TopFrog
Lifelong Frog
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports...on/6953524.html
Chronicle file photo
UH pitcher Taylor Hammack held TCU hitless
through the first four innings of the Cougars' loss.
[SIZE=14pt]Comedy of errors sinks UH[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Cougars waste early lead with sloppy play late[/SIZE]
By JASON McDANIEL
For the Chronicle
Houston coach Rayner Noble said he needed a starter to take the bull by the horns after a series-opening debacle against 12th-ranked TCU.
He got that Saturday, with Taylor Hammack hanging a no-hitter on the Horned Frogs through four.
Now all Noble needs is for the defense to clean up its act.
The Cougars committed two of their four costly errors in a sloppy seventh inning, helping TCU take control of a crushing 6-1 victory in non-conference play at Cougar Field.
"Hammack pitched a whale of a game, and he really hasn't thrown close to that many pitches (105) all season, so that was inspiring there," Noble said.
"(Then we) just gift-wrapped and handed them the game, where we just (struggled with) elemental stuff — catching the ball and throwing it straight, really."
A day earlier, starter William Kankel issued five walks in an early exit, which is all-too-common for Cougars pitchers. They're among the NCAA's worst in walks allowed (174).
That helped TCU (22-7) take a quick 6-0 lead in in Friday's 15-1 blowout.
Avoided big trouble
Hammack walked four in his 52⁄3 innings but kept TCU from capitalizing and didn't allow a hit until Brance Rivera's leadoff single in the fifth, which ended with UH still up 1-0.
The Cougars (13-16) went ahead on Caleb Ramsey's RBI single in the first off winning pitcher Kyle Winkler (5-0).
"I just wanted to get out there and attack their hitters," said Hammack, who did so with an effective changeup. "I thought Friday we didn't attack them, we just let them have the game."
Jimmie Pharr's run-scoring double tied the score at 1-1 in the sixth, ending Hammack's night. But UH was still in it until dropping the ball in the seventh.
Aaron Schultz stole second and moved to third when Chris Wallace's attempt to catch him sailed high. Then he scored after Ramsey missed a fly ball to left off Jerome Pena's bat.
That gave TCU a 2-1 lead — and it didn't look back.
"When you can't catch a fly ball, that's just demoralizing," Noble said. "It just absolutely is.
"But we've got to be good enough to overcome that."
'Really frustrating'
TCU sealed the win with a four-run ninth that included three unearned runs after a high throw to first by Austin Gracey.
Matt Creel (2-3) took the loss after 22⁄3 innings of relief. He allowed two of TCU's four unearned runs.
"It's really frustrating," Hammack said. "You fight and fight the whole game and at the end it just slips out of your hands."
Chronicle file photo
UH pitcher Taylor Hammack held TCU hitless
through the first four innings of the Cougars' loss.
[SIZE=14pt]Comedy of errors sinks UH[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Cougars waste early lead with sloppy play late[/SIZE]
By JASON McDANIEL
For the Chronicle
Houston coach Rayner Noble said he needed a starter to take the bull by the horns after a series-opening debacle against 12th-ranked TCU.
He got that Saturday, with Taylor Hammack hanging a no-hitter on the Horned Frogs through four.
Now all Noble needs is for the defense to clean up its act.
The Cougars committed two of their four costly errors in a sloppy seventh inning, helping TCU take control of a crushing 6-1 victory in non-conference play at Cougar Field.
"Hammack pitched a whale of a game, and he really hasn't thrown close to that many pitches (105) all season, so that was inspiring there," Noble said.
"(Then we) just gift-wrapped and handed them the game, where we just (struggled with) elemental stuff — catching the ball and throwing it straight, really."
A day earlier, starter William Kankel issued five walks in an early exit, which is all-too-common for Cougars pitchers. They're among the NCAA's worst in walks allowed (174).
That helped TCU (22-7) take a quick 6-0 lead in in Friday's 15-1 blowout.
Avoided big trouble
Hammack walked four in his 52⁄3 innings but kept TCU from capitalizing and didn't allow a hit until Brance Rivera's leadoff single in the fifth, which ended with UH still up 1-0.
The Cougars (13-16) went ahead on Caleb Ramsey's RBI single in the first off winning pitcher Kyle Winkler (5-0).
"I just wanted to get out there and attack their hitters," said Hammack, who did so with an effective changeup. "I thought Friday we didn't attack them, we just let them have the game."
Jimmie Pharr's run-scoring double tied the score at 1-1 in the sixth, ending Hammack's night. But UH was still in it until dropping the ball in the seventh.
Aaron Schultz stole second and moved to third when Chris Wallace's attempt to catch him sailed high. Then he scored after Ramsey missed a fly ball to left off Jerome Pena's bat.
That gave TCU a 2-1 lead — and it didn't look back.
"When you can't catch a fly ball, that's just demoralizing," Noble said. "It just absolutely is.
"But we've got to be good enough to overcome that."
'Really frustrating'
TCU sealed the win with a four-run ninth that included three unearned runs after a high throw to first by Austin Gracey.
Matt Creel (2-3) took the loss after 22⁄3 innings of relief. He allowed two of TCU's four unearned runs.
"It's really frustrating," Hammack said. "You fight and fight the whole game and at the end it just slips out of your hands."
