Camaraderie defines TCU baseball
5/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 28, 2006
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- A close-knit team under a highly successful coach has paved the way for TCU baseball to make its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Regionals.All three appearances have come in skipper Jim Schlossnagle's three seasons in the Horned Frog dugout. Prior to Schlossnagle's arrival, TCU had made just two postseason trips in its baseball history.
The Frogs will learn their postseason destination Monday at 11:30 a.m. (Central) when the regional field is announced on ESPN.
After going 17-5 in MWC regular-season play, capturing the title by three full games, TCU became just the third team in the league to go through the tournament undefeated. In three games as the No. 1 seed, the Frogs outscored their opponents 40-18 and totaled 49 hits.
TCU trailed in each game as its opponent scored in the opening inning in all three contests.
TCU will enter the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the nation, having won 10 games in a row, 12 of 13 and 26 of its last 33. For Schlossnagle, this year's tournament title was especially gratifying after seeing his injury-decimated team two games under .500 at one point in the spring and still below the break-even point as recently as last month.
"For me, it's pretty special because of where we were (14-15 on April 1)," Schlossnagle said. "Coaches were pressing and players were pressing. It seemed so far away.
"It's more a load off our shoulders than achievement because we've raised the expectation level in this program, but it's still not as high as where we want it to be. Omaha (annual site of the College World Series) is our goal. I have great respect for the longtime tradition-rich programs where Omaha is the ultimate expectation."
When BYU's Kasey Ko grounded out to shortstop Bryan Kervin for the final out in the Frogs' 9-6 championship game victory, it was a business-like TCU dugout that emptied out of the dugout onto the field.
"That's due to the expectation level in our program," Schlossnagle said. "The players feel the same thing. We truly believe this is just a step. I'm proud of our guys for acting that way."
First baseman Chad Huffman received MWC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors. He homered in all three games and drove in nine runs. He enters regional play having gone deep in five of his last six games. For the season, Huffman tops the Frogs with a .388 average to go with 16 doubles, 18 home runs, 69 RBI and a .765 slugging percentage.
Also a quarterback on the TCU football team, Huffman now has a pair of MWC championships. He's also headed to the regionals for the third straight spring.
"This is great, no matter how many years in a row it's been," Huffman said. "It's so much fun to do it with such a great group of guys. I couldn't ask for anything better.
"We treat each game pitch-by-pitch. You never know what pitch is going to win the game. Teams win championships with the bottom of the order stepping up and making big hits. Corey Steglich and Ryan Pack did that today (Saturday)."
The No. 8 and 9 hitters in the lineup, Steglich and Pack combined for five RBIs in the title-game win over BYU. A two-out, two-run Steglich triple in the second inning was followed by a two-run Pack homer to erase an early 2-0 deficit. Steglich added a sacrifice fly in the seventh for the Frogs' final run.
Like Huffman, rightfielder Austin Adams is a junior and a first-team All-MWC selection in 2006. Adams is hitting .344 on the year. He topped all TCU players with a .438 average in conference play.
"Each year is different," Adams said. "We had some ups and downs this season and it's great to have it culminate in this.
"It's big to have been to the regionals before, but we just have to take the same approach no matter what game it is. If we stick to that, it will give us the best chance to win."
Omar Arif and Chase Perry, two juniors on the pitching staff, believe the experience of the last two regionals will benefit the Frogs.
"The last couple of years, we went in young and knowing it would be tough," Arif said. "Our core group, guys like Huffman and Adams, have really grown up. This year, we're going in expecting to win."
Team camaraderie among the players is a common theme and it's echoed by Arif, who's tied for the TCU lead with 29 appearances on the mound.
"It's a fun group of guys to be around in the clubhouse and dugout," he said. "We're energized all the time and always playing hard."
"We all get along and like each other," Perry said. "We try to keep it lighthearted, but we're serious at the same time. We're trying to win each game. It's been a lot of fun this year. We have great team chemistry."
That chemistry was needed with the Frogs on the road for 10 consecutive days. After completing the regular season last week in Albuquerque, N.M., TCU headed straight to Las Vegas for the MWC Tournament.
"Our personality has evolved over time," Schlossnagle said. "The best thing to happen to us was being on the road for the last 10 days.
"It was not fun being away from family. From a player's standpoint, we had a chance to build camaraderie with something on the line. It was fun to watch that evolve."
This weekend will be Schlossnagle's 11th NCAA Regional as a collegiate coach. The 2006 MWC Coach of the Year also garnered the same honor in 2003 at UNLV. In the season prior to coming to TCU, Schlossnagle led the Rebels to their first outright regular-season conference championship and first MWC tourney title.
The goal of Omaha is definitely in sight if the Frogs can continue their momentum into the regionals.
"We're starting to gel a little bit," Huffman said. "We seem to have picked the perfect time to get hot."
