Battle at the Ballpark
Frogs fall to Longhorns

By Brandon Ortiz
Skiff Staff

The Horned Frogs might have had stars in their eyes Tuesday night, but nothing was sparkling in their play.

Tim Cox/Skiff Staff Senior outfielder Jason Price stares at the ground after getting out in a 10-2 loss to Texas Tuesday night.

The TCU baseball team lost to No. 20 Texas, Tuesday night in front of 8,458 people in the fifth The Battle at the Ballpark at The Ballpark in Arlington.

Tim Cox/SKIFF STAFF Senior pitcher Josh Gardner delivers a pitch in the eighth inning of the Frogs’ game Tuesday against Texas in the Battle at the Ballpark. The pitching staff allowed eight earned runs, including seven in the first two innings, in the 10-2 loss. The Longhorns have won 14 of their last 18 games.

Things were bad from the get go for the Frogs, who dug themselves into an early 7-0 hole.

Senior starter Chad Durham began the first inning by walking center fielder Kalani Napoleon on four pitches and walking catcher Ryan Hubele. Longhorn shortstop Omar Quintanilla followed that up with a single to right field to drive in Napoleon.

After getting right fielder Matt Rosenberg to ground out, Durham gave up a single to left fielder Ben King to score two more runs.

Texas (29-16) scored four runs on four hits in the first inning. Things weren’t much better in the second inning.

With one out, Durham gave up consecutive singles and a run and was pulled from the game. He pitched 1 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on five hits, walking two.

Head coach Lance Brown went to the bullpen, inserting freshman reliever Clayton Jerome, who pitched eight scoreless innings in the Frogs’ previous two games against Texas.

Jerome gave up a double down the left-field line to score another run. In the next at bat, Rosenberg hit a ground ball that went through sophomore second baseman Ramon Moses’ legs. The error allowed another run to score and pushed the Longhorns’ lead to 7-0.

Tim Cox/SKIFF STAFF Jennifer Cuca, a sophomore advertising/public relations major, and Ruth DeJong, a studio art major, sport eye black and cheer on the Frogs Tuesday. More than 8,000 fans attended the fifth The Battle at the Ballpark.

Longhorn starter Ray Clark cruised through the first four innings, striking out seven and allowing only two singles. But he ran into trouble the fifth inning.

Senior catcher Jason Price doubled to left, and sophomore third baseman Mike Settle followed him up with another double to score Price and put the Frogs on the scoreboard. Moses singled to drive in Price. Clark settled down, and retired three straight to get out of the inning.

Clark had everything working for him in his win, pitching the first six innings, striking out 11 and allowing two runs on seven hits.

“He was really mixing it up well,” Price said. “He was not overpowering, but he threw well.”

Texas padded its lead in the eighth inning, scoring three runs on two hits and an error.

TCU (25-18) entered the game 17th in the nation in fielding percentage before committing two errors. The Frogs had made only three errors in their last six games.

TCU was playing its sixth game in seven days, and Price said he was not sure if the Frogs were too drained to win.
“We shouldn’t have been, we have been doing this all season,” he said.

The Frogs will have today and Thursday off before returning to action at Fresno State Friday.

Brandon Ortiz
b.p.ortiz@student.tcu.edu