TopFrog
Lifelong Frog
http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/24/21...te-innings.html
[SIZE=14pt]TCU breaks loose in late innings to rip UNLV[/SIZE]
By STEFAN STEVENSON
sstevenson@star-telegram.com
For five innings, TCU and UNLV presented a duel between two power pitchers who pile up strikeouts.
The Rebels' Tanner Peters and the Horned Frogs' Matt Purke, Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in strikeouts in the Mountain West Conference, did not disappoint.
Both finished with nine strikeouts, but Purke (6-0) picked up the victory after the Frogs' offense exploded for 13 runs in its final three innings to open the three-game series with a 15-5 win over UNLV at Lupton Stadium.
Kyle Winkler (6-0) is scheduled to start for TCU (28-8, 9-3 MWC, ranked No. 11 by Baseball America) against UNLV's Stephen Singer (1-5) in Game 2 at 4 p.m. today.
Both starting pitchers Friday battled through a tough inning early. Purke gave up three runs in the second after the leadoff hitter reached second on a single and error. A walk, a single and double gave the Rebels (21-16, 5-5) a 3-0 lead. Peters struggled in the third as the Frogs scored twice after Aaron Schultz's walk started a two-out rally. Jerome Peña followed with a single before Bryan Holaday drove in both runs with a single to left (and an error by the left fielder) to make it 3-2.
The game settled down, but by the sixth, both pitchers again ran into trouble. Purke made it through a rough inning in which he gave up two runs on three hits.
"He had all of his pitches going early in the game," Holaday said of Peters. "He was keeping us really off-balance. We had a team meeting and coach [Todd] Whitting told us to sit on everything but the fastball and we broke open the game."
In the sixth, the Frogs took a more selective approach against Peters and eventually knocked him from the game. Brance Rivera led off with a walk and Holaday reached on a bunt single.
"It's the little things that start big innings," TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "Peters was throwing well and we got a leadoff walk, Holaday got down a bunt. We hung with him, and finally got him in the stretch and were finally able to do a few things,"
Jason Coats' failure to put down a bunt on the first two pitches he saw in the inning might have helped him bounce a chopper over the third baseman, who was playing in to guard against a bunt. Rivera scored on Coats' double down the line, the first of five runs in the inning.
After Josh Elander walked to load the bases with one out, Holaday scored on a wild pitch by Peters. Peña battled back from a 1-2 count to single up the middle to drive in Elander and Coats and give TCU a 6-5 lead. Jantzen Witte followed with a double, scoring Peña to put the Frogs up 7-5 before Brady Zuniga relieved Peters and stopped the rally.
"It's been a little bit of a struggle with two strikes lately; I've been chasing a lot," Peña said. "I was second-guessing myself. Tonight, I was out there just not thinking about [what pitch was coming] and kept my confidence with two strikes."
Said Schlossnagle: "His swing, to me, was the play of the game to smoke that ball up the middle."
Purke struck out two more in the seventh and finished with nine strikeouts in seven innings, giving up five earned runs in a game for the first time this season. Erik Miller pitched the final two innings, holding the Rebels to three hits.
The Frogs' offense was just heating up. TCU scored four runs in both the seventh and eighth innings, including a two-run single by Taylor Featherston in the seventh and a two-run double by Coats in the eighth.
Stefan Stevenson, 817-390-7760
TCU breakdown
Breakdown
Why TCU won: The Horned Frogs scored 13 runs late in the game and knocked Mountain West strikeout leader Tanner Peters from the game in the sixth. Frogs' starter Matt Purke improved to 6-0 despite giving up a season-high five earned runs in seven innings.
Notable
UNLV starter Tanner Peters raised his MWC-leading strikeout total to 77 with nine Friday. TCU lefty Matt Purke is second in the league with 69 strikeouts, including nine Friday.
UNLV is 0 for 8 all-time against TCU at Lupton Stadium
Sunday's start time has been moved up to 12:30 p.m.
