The TCU Horned Frogs (28-10; 11-2) dismantled Mountain West Conference rival Bringham Young University (22-13; 7-3) on Friday night at Lupton Stadium. The keys to the victory were BYU’s five errors and TCU’s 12 runs in three innings.In the top of the first inning, TCU senior starting pitcher(cq), Chris Johnson got off to a good start with a first pitch strike. He then set the Cougars down one, two, three.
“I felt good, I knew that I had to throw strikes,” Johnson said.
In the home half of the first, the Horned Frogs were also set down in order by BYU’s starting pitcher, Jordan Muir. The Frogs did make contact, but were unable to find any gaps in the Cougar defense.
Second baseman, Kent Walton of BYU, lead the top of the second off with a line drive right back at Johnson into centerfield. The Horned Frog defense held strong. After Walton’s line drive, he was thrown out by TCU’s junior catcher, Andrew Walker, after trying to steal second. After Johnson gave up a base-on-balls, he got the final out by picking off the runner on first.
Following his defensive play in the top of the second, Walker started out the bottom of the second with a double down the left field line. Sophomore first baseman, Matt Vern, moved Walker to third after a sacrifice bunt. The Cougar infield was unable to field the bunt cleanly and both Walker and Vern reached safely. Clint Arnold, junior centerfielder, took advantage of the situation and drove a pop fly to center deep enough to drive in Walker. Vern was picked off at second later in the inning. At the end of the first two innings the Frogs were ahead 1-0.
In the bottom of the third the Horned Frogs first two batters, sophomore second baseman, Ben Carruthers, and junior shortstop, Bryan Kervin hit back-to-back singles. Following the second single, both runners were able to steal second and third. Senior third baseman, Steven Trout, hit a slow roller that was poorly played by BYU’s shortstop. Carruthers, who was on third, crossed the plate and gave TCU a 2-0 lead after three innings.
“We stepped up in this game,” Kervin said. “We kept putting our hits together and moving the guys on the bases.”
In the bottom half of the fourth inning, TCU continued to put runners on base and the Cougar defense continued to struggle fielding TCU’s bunts. With runners already on first and second base, sophomore designated hitter, Mark McGuirk, laid down a bunt and the Cougars could not field it correctly and were unable to get anyone out. With one out and the bases loaded, TCU already up 2-0, Carruthers hit a single to centerfield and drove in Vern. Following the base hit, Kervin was a hit by a pitch and Arnold got a free pass across the plate. Trout was able to draw a full-count bases-loaded walk, giving the Frogs their third run in the fourth and a 5-0 lead.
“We tried to work our delay steals and throw off their infield a little bit,” Trout said. “My teammates got on in front of me and we made sure to make their pitchers and defense work harder.”
After the walk, BYU pulled their starter, Muir, and Michael Ward was now on the mound for the Cougars. Ward did not start out good for the Cougars. He hit the first batter he faced, senior right fielder, Austin Adams. The Frogs got another a free run and were up 6-0. Ward then got Walker to strikeout looking and Vern grounded out to the shortstop. The Frogs may have left three runners on base, but did have four cross home plate in the inning.
The top of the fifth would be big for the TCU defense. The BYU offense had runners on first and second. With only one out, the Cougars, Stephen Wells (cq), hit a single in between the first and second baseman. Out in right field, Adams came up firing and threw out the BYU runner at the plate. Johnson kept his composure on the mound and retired the next two Cougar hitters. After five innings, the shutout was still alive for Johnson.
“That was one of the best plays that I have ever seen,” Johnson said. “Austin is a great fielder and he showed his arm on that play.”
The Cougar defense continued making errors in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs and runners on first and second, Kervin hit a routine ground-ball that was misplayed by BYU’s second baseman. The Frogs were able to add another run on the error, extending the lead to seven. On the very next play, the second baseman made another error. Adams did his job, he put the ball in play and another Horned Frog run.
BYU made another pitching change following the play and now Brandon Michon was pitching. Walker was up next for TCU and hit a two-run single to centerfield that drove in Kervin and Trout. The Frogs were finally retired after Vern popped up to the shortstop. TCU followed a four-run fourth inning, with four runs again in the fifth and were up 10-0.
TCU continued to push runs across in the bottom of the sixth. With only one out, Carruthers doubled home one run and then Kervin hit a single that drove in another; the score 12-0. The Frogs two more runs following an error by BYU’s third baseman. The Frogs ended the sixth with their third straight four-run inning and a 14-0 lead.
“I felt good going into the game,” Carruthers said. “Some balls were left out over the plate and I got good barrel on the ball.”
At the start of the seventh, freshman pitcher Steven Maxwell was now on the mound for the Frogs. Johnson was finished after going six full innings. He gave up just three hits; to go with four strikeouts and no runs.
“Johnson was so good on the mound for us,” head coach, Jim Schlossnagle said. “He put us in a comfort zone and we were able to try some things at the plate.”
BYU was able to get one run in both the seventh and ninth inning. After the sixth, TCU’s bats cooled down and the Frogs did not get any more runs across the plate. The final score of the game was 14-2 TCU. The win was the 29th win of the season.
“That is our game. Fourteen runs on thirteen hits is pretty efficient,” Schlossnagle said. “That is how we have to score though, we have to put the ball in the play and keep our runners moving on the bases.
