TCU vs. Texas Game 1

NBHorn7

NBHorn7

Pimp Daddy
An early start to the series due to Easter.

TCU will start one of the better pitchers in the nation in lefty Brandon Finnegan who is 6-2 with an 1.76 era.

Texas counters with Friday starter Parker French who is 4-2 and an 2.21 era.

It would seem the winner tonight will be who can come up with the offense needed against quality pitching.

Both teams have been hitting better lately and it should be a good probably low scoring contest, but you never know.

French has been a little shaky early in his last couple of starts, though errors hurt in his last start.
 
game on LHN per chance?
hookem.gif
 
Cody Jones, the TCU centerfielder leads off the game against French as the game and the series begins.

Jones bats lefty and works a full count and then fouls off a few pitches before grounding one back through the box by Hinojosa and into center for a lead off single.

Third baseman Derek Odell also bats lefty chops one just over French and chared by Hinojosa who make the play to first for one away.

Boomer White the left fielder is the first right handed Frog hitter to face French with a runner at second and one down.

He flies one to fairly deep right that Shaw goes back on and catches for two away as the runner tagged and goes to third.

The first baseman is big right hander Kevin Cron who flies a soft fly to Payton in center to retire the side and end the threat.

TCU gets a runner third, but no farther as Texas comes to bat in the first.
 
The game is on LHN.

Marlow leads off against the hard throwing lefty Finnegan.
The count goes full on the lead off hitter for Texas as it did for TCU.
Then just like the TCU lead off hitter did, Marlow lines a single up the middle for a lead single.

Johnson bats and the bunt seems could well be in order.
The right handed swinger shows no sign of squaring and he bloops a ball to left that is caught for one away.

Payton up with one on and one down.
He grounds one up the middle that is flagged down by the shortstop after hitting the rubber.
He flips to second for a 6-4 force for two away.

Barrera bats with Payton at first and he wastes no time as he lines the first pitch to left for a single.

Two on and two outs for Shaw looking to put Texas on top with a clutch job.
He K's swinging at a good slider to retire the side.

Both teams threaten, but neither score in the first.
 
Derrik Suiter, the DH faces French in the TCU second leading off.

He grounds a ball up the middle and this time Hinojosa cuts it off and make the play for one down.

Dylan Fitzjerald bats left handed and plays right field bats with one away.
He swings and misses and he didn't realize that the ball has gone to the backstop.
Barrera takes the rebound and guns wide to first and Clemens is able to get back to the bag in time for the 2-3 put out for two away.

Keaton Jones the Frog shortstop bats righty with two out and the bases clear.

He sends a high fly to shallow center that Payton squeezes to retire the side in order.

To the bottom of the second with nothing but 0's so far.
 
Hinojosa leads off the Texas second against Finnigan and he drives one to right field and it keeps carrying and is over the right fielder's head and one hops the wall.

The lead double has him at second for Carter, back in the line-up agains after back pains.
The Horn DH lays down the sac bunt and with one down Hinojosa is at third.

Clemens bats lefty against the left hander Finnigan.
The infield has come in for TCU.
He was totally overmatched by the slider and K's swinging.

Two down for Gurwitz, who now needs a clutch hit to put the Horns on the board and not strand a lead off double.

He flies out to center to end the threat and strand Hinojosa at third.

Two played with a 0-0 game.
 
French toes the rubber for the TCU half of the third against second baseman Garret Crain.

Its a damp inght in Austin with some mist in the air and the grounds crew comes out to work on the mound.

Crain bats lefty and shoots a grounder to Marlow for one down.

The catcher for the Frogs bats ninth in Kyle Bacac.
The right hander takes a slow curve that bites the outside corner for strike three and two away.

Jones brings back the top of the order for TCU and grounds to Clemens and he takes to the bag to retire the Frogs in order for the first time.

Texas will be batting in the third with no tallies on the board so far.
 
Marlow is the top of the order for Texas in the third against Finnigan.

As it did in his first at bat, the count goes full.
A slider breaks in for a K looking for one away.

Johnson bats from the right side with one down and nobody on.
Another slider is taken and again it breaks in for a K for two away.

Payton bats and though it's early you might think his on base streak could be hard against this lefty.

He thinks the same thing and he bunts his way one as the third baseman was playing deep and just couldn't come in and make the play in time.

