Walker makes an impact with his bat and glove
5/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Horned Frogs' sophomore from Houston (Bellaire High School) has always identified himself with how he performs at the plate. He earned Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors last year when he batted .310 with 11 home runs and 38 RBI.
Heading into Wednesday night's Mountain West Conference Tournament opener, Walker was having a down year by his lofty standards. While carrying a respectable .282 average into the contest with New Mexico, he was batting just .224 in league action.
The impact Walker has had on the MWC regular-season champion Frogs was not lost on opposing league coaches, however. He was named first-team All-MWC at the pre-tournament awards banquet.
"Andrew was not expecting that," TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "However, he has had a great year defensively. That's why he was voted the best catcher.
"When he came here, he was not as good defensively. His defense has now caught up. It's all about confidence with Andrew. He has a chance to be special, and he's pretty much there right now."
After completing regular-season play Saturday with a three-game sweep in Albuquerque against New Mexico, the Frogs were idle until being the last team to take the field in the MWC Tournament late Wednesday night.
For Walker, the rest was all that was needed to turn the corner at the plate. In his first game at UNLV's Earl E. Wilson Stadium, he slugged a pair of three-run homers in going 3-for-3 with four runs scored and six RBIs in TCU's 18-6 win over the Lobos.
"I just felt good at the plate," Walker said. "It was great. I got hurt at New Mexico and the five days of rest really helped."
Walker was also quick to credit TCU assistant coach and hitting instructor Matt Siegel for his immediate turnaround with the bat. Siegel helped with a few adjustments in Walker's approach at the plate.
As TCU prepares to face BYU Thursday at 6 p.m. (Central), Walker sees a calm group of teammates.
"We're real relaxed right now," he said. "That's been our whole focus. We've constantly talked about not pressing. We're relaxed and having fun."
For Walker, fun now includes the defensive side of the game.
"Defense has been the area I've taken more pride in this year," he said. "I've come a long way behind the plate."
MWC opponents were successful on just 11 stolen bases in 20 attempts against TCU in conference play this spring. Walker committed only one error in 159 chances in the field during MWC action.
TCU is just two wins away from its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Regionals. Walker is hoping to lead that charge with the bat and glove.
"Now is the time to turn it up," Walker said. "If I was going to get hot, I was hoping it would be when we started tournament play."
