Feb. 9, 2002

Box Score

HOUSTON, Texas - Three games, three one-run decisions, and all losses.

16th-ranked Baylor lost its third straight game at the Astros College Classic Saturday morning, falling to TCU 6-5. The Bears (0-3) lost Thursday to Rice 10-9 in 12 innings and lost Friday to Houston 3-2 on a walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth.

For the third straight day, Baylor fell behind early. TCU (2-1) took a 1-0 lead in the first. Terry Trofholz led off the game with a double. Two outs later, an error by Baylor third baseman Michael Griffin allowed Trofholz to reach third, he scored on a single by the next batter, Mike Settle.

The Bears tied the game in the second. TCU starter Patrick Newburn opened the inning with 10 straight balls, walking the first two hitters. Mike Huggins followed with a bouncing RBI single through the left side, scoring Paul Richmond. A fielders choice grounder by Griffin moved Huggins to third with one out, but Paul Witt grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end inning.

In the third, the Bears moved on top, 2-1. Tim Hartshorn doubled to left field with one out, and Trey Webb followed with an RBI single.

That lead held until the fifth, when TCU scored three times to go ahead 4-2. Trofholz again got things going for the Horned Frogs, singling to lead off the inning and later stealing second base. Jared Theodorakos (0-1) then struck out the next better, Jake Duncan, but a wild pitch on the third strike allowed Duncan to reach and moved Trofholz to third. Walter Olmstead followed with a grounder to third, Griffin's throw to second forced the runner there, but the relay to first pulled Huggins off the bag and allowed the tying run to score. Two more singles followed, with the second hit a 2-RBI single to left by Jonathon Marshall that gave TCU a two-run cushion.

The Frogs added one more (unearned) run in the seventh off reliever Cody Hall. A single and two stolen bases put Duncan on third with two outs. Mike Settle's slow grounder to shortstop was fielded cleanly by Webb, but his throw to first was wide and allowed Duncan to score TCU's fifth run.

That run was answered in the eighth by the Bears. Tim Hartshorn led off with a triple and scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Chris Durbin, cutting the lead to 5-3.

TCU added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, unearned. Will Lewis got things going with a walk. Duncan followed with a grounder to first that went through the legs of Ron Zboril into right field, sending Lewis to third. Right fielder Steve Dorneman's throw towards third bounced past the third baseman and allowed Lewis to score TCU's sixth run.

That run proved to be the difference in the game. Freshman Josh Ford led off the bottom of the ninth for Baylor with a walk, and Griffin followed with his first collegiate home run, an arching two-run shot into the Crawford Boxes in left field that cut the TCU lead to 6-5. After two away, Hartshorn singled to left for his fourth hit of the game and 10th hit of the series, but pinch-hitter Jared Clements popped out to shortstop for the final out.

Theodorakos took the loss for Baylor despite pitching six strong innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits. The junior lefty struck out, one shy of his career-best, and walked none. Clint Mokry (1-0) earned the win after pitching two shutout innings of relief. Chris Osentowski earned his first save of the season.

The Bears' 0-3 start is their worst since they started the 1998 season 0-3. Before that, the last time Baylor opened a season with three straight losses was 1978, the Bears concluded that season with their second straight College World Series appearance.

Baylor returns to Waco for its home opener Wednesday at 6 p.m. against UT-San Antonio.