That keeps his streak alive and puts him at first for Barrera with two down.
Payton as I was wondering about takes off and the throw is low and on into center and Payton goes to third.

The steal and error on the throw has him now in scoring position for Barrera.
He swings and misses at the slider and Finnigan K's the side.

Three played in Austin and it's zip on the board.
 
Odell leads off against French batting lefty as the fourth begins.

He slaps an outside pitch toward the line in left for a single and Johnson gets to it quickly to prevent chance for a double.

White bats and he eschews the bunt and his ground ball to second is a 4-6-3 double play to clean the bases.

Cron, the big right hander bats with two down and none on.
He hits a weak grounder to short that Hinojosa charges and gets the speed challenged runner to end the inning.

French faces the minimum due to the dp and I got to use eschew in a decription of the game.

It means it's steall 0-0 to the bottom of four.
 
Shaw leads off the Texas fourth with another K as he can't figure out the left hander.

Hinojosa pops to second for two down.

Carter flies out to right and it's a perfect inning for Finnigan.

Four played and it's nada on the board
 
Suiter leads off the fifth and and he lashes one to left for a double.

Fitzgerald is hit by a pitch and that puts two on.

Deaton Jones bats righty now and here comes Skip out for a meeting.
He returns now and Jones looks to bunt the runners over.
He gets its down and that puts runners on second and third with one down.

Crain bats lefty in a big spot in the game and he lines a single to right that scores a run and puts runners now on the corners.

TCU leads 1-0 and threatens for more as Bacac bats in the nine hole.
He tries the safety squeeze, but fouls it off.
He fouls off aother attempt as the pitch came right at him.
A high pop is a big out two as Clemens catches it for two away.

Cody Jones, the top of the order bats with runners still on the corners with two away.

A pick off throw gets past Clemens and the error scores another run to make it 2-0. The error was on the throw.

So now there is a runner at second with two down.
The count goes full before he grounds one in the hole that Marlow gets to on a dive, but the ball rolls away and the runner scores all the way from second as his throw home is wild.

That makes it now 3-0 TCU.
Jones takes off and steals second.

He is now in scoring positions for Odell with still two down.
He walks to put two aboard as French is laboring now.

White bats with runners at first and second and two away.
He swings at a pitch that hits him for a K to finally retire the side.

Painful inning for Texas as halfway through the opener of the series they trail TCU 3-0.
 
Finnigan with his now 3-0 lead faces Clemens leading off the fifth.

He K's swinging on the slider for his seventh K of the game for one away.

Gurwitz bats and at the bottom of the order with one down.
He also K's on a high heater for two away.

Marlow bats at the top of the Horn order again with two down.
Again the count runs full on Marlow as it has in every at bat.
He fishes for a low slider and again Finnigan strikes out the side.

The task looks kind of daunting for Texas as the rain falls and they trail TCU and strong Finnigan 3-0 after five.
 
French is still out there as the sixth starts with Cron batting.

He K's a pitch a foot outside swinging for one away.

That brings Suiter whose double started the big frame for TCU last inning.
He pulls a grounder to Gurwitz and it's a 5-3 out two.

Fitzgerald bats with the baes empty and two down.
He hits one of the end of the bats that goes over the bag at third. Gurwitz fields, but his long throw is not in time and it's an infield single.

That brings Keaton Jones up again with a runner on and two down.
The right handed batter grounds one to Gurwitz and he makes the play this time to retire the side.

Texas needs some offense behind TCU 3-0 to the bottom of six.
 
Johnson leads off the Texas sixth against Finnigan.

A ground ball to third and the throw is dug out by the first baseman for one away.

Payton also grounds out to third for two down.

Barrera bats with two down and nobody on.
He takes a fast ball right down the middle for a K that retires the side.

The big lefty for TCU now reaches double digits in the K department and he and the Frogs lead 3-0 after six innings.
 
French comes out again for the TCU seventh to face lefty Crain eading off.

A ground ball up the middle is taken by Hinojosa as he was playing shading that way and it's one away.

Bacac bats in the nine hole and is HBP to reach first.

One on and one down for lead off hitter Cody Jones.
Here comes Skip again and with the entire infield around him he decides to leave French in.

The count runs full and he walks him and that's proobably all for French and yes here comes Skip to make the change.
 
