lead the WAC in hitting and home runs... but, the Frogs are last in
the league in earned run average... Mark Hamilton leads the league in
batting average, runs scored, hits... Hamilton ranks among the top-five in
average, hits, home runs, triples, runs, RBIs, total bases, on-base
percentage, slugging percentage... Groomer leads the league in hit
batsmen... Wilson is tied for first in sacrifice flies... Chad Durham is
tied for first in appearances... in WAC games only, the Frogs are fifth in
batting average, fifth in earned run average and second in fielding...
Hamilton is third in league play with a .486 batting average... he leads the
WAC with a .865 slugging pct... WAC opponents' are hitting only .195 against
Shawn Thompson.
