2018_TCU_Horned_Frogs_baseball_team

2018 TCU Horned Frogs baseball team

2018 TCU Horned Frogs baseball team

American college baseball season

The 2018 TCU Horned Frogs baseball team represented Texas Christian University during the 2018 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Horned Frogs played their home games at Charlie & Marie Lupton Baseball Stadium as a member of the Big 12 Conference. They were led by head coach Jim Schlossnagle, the winningest coach in TCU baseball history, in his 15th year at TCU.

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Previous season

The Horned Frogs entered the 2018 season on the heels of four consecutive trips to the College World Series.[2] The 2017 TCU Horned Frogs baseball team entered the season as the unanimous preseason #1 team,[3] and the favorite to win the Big 12 regular season championship.[4] They notched a 39–14 (16–8) regular season record, and won a Big 12 Conference championship for the fourth-straight season, sharing the regular season co-championship with Texas Tech.[5][6] In the postseason, the Horned Frogs advanced to the Big 12 tournament semifinals, before being eliminated by Texas.[7] TCU was selected as the #6 National Seed the NCAA tournament, the Horned Frogs' highest-ever national seed.[8] Star-first baseman/designated hitter Luken Baker was unavailable for the Tournament after a late-regular season injury.[9] The Frogs coasted to a 3–0 record in the Fort Worth Regional, with wins over Central Connecticut,[10] #11 Virginia,[11] and #20 Dallas Baptist,[12] and a 2–0 sweep of #8 Missouri State in the Fort Worth Super Regional to advance to the College World Series for the fourth-straight year.[13][14] In Omaha, the Frogs fell in their opener to eventual-national champion, Florida, an 0–3 loss at the hands of Gator starting pitcher Alex Faedo.[15] TCU then eliminated #8 Texas A&M[16] and #4 Louisville to advance to a rematch with Florida in the national semifinals.[17] The Frogs' win over the Aggies marked the third consecutive season, and the fourth in the past six seasons, that TCU eliminated Texas A&M from the NCAA tournament.[18] The Frogs then beat #3 Florida 9–2 in the teams' first rematch[19] before falling to the Gators in a decisive national semifinal game, again an 0–3 loss to Alex Faedo.[20] The loss marked the third-straight year that TCU's season ended in the national semifinals.[21] TCU finished the season ranked #4 in every final poll, with a 50–18 record (the Frogs' third 50-win season).[20]

Preseason

MLB draft

The following Horned Frogs on the 2016 roster were selected in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft:

More information List of Drafted Players, Name ...

* indicates draftee had no more college eligibility

Departed Players

The following Horned Frogs on the 2017 roster departed the program prior to the 2018 season:

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Recruiting Class

The Horned Frogs added the following players to the roster as part of their 2017 recruiting class:

More information List of 2017 Recruits, Name ...

Season Projections

Coming off four-straight College World Series appearances in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, returning anticipated starting pitchers Jared Janczak, Rex Hill and Nick Lodolo, and adding a highly ranked recruiting class, the 2018 Horned Frogs were projected as one of the "Eight for Omaha" in July 2017 by Baseball America, D1 Baseball, and Perfect Game.

The Horned Frogs were ranked in each major preseason poll and ranking. TCU was ranked #3 by Perfect Game,[24] #4 in the USA Today Coaches Poll,[25] #5 in the NCBWA Poll,[26] #7 by D1 Baseball[27] and Baseball America,[28] and #9 by Collegiate Baseball.[29]

Big 12 coaches predicted TCU would finish second in league play, with 4 of the 9 coaches picking TCU to finish in first place.[30]

Personnel

Coaching staff

TCU will return its entire coaching staff from the Frogs' 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 College World Series seasons. Pitching coach Kirk Saarloos, a California native, was reportedly courted by Stanford to replace 31-season head coach Mark Marquess, but Saarloos opted to remain at TCU.

