Frogs garner six first-team All-Mountain West Conference members
5/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 22, 2007
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Six members of the Mountain West Conference champion TCU Horned Frogs were honored as first-team all-conference performers, while five others garnered second-team accolades. Four Frogs earned their second straight first-team all-conference nod. For the third time in his coaching career, Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle was honored as the Mountain West Coach of the Year after guiding TCU to a 20-3 mark in league play and a 43-12 overall record.Andrew Walker, Austin Adams, Sam Demel and Jake Arrieta were all repeats on the first team, while Bryan Kervin impoved his all-conference status from second-team in 2006 to first-team this season. The 11 all-conference honorees are the most in school history.
Schlossnagle, in his fourth season with TCU, led the Horned Frogs to the regular-season title in their second season competing in the MWC with a 20-3 record, as well as a No. 1 seed in this year's MWC Championship.
Andrew Walker earned first-team all-conference honors on the strength of a successful junior campaign. Walker was the primary catcher for the Horned Frogs this season, starting 53 games behind the dish. He handled a pitching staff that led posted an ERA of 3.93. At the plate, Walker is hitting .333 and has tied a career high with 11 home runs. His 53 RBIs this season are a career high. In conference play, the junior led the Frogs with 30 RBIs and six home runs.
Junior Austin Adams was named first-team all-conference as an outfielder. Adams hit .352 in conference play with five home runs and 24 RBI. On the season, Adams is hitting .330 with a career-high 12 home runs and 60 RBIs.
Arrieta repeated as a first-team performer on the strength of a 4-1 mark in conference play. He posted a TCU-low 3.17 ERA in eight starts and fanned 42 batters in 48 1/3 innings pitched. On the season, the junior is 8-3 with a 3.36 ERA and has tallied 83 punch outs in 85 2/3 innings pitched.
Sam Demel got the first-team nod as a reliever after going 2-0 with six saves during the conference season. He had a 2.95 ERA in 13 appearances and tallied 23 strikeouts in just 18 1/3 innings pitched. On the season, Demel established a new school-record with 12 saves and has a 6-1 record in 30 appearances. He ranks second on the team with 67 strikeouts.
A newcomer to the squad in 2007, Clint Arnold played a huge part in the Frogs second-straight MWC regular season crown. The first-team selection led the Frogs with a .407 average in conference play. All three of his home runs came against league foes. A second-team selection a year ago, Bryan Kervin was tabbed a first-team performer this season. He hit .330 in conference play with 15 RBIs. He is just one of two Frogs to have played in all 55 games this season.
The Frogs were also well-represented on the second team with five selections.
Matt Vern was selected at first base after hitting .333 in conference play this season with a team-high 11 doubles. He boasted a .995 fielding percentage, committing just one error in MWC action.
In his final season in the Purple and White, Steven Trout was named second-team all-conference at third base. Trout ranks second on the team with 40 RBIs this season, 15 of which came in conference play. He committed just two errors in 22 conference games.
Keith Conlon was named second-team all-conference in the outfield. Despite missing two conference series, Conlon posted an on-base percentage of .433 in 14 conference games. He has a .386 batting average to lead the Frogs at the plate this season.
The final two members of the Frog starting rotation, Chris Johnson and Chance Corgan, rounded out the second-team honorees.
Johnson was a perfect 7-0 in league play with a 3.45 ERA in 44 1/3 innings pitched. On the season, he leads the Frogs with an 11-2 record in 15 starts.
Corgan was 4-0 in conference play with a 4.46 ERA. He made eight appearances and started seven games. In 77 1/3 innings pitched this season, Corgan is 7-1 with a 3.72 ERA.
The Frogs open up play in the Mountain West Conference Postseason Tournament on Thursday afternoon at approximately 5 p.m. (CST). They will face the lowest seed to advance out of the first round which will take place on Wednesday. TCU is guaranteed not to face second-seeded BYU or third-seeded Utah. Air Force did not make the tournament field.
