TCU baseball has focused on three simple aspects of the game over the past couple weeks: pitching, defense and timely hitting. These three elements have propelled the young team to a new level at the perfect time of the season head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. Following the sweep at Baylor on Apr. 22, the Horned Frogs were at a low, sitting at 19-17 with postseason chances looking slim to none. To make matters worse, the team lost their ace in Jared Janczak and most explosive hitter in Luken Baker for the season. Janczak recently had surgery to repair Thoracic Outlet Syndrome while Baker fractured his left fibula and tore a ligament in his left ankle. “Those are definitely big losses,” sophomore pitcher Nick Lodolo said. “Everyone is doing their part. It would be great to have them, but we don’t. Everyone has to step up now and do our part.” Since then, Schlossnagle’s squad has exploded for eight wins in their last nine ballgames. “We got back home and we got some timely hits to get us going,” Schlossnagle said. “Some experience from Wanhanen and Watson started to show. These guys know where we are in the season and what has to happen for us to have any type of season in late May.” In the midst of their current five-game win streak, pitching and defense hit an all-time high for any Schlossnagle-lead team in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs pitched 42.2 scoreless innings, the longest such streak under the head coach. “The biggest thing that stands out to me is we’re not giving as many free bases as we were before,” Lodolo said. “Starters are pitching well and we have guys in the bullpen attacking the zone and doing exactly what they’re supposed to do.”
Baseball continues to keep simple focus during win streak
Published May 14, 2018
Josh Watson watches as he hits a ball into play. Photo by Cristian ArguetaSoto
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