After finishing off a five-game road trip with a 4-2 win over No. 6 Texas A&M in College Station, No. 11 TCU returns home to start a stretch of eight games in 10 days tonight at Lupton Stadium. On a four-game winning streak, the Horned Frogs will host a three-game conference series against UNLV.
“We have a long road ahead of us, so any win is a win,” freshman pitcher Andrew Mitchell said.
With the win over the Aggies, the Frogs improved to 26-11 on the season (10-2 MWC) and have a two-game advantage over Utah in the Mountain West Conference standings.
TCU currently has a 16-8 record at home this season with a 10-0 all-time record against UNLV at Lupton Stadium. Since head coach Jim Schlossnagle arrived in 2004, the Horned Frogs have a 22-3 overall record against the Rebels.
UNLV (25-14, 4-7 MWC) is ranked second to last in the MWC standings. The Rebels have committed 53 errors which have led to 32 unearned runs this season.
TCU’s recent success, however, doesn’t necessarily leave room for relaxation this weekend. UNLV is coming off a 7-4 victory over Baylor Tuesday night — the Rebels’ first Tuesday evening win of the season.
“We have to win every game we can, we can’t lose to the average teams and we have to try and beat some of the good teams that we play,” Schlossnagle said after Tuesday’s win in College Station.
The teams last met in Las Vegas, Nev. in March. In game one of the series, TCU rallied to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning, but UNLV took the first game with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth. TCU responded by taking the next two games of the series.
Although the first month of the season had its struggles, the Horned Frogs have made changes the second half of this season.
The Frogs have only two losses in April — a 10-5 loss at New Mexico April 8 and a 16-6 loss at Oklahoma April 12. The Frogs have posted an 11-2 record for the month, going 8-1 in conference play during that stretch.
Schlossnagle said despite the way the first month of the season went, the team is still striving for the highest seed possible in the NCAA Baseball Division I Tournament.
TCU has the opportunity to continue its momentum and success this weekend. Today there will be two starting pitchers taking the mound with ERA’s below 1.50 with Tanner Peters (6-2, 1.40 ERA) for the Rebels and Kyle Winkler (6-1, 1.42 ERA) for the Horned Frogs.
Series notes
Junior left fielder Jason Coats will bring a 17-game hitting streak into the weekend series against UNLV.
Sophomore third baseman Jantzen Witte is riding his own 14-game hitting streak. Witte hit his fourth homer of the season against Texas A&M Tuesday.
UNLV’s Tanner Peters leads the conference with six wins on the season, while UNLV’s Brandon Bayardi leads the MWC with 10 home runs.
No. 11 TCU vs. UNLV
Game 1
When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday
Probable starters: Kyle Winkler (6-1, 1.42 ERA) vs. Tanner Peters (6-2, 1.40 ERA)
Where: Lupton Stadium
TV: The Mtn.
Radio: KTCU-FM 88.7
Gofrogs.com: Follow GameTracker or listen live.
Game 2
When: 6:30 p.m. Friday
Probable starters: Erik Miller (2-6, 4.85 ERA) vs. Joe Robinson (4-3, 5.24 ERA)
Where: Lupton Stadium
TV: The Mtn.
Radio: KTCU-FM 88.7
Gofrogs.com: Follow GameTracker or listen live.
Game 3
When: Noon Saturday
Probable starters: Steven Maxwell (5-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. TBA
Where: Lupton Stadium
TV: The Mtn.
Radio: KTCU-FM 88.7
Gofrogs.com: Follow GameTracker or listen live.