Up next: TCU vs. UNLV, 4 today, Lupton Stadium
[SIZE=14pt]TCU breaks loose in late innings to rip UNLV[/SIZE]
By STEFAN STEVENSON
sstevenson@star-telegram.com
For five innings, TCU and UNLV presented a duel between two power pitchers who pile up strikeouts.
The Rebels' Tanner Peters and the Horned Frogs' Matt Purke, Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in strikeouts in the Mountain West Conference, did not disappoint.
Both finished with nine strikeouts, but Purke (6-0) picked up the victory after the Frogs' offense exploded for 13 runs in its final three innings to open the three-game series with a 15-5 win over UNLV at Lupton Stadium.
Kyle Winkler (6-0) is scheduled to start for TCU (28-8, 9-3 MWC, ranked No. 11 by Baseball America) against UNLV's Stephen Singer (1-5) in Game 2 at 4 p.m. today.
Both starting pitchers Friday battled through a tough inning early. Purke gave up three runs in the second after the leadoff hitter reached second on a single and error. A walk, a single and double gave the Rebels (21-16, 5-5) a 3-0 lead. Peters struggled in the third as the Frogs scored twice after Aaron Schultz's walk started a two-out rally. Jerome Peña followed with a single before Bryan Holaday drove in both runs with a single to left (and an error by the left fielder) to make it 3-2.
The game settled down, but by the sixth, both pitchers again ran into trouble. Purke made it through a rough inning in which he gave up two runs on three hits.
"He had all of his pitches going early in the game," Holaday said of Peters. "He was keeping us really off-balance. We had a team meeting and coach [Todd] Whitting told us to sit on everything but the fastball and we broke open the game."
In the sixth, the Frogs took a more selective approach against Peters and eventually knocked him from the game. Brance Rivera led off with a walk and Holaday reached on a bunt single.
"It's the little things that start big innings," TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "Peters was throwing well and we got a leadoff walk, Holaday got down a bunt. We hung with him, and finally got him in the stretch and were finally able to do a few things,"
Jason Coats' failure to put down a bunt on the first two pitches he saw in the inning might have helped him bounce a chopper over the third baseman, who was playing in to guard against a bunt. Rivera scored on Coats' double down the line, the first of five runs in the inning.
After Josh Elander walked to load the bases with one out, Holaday scored on a wild pitch by Peters. Peña battled back from a 1-2 count to single up the middle to drive in Elander and Coats and give TCU a 6-5 lead. Jantzen Witte followed with a double, scoring Peña to put the Frogs up 7-5 before Brady Zuniga relieved Peters and stopped the rally.
"It's been a little bit of a struggle with two strikes lately; I've been chasing a lot," Peña said. "I was second-guessing myself. Tonight, I was out there just not thinking about [what pitch was coming] and kept my confidence with two strikes."
Said Schlossnagle: "His swing, to me, was the play of the game to smoke that ball up the middle."
Purke struck out two more in the seventh and finished with nine strikeouts in seven innings, giving up five earned runs in a game for the first time this season. Erik Miller pitched the final two innings, holding the Rebels to three hits.
The Frogs' offense was just heating up. TCU scored four runs in both the seventh and eighth innings, including a two-run single by Taylor Featherston in the seventh and a two-run double by Coats in the eighth.
Stefan Stevenson, 817-390-7760
TCU breakdown
Breakdown
Why TCU won: The Horned Frogs scored 13 runs late in the game and knocked Mountain West strikeout leader Tanner Peters from the game in the sixth. Frogs' starter Matt Purke improved to 6-0 despite giving up a season-high five earned runs in seven innings.
Notable
UNLV starter Tanner Peters raised his MWC-leading strikeout total to 77 with nine Friday. TCU lefty Matt Purke is second in the league with 69 strikeouts, including nine Friday.
UNLV is 0 for 8 all-time against TCU at Lupton Stadium
Sunday's start time has been moved up to 12:30 p.m.
Up next: TCU vs. UNLV, 4 today, Lupton Stadium
