TCU announces 2006 baseball schedule
10/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Oct. 14, 2005
FORT WORTH, Texas - Head coach Jim Schlossnagle has announced the Horned Frogs' 2006 schedule. The 56-game regular-season slate includes 27 games at Lupton Stadium and Williams-Reilly Field. TCU will welcome College World Series participant Baylor to Lupton Stadium, as well as three-time defending Mountain West champion UNLV for a three-game series. In all, the Frogs will play 16 games against opponents that appeared in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, and three teams that made it to Omaha.
"This is schedule will be a challenging one that certainly should prepare us for postseason play," said Schlossnagle. "The early season tournaments will put us in a setting, playing a different quality opponent every day, on the road, a situation that we will be in at the end of the year."
The Frogs will open the season on the road for the first time since the 2002 campaign when they appear in the Minute Maid College Classic in Houston, Texas. The season opener will pit College World Series participant and former Conference USA foe Tulane against the Frogs at noon on Friday, Feb. 10. TCU will face another former conference member Houston on Saturday and conclude the tournament with a Sunday evening tilt against NCAA-qualifier Rice.
The home portion of the schedule is slated for a Feb. 14 start date when the Frogs host Texas State at 7 p.m. Following that game, the Frogs will hit the road to take part in their second straight weekend tournament when they head to Edinburg, Texas, to participate in the UT-Pan Am Tournament, slated to begin Feb. 17. TCU will face its third NCAA qualifying team of the season when they square off against SEC member Arkansas in the opener. TCU rounds out the tournament against UTPA on Saturday and first-year team Stephen F. Austin on Sunday. SFA is coached by former TCU assistant coach Donnie Watson.
On Feb. 24, the Frogs return to Lupton Stadium to open an eight-game homestand. They host Wright State in a three game series, Feb. 24-26. On Tuesday, Feb. 28, the Frogs will square off against crosstown rival, Dallas Baptist. Florida Atlantic will make a return trip to Fort Worth for a three-game series beginning March 3. The homestand concludes on March 7 as the Frogs get their first taste of the Big 12 with a meeting against Oklahoma.
Following the eight-game home stand, TCU hits the road for eight straight contests. March 10 marks the third tournament the Frogs will appear in during the 2006 campaign when they head to Corpus Christi for the Whataburger Classic. The Frogs will play Rice, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and College World Series participant Arizona State in the tournament.
March 14 will find the Frogs in San Marcos as they conclude their season series with Texas State. The following weekend, TCU will make the first of three trips to California as it heads to Santa Barbara for a three-game series with UC-Santa Barbara March 17-19. The road trip concludes with the first meeting of the season against another College World Series participant when the Frogs face Baylor on March 21.
"The two home weekend series versus Central Florida and Florida Atlantic will provide some outstanding baseball and competition," said Schlossnagle. "TCU fans here in Texas need to know that those two programs are consistently among the top five in the state of Florida and have averaged 45 and 42 wins, respectively, over the last two years."
The Frogs will return home briefly to host UCF in a three-game series March 24-26.
On March 30, the Frogs will begin their quest for a Mountain West Conference championship as they get their first taste of their league foes. The MWC hosts a preseason tournament that will be played in San Diego. All four contests the Frogs play will count in their conference record. The Frogs first official conference game comes against BYU on Thursday, March 30, at 11 a.m. On Friday, the Frogs will face Schlossnagle's old team and three-time defending conference champions UNLV. TCU rounds out the weekend with games against San Diego State and Air Force.
"Our players and staff are excited about the new environments in the Mountain West Conference," remarked Schlossnagle. "The overall potential and progress of the league in baseball is quickly improving and I look forward to TCU fans having the chance to observe that on a first hand basis this spring."
On April 4, the Frogs and Baylor will conclude their home-and-home series when the Bears head to Fort Worth for a 7 p.m. contest. The game opens a stretch of seven-of-eight contests at Lupton Stadium. The Frogs will host their first-ever Mountain West Conference series as Air Force heads to the Lone Star State for a three-game series beginning April 7.
TCU will head north on April 11 as it makes the return trip to Oklahoma to conclude the sereis with the Sooners before returning home to host UNLV. The three-game set will begin April 14.
After wrapping up the homestand, the Frogs will hit the road for seven games beginning with a trip to Provo, Utah, to face BYU. The three-game series begins April 20. On April 25, the Frogs head down I-20 for a meeting with UT-Arlington before heading off to San Diego for a conference match-up with San Diego State. The three-game MWC series kicks off on April 28.
The Frogs will close the home portion of their schedule with an eight-game homestand that begins May 2. Dallas Baptist heads to TCU for the second time in 2006 for a 7:00 p.m. match-up against the Frogs. On May 5, Utah come to town for a three-game series. The Frogs will take a break from conference action the following weekend as they host UT-Pan Am for three games beginning May 12. The home-and-home series with UT-Arlington concludes on May 16 when the Mavericks visit Lupton Stadium.
The Frogs will wrap up the regular season with a three-game series at conference-foe New Mexico beginning May 18.
Tuesday, May 23, will mark the start of the Frogs' quest for a third straight conference tournament title when they head to Las Vegas for the Mountain West Tournament. UNLV is the tournament host and the defending champion. The tournament will run from May 23 through May 27.
First pitch of the 2006 campaign is slated for noon on Feb. 10 against the Tulane Green Wave in Houston.
