Willard drove in two more runs to up his season total to 42. |
|
|
TCU Uses Six-Run Fourth to Down Charlotte, 8-3
April 24, 2005
Charlotte, N.C. - No. 30 TCU plated six runs in the fourth inning to take control, and struck out the final two 49er batters with bases loaded to seal an 8-3 Conference USA win on Sunday at Tom & Lib Phillips Field. The Horned Frogs won the final two games of the three-game series after the 49ers won the opener, 15-14.
TCU (27-13, 13-5 C-USA) got a leadoff home run from catcher Andrew Walker in the fourth to take the lead for good. The Frogs would add five more runs in the inning against 49er starter Adam Mills (5-3), getting three consecutive one-out singles to push the first run across. Following a flyout to left, Keith Conlin hit a RBI single. That left two men on for designated hitter Matt McGuirk, whose sixth home run of the season drove in the final three runs of the inning.
It was McGuirk's second homer of the day, following a solo shot that led off the second inning.
Charlotte (24-16, 7-11 C-USA) entered the ninth inning down 8-2, but put together some hits against reliever Shawn Ferguson to make things interesting. With one out, leadoff hitter John Stallings singled into center field, and advanced to third on a single by O'Brien Taylor. Sernio Adam Willard's opposite-field single to left would plate Stallings to cut the lead to 8-3. Designated hitter Garrett Hanselman was hit just above the knee by a 2-1 pitch, loading the bases with one out. But Ferguson was able to come back to strike out Chris Taylor and Mike Ambrose to strand all three runners and end the game.
Outside of the six-run fourth, neither team did much offensively. TCU scored a single run in the second and sixth innings, while Charlotte put one run on the board in the third and fourth. The 49ers had two men on in each of those innings, but flew out each time. In all, Charlotte left 12 men on base in the game to TCU's eight.
|
|
 |
Willard, the team leader in batting and RBI this season, drove two runs for the second straight game to push his season total to 42 RBI. The team's lone senior, Willard has hit safely in eight straight games while driving in a run in seven in a row.
TCU starter Brad Furnish improved his record to 5-3 on the season, allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out six. B.J. Hagen worked 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the 49ers, his second consecutive strong outing. He allowed just one hit and struck out four. On Wednesday night against Wake Forest, Hagen had the longest outing of his collegiate career with five innings of relief. Keith Moreland finished the game for Charlotte by recording the final two TCU outs, including one strikeout. He is tied for the team lead with 22 appearances in his first collegiate season.
The 49ers will host non-conference foe Appalachian on Tuesday, April 26 at 6:00 p.m. The game is a makeup of a previously-scheduled game that was rained out. Charlotte travels to Birmingham next weekend for a Conference USA series against UAB, before returning home for six straight C-USA games.