Left hander Travis Duke is the new Texas pitcher with one down and runners at first and second.

He faces left handed hitting Odell.
The has again gone full and he lines one into the rain drops that Payton gathers in left center for two away.

Here comes Skip again and another pitching change is made for a right handed hitter.
 
Chad Hollingsworth the tall lanky right hander is in for Texas to face White with runners at second and first and two away.

Barrera comes up throwing to first and it's another throwing error on a pick off as it gets away from Clemens.

That puts the runners now at second and third.

He walks to load the bases.

So here comes the big righty Cron, with the bases loaded and two away.
He sends a high fly to shallow center for Payton that gets Texas out of the jam.

Texas stays in the game, but it's getting late as they stretch in the rain at the Disch and Texas trails 3-0.
 
Finnigan is of course still in the game to face Shaw who has absolutely idea against him so far.

So he tries to bunt his way on and Finnigan fields it bare handed and underhands the throw to first for one away.

HInojosa bats with one down and he K's swinging on high heat for two down.

Carter bats with two away and the bases clear.
He walks and is at first with two down.

Clemens bats and he grounds out to second to retire the side.

Seven gone and Finnigan and TCU in control of this game 3-0.
 
Hollingsworth pitches the eighth against Suiter leading off for TCU.

He skies one to Shaw in medium deep right for one away.

Fitsgerald bats from the left side and send another fly ball to Shaw and it's two quick outs.

Keaton Jones bat with two away and nobody on.
He K's on a check swing to retire the side in order.

Texas comes to bat in the eighth needing some runs as they trail 3-0.
 
Finnigan over the 100 pitch mark starts the eighth against Gurwitz at the bottom of the order.

A fly ball to right is one away.

Marlow up again at the top of the order bats from the left side.
Another fly ball to right is two down.

Johnson bats with two down and no base runners.
He sends a pop to shallow right that the first baseman backs on and makes the catch to retire the side in order.

Finnigan continues to deal and Texas continues to trail 3-0 after eight.
 
Ty Culbreth comes in to pitch the ninth for Texas and the left hander faces Crain leading off for TCU batting right handed.

The count goes full and he walks for a lead runner.

Bacac bats again at the bottom of the order against Ty.
He bunts the runner over for one away.

One down and a runner at second for lead off hitter Cody Jones.
He bats righty now as he is a switch hitter.
A liner goes to Marlow and then he dives for the bag with his glove and beats the runner to the bag for a 4U double play.

That retires the side and Texas needs three to keep this game going. The trail 3-0 to the bottom of the ninth.
 
Finnigan's night is done as he had a high pitch count. He certainly had a good night.

The new Frog pitcher is right handed closer Riley Ferrell.

The flame thrower faces Payton as the UT ninth begins.
He blows that heater by Payton for a swinging K for one down.

Barrera up grounds to second for two away.

The last hope for Texas is Shaw and he is grateful that Finnigan is gone.

He fares no better against Riley and a high fast ball is swung through for another K and ends the game.

TCU takes the first game of the series 3-0.


Not alot you can say about this game an All American pitcher dominated on the mound for TCU

French had the one bad inning and that is all it took for TCU.

Their closer came in and retired the side in order to complete the shutout and the win.

You have to rebound tomorrow against another quality pitcher for TCU and hope Peters has his stuff working and the bats come alive

The conference winning streak ends and you need another one to start in the next game.
hookem.gif
 
I know this may seem like an overreaction given that French has a 2.21 ERA, but it seems to me that he gets in trouble an awful lot, especially early in games. Behind lots of batters, high pitch counts, etc. He seems to be too shaky to be a No. 1 starter, IMHO.

Am I off in my observation or is anyone else feeling the same way?
 
The bottom halves of innings last night reminded me of the top halves on Fridays in 2011. Taylor Jungmann did the same thing to Texas' opponents. Unless he had an off night, there's just not much a hitter could do.

Both Texas Tech and Okie State lost to TCU on Friday and came back to win games 2 & 3 of the series. Texas can do it, too.
hookem.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Weekly Prediction Contest

Predict TEXAS-OHIO STATE

CFP Semifinals • Cotton Bowl
Friday, Jan 10 • 6:30 PM on ESPN


Goodyear Cotton Bowl website

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top