TCU Begins Busy Stretch; Hosts UNLV Beginning Thursday
4/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 20, 2011
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FORT WORTH, Texas - Fresh off a 4-1 road trip, the TCU baseball team will kick off a stretch of eight games in 10 days Thursday night when they host UNLV for a three game series. The series-opener is slated for a 6:30 p.m. start on Thursday night. All three games can be seen live on The Mtn.
TCU NOTABLES
• The Horned Frogs wrapped up a five-game road trip with a 4-1 record.
• TCU won for the first time at Texas A&M since 1994.
• Andrew Mitchell lowered his ERA to 1.07.
• Josh Elander hit his first home run of the season on Tuesday night.
• TCU earned its first extra-inning win of the season with a 7-4 win in 10 innings on Sunday.
• Coats has pushed his hitting streak to 17 games.
• Additionally, the junior has a seven-game RBI streak.
• Jantzen Witte has put together a 14 game hitting streak.
• The Frogs are 11-2 since the calendar flipped to April.
HOME NOTABLES
• TCU has improved to 16-8 at home this season.
• TCU is 182-56 at Lupton under Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle.
• The Frogs rank ninth nationally in attendance with an average of 4,242 fans per game.
UNLV NOTABLES
• UNLV scored a big win at Baylor on Tuesday to improve to 25-14 overall on the season.
• The Rebels scored a pair of come-from-behind victories against BYU last weekend to improve to 4-7 in league play.
• Tanner Peters is tied for the league lead with six wins and has a 1.40 ERA in nine starts to go with four complete games.
• Brandon Bayardi leads the league with 10 home runs.
• The Rebels have committed 53 errors, which have led to 32 unearned runs this season.
• Zach Hartman ranks second with five saves.
SERIES NOTABLES
• Friday's meeting with the Rebels will be the 33rd all time. TCU holds a 29-13 series lead.
• TCU took 2-of-3 from UNLV earlier this season in Las Vegas.
• TCU is 10-0 all-time against UNLV at Lupton Stadium.
• Since Jim Schlossnagle arrived in 2004, the Horned Frogs are 22-3 against the Rebels.
• Prior to the win earlier this season, UNLV's only victories against TCU under Schlossnagle came in 2008.
TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
TCU has been a dominating force in the Mountain West since joining the league in the 2005-06 academic year. They have won five straight regular season titles and four conference tournament titles, representing nine of the 10 trophies dished out since the Frogs joined the league.
The Frogs 100 league victories are 25 more than San Diego State's 75 wins over the last five plus seasons in the league.
FLIPPING THE CALENDAR
Since turning the calendar to April, the Horned Frogs have been on fire. They are 11-2 during the month, including an impressive 8-1 in league play.
Historically, Jim Schlossnagle's team's catch fire during the second half of the season. Since his arrival in 2004, the Frogs are 105-31 in the month of April.
That is by far the most productive month in terms of wins over the last eight years. TCU has a 43-25 record in February, an 87-51 record in March, an 82-24 record in May and a 14-14 record in June.
HEAD'S UP ON THE BASES
Steven Maxwell vaulted into a tie for the team lead with two pickoffs in Sunday's win over San Diego State. He now has three on the season to tie with Jimmie Pharr.
The Frogs have done a good job keeping base runners honest on the field with 14 pickoffs on the season. Additionally, the Frogs have gunned out 12 runners trying to steal bases.
Eight players have recorded pickoffs this season. Along with Maxwell and Pharr, Erik Miller, Trent Appleby and Andrew Mitchell have two pickoffs. Kyle Winkler, Josh Elander and Kyle Starratt also have a pickoff this season.