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Roster

The Horned Frogs' 2018 roster consists of 17 returners and 15 new players. Nearly half of the roster (15 of 32 players) are from outside the State of Texas. Sophomore catcher Zach Humphreys and freshman pitcher Russell Smith were high school teammates at Midlothian High School, and sophomore pitcher Cal Coughlin and freshman outfielder Brad Czerniejewski were high school teammates at Lake Forest High School in Illinois. Junior catcher Colton Parrish and junior outfielder Johnny Rizer were teammates at Blinn College before transferring to TCU prior to the 2018 season.

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Schedule and results

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Rankings

See also: 2018 NCAA Division I baseball rankings
More information Week, Poll ...

^ Collegiate Baseball ranked 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranked 30 teams weekly during the season.
† NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
* A new poll was not released for this week, so for comparison purposes, the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.

Awards and honors

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "2020 Big 12 Baseball Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 4–8. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  2. [2]
    "TCU Announces 2018 Baseball Schedule". TCU Athletics. October 23, 2017. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  3. [3]
    "TCU Is Baseball's Consensus No. 1". TCU Athletics. January 31, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  4. [4]
    "TCU Tops Big 12 Preseason Poll". TCU Athletics. February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  5. [5]
    "TCU Clinches Title Share With Wild Win". TCU Athletics. May 12, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  6. [6]
    "Cal Avoids Sweep With Saturday Win". TCU Athletics. May 20, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  7. [7]
    "TCU's Tournament Run Ends Saturday". TCU Athletics. May 27, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  8. [8]
    "Postseason Play Starts Friday Night at Lupton". TCU Athletics. June 1, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  9. [9]
    Mendez, Carlos (May 29, 2017). "TCU's Baker undergoes surgery, won't return for NCAA postseason". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  10. [10]
    "TCU Opens Tourney With Win". TCU Athletics. June 4, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  11. [11]
    "Janczak Leads TCU To Regional Final". TCU Athletics. June 5, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  12. [12]
    "TCU Is Super Once Again". TCU Athletics. June 6, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  13. [13]
    "Skoug Powers TCU To Game 1 Win". TCU Athletics. June 10, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  14. [14]
    "FOUR-PEAT! TCU Heads Back To Omaha". TCU Athletics. June 11, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  15. [15]
    "www.gofrogs.com/sports/m-basebl/recaps/061117aaa.doc". TCU Athletics. June 18, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  16. [16]
    "TCU Stays Alive; Tops Texas A&M 4-1". TCU Athletics. June 20, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  17. [17]
    "Wymer, TCU Shine In 4–3 Victory". TCU Athletics. June 22, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  18. [18]
    Mendez, Carlos (June 20, 2017). "TCU, A&M had to play again, and the same team had to go home again". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  19. [19]
    "TCU Forces Decisive Game With Win". TCU Athletics. June 22, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  20. [20]
    "TCU CWS Run Comes Up Short". TCU Athletics. June 24, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  21. [21]
    Lebreton, Gil (June 25, 2017). "TCU knows the feeling of another Omaha disappointment". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  22. [22]
    "Trio Of Frogs Drafted On Day 2". TCU Athletics. June 13, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  23. [23]
    "Three Frogs Drafted On Final Day". TCU Athletics. June 14, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  24. [24]
    "2018 Preseason College Top 25". Perfect Game. January 10, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  25. [25]
    "Baseball Coaches Poll". USA Today. January 25, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  26. [26]
    "Florida Tops 2018 Preseason NCBWA Poll". National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. February 6, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  27. [27]
    "2018 D1Baseball Preseason Top 25". D1 Baseball. January 16, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  28. [28]
    Cahill, Teddy (January 23, 2018). "Preseason College Baseball Rankings top 25 2018". Baseball America. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  29. [29]
    "Collegiate Baseball Div. I Poll 12-19-18". Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. December 19, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  30. [30]
    "Texas Tech Tops Preseason Poll for First Time since 1999". Big 12 Conference. February 1, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  31. [31]
    Baseball Coaches Poll
  32. [32]
    Baseball America College: Top 25
  33. [33]
    NCAA DIV I Baseball Polls-Collegiate Baseball Newspaper
  34. [34]
    NCBWA Division I poll
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