by Andrew J. Ferraro
Daily Cougar Staff
Just when it appeared that the Texas Christian Horned Frogs had run out of gas, coach Lance Brown adjusted his lineup and watched his team come alive and start winning.
After being swept by Southern Mississippi on the first three days of March, the Horned Frogs (22-15, 5-2 in the SWC) won five of six going into the Southwest Conference First Pitch Tournament.
After dropping the first two games of the tournament to Texas A&M and Texas Tech, TCU defeated the Rice Owls and the Baylor Bears to even their conference record at 2-2.
They then went on to win a nonconference game vs. Dallas Baptist, and the Frogs were set to play the Rice Owls (29-15, 5-2 in the SWC), entering the series with the worst batting average and fielding percentage in the league.
After the three-game sweep of the Owls, TCU is in sole possession of second place in the SWC and now have two weeks to prepare for their next conference opponent, the Baylor Bears.
"These wins were good for us because we were struggling early in the season." Brown said. "This was a true test for us, and coming from behind to win those games give us some confidence."
In Friday's 10th-inning victory, TCU assistant Nolan Ryan was tossed out of his first collegiate game when home plate umpire Tim Henderson ejected him for arguing balls and strikes.
Ryan was only thrown out of one ball game in his entire professional career.
"We were in the process of having a big inning," Brown said. "You can get tossed out of a game for using profanity or saying something personal to an umpire. "Everyone in the dugout reacted, and Nolan (Ryan) got tossed."
The Frogs are lead by second-baseman Brad Wallace, who is hitting .352 with 20 extra-base hits, including three home runs and 35 RBIs.
Ryan Dunn is second on the team in hitting with a .348 average.
Dunn led a TCU rally in the fifth inning of game one on Saturday with a grand slam over the left field wall off of Rice pitcher Jeff Shaddix.
Dunn also nailed a key double in game two of the double header in the eighth inning to win the game 9-8 and complete the sweep of Rice.
"They (TCU) did well with their two-strike hitting," Rice coach Wayne Graham said. "We gave up too many bases-on balls and hit too many batters.
"Giving them the free passes was the key factor in our losses."
With the three losses, Rice fell to 2-5 in the SWC and had not lost three games in a row coming into the series.
"Our leading hitter, Bubba Crosby, was hurt, and we weren't sure if he would be ready." Graham said. "The bottom line, though, is to get rid of the bases-on balls and play better defense."
In Waco, high winds created a home run derby for Texas Tech (31-4, 6-2 in the SWC) as they hit 17 home runs and outscored Baylor (15-14, 3-5 in the SWC) 58-19 to win the four-game series three games to one.
In the opener, Marshall Bennett, Stubby Clapp, Brad Davis, Dave Lidstrom and Deion Ruecker each hit home runs for Tech. Third baseman Clint Bryant hit two to take the lead in homers in the SWC with 14.
After losing 8-0 to Baylor and the current SWC Player of the Week, pitcher Kris Lambert, the Raiders exploded for eight home runs in game two of the double header, defeating the Bears 24-2.
In Sunday's finale, Tech starter Jimmy Frush pitched a complete game, giving up just three runs on three hits, walking one and striking out four.
Ruecker and Clapp homered for the Raiders, and Matt Kastelic went 3-for-4 with an RBI in an 11-3 rout of Baylor.
"We really don't know who is going to lead us in power this year," Tech coach Larry Hays said.
"The wind really helped us out a lot," he said, "and we've also been lucky with Kastelic playing well, despite his leg injury."
Lambert earned Player of the Week honors for his two starts last week, giving up just three earned runs in 10-plus innings of work, striking out 14 and walking just two.
Lambert shut out Tech for the first time in 119 games in pitching the seven-inning gem.
Lambert struck out seven Red Raiders and walked one, going the distance against the 1995 NCAA team batting champions and the 1996 SWC team hitting leaders.
"Lambert has been outstanding in his last three outings," Baylor coach Steve Smith said. "He shut down A&M, (a 12-1 Bears win), and with a lot of fastballs and good location, he was able to shut out (Tech).
" I am glad to get Tech out of the way." he said. "They are clearly the best team in the conference, and if we can regroup our pitching this weekend and get one more guy to step up to the plate, we have a great shot to compete (in the SWC)."