TCU first baseman Kevin Cron rarely has been benched in his career. In fact, going back to Little League, he’s always been the best player on his team.
Moreover, Cron typically has been the type of hitter whom teams normally would intentionally walk — not the hitter in front of him — to load the bases with two outs in the ninth.But that all happened in the last two days as Cron struggled with an .081 batting average through the Horned Frogs’ first 12 games.And for the last two games, at least, Cron has come up big.The sophomore’s two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning kept TCU alive and an error at second base on Cody Jones’ sharply hit ball in the 10th scored pinch runner Paul Hendrix from second to give TCU a 3-2 win over Pacific before a crowd of 3,113 at Lupton Stadium.Cron didn’t start Saturday’s game but came up with a game-tying, pinch-hit single in the eighth. He was back in the starting lineup Sunday.“Obviously, that’s not something I’m used to, but the way I’ve been swinging the bat, I’m not performing the way I need to in order to make our team better,” Cron said.“If it took a day for me to sit on the bench to get my head together so that I can step up in those situations, then Coach [Jim Schlossnagle] played it right. It was good to clear my head and get back to the basics of competing at the plate and doing my job when it’s necessary.”For much of Sunday’s Game 3, it was looking bleak for TCU. Pitcher Trevor Seidenberger, making his second start, held Pacific to two hits in 5 1/3 innings, but both were solo home runs in the second and fourth innings. Riley Ferrell, Tejay Antone and Alex Young combined to hold the Tigers scoreless over the final 4 2/3 innings.Pacific’s Michael Benson pitched masterfully for eight innings, holding the Frogs to four hits and three walks. But in the ninth, he walked leadoff pinch hitter Kevin Daniels. Jones followed with a single, and Dylan Fitzgerald moved them over with a sacrifice bunt.After Derek Odell popped out to short, Jantzen Witte, leading TCU with a .400 average, was intentionally walked so Benson could face Cron, who was 0 for 3 in the game.“Ultimately, you’ve got to ride your horses and you have to ride out their slumps,” Schlossnagle said. “I know Kevin will come out of what he’s in, but hopefully that’s it.”TCU has games with Northwestern State on Tuesday and Wednesday at Lupton Stadium before Big 12 play begins with a three-game series at home against Kansas at 6:30 p.m. Friday.“We’re hoping by the end of the day Wednesday we have an idea what our roles are out of the bullpen and the roles on the team,” Schlossnagle said.He’s also hoping that his offense has started to come out of its slump, including Jerrick Suiter, Odell and especially Cron.“We’ve got to show it sustained over time,” Schlossnagle said. “They’ve got to carry us, plain and simple. They’re good enough; they have a track record; and they have to do it. And they will, or we’re not going to achieve the goals we have.”Stefan Stevenson, 817-390-7760 Twitter: @FollowtheFrogs
