TCU sets starting rotation for opening series vs. Penn State

Jared Janczak, who won a Super Regional game at Texas A&M last season, will start Game 1 of the season-opening series for TCU against Penn State on Friday, coach Jim Schlossnagle said.

The sophomore right-hander will be followed by senior right-hander Brian Howard, who was unbeaten in postseason last year, on Saturday and freshman left-hander Nick Lodolo, the highest-drafted player not to sign last season, on Sunday.

Senior right-hander Mitchell Traver, who has eight career postseason appearances, will start on Tuesday at UT Arlington.

Game 1 of the Penn State series is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Lupton Stadium. TCU, coming off three consecutive College World Series appearances, opens as the unanimous No. 1 team in the country.

“If you told me you have to pick your starting rotation out of a hat and those are your four guys, I’m fine with it,” Schlossnagle said. “I really don’t care what day they pitch on, because I feel confident with any of those four guys on any day of the week.”

Janczak, Howard and Traver combined to win 18 games in 31 starts last season. Janczak was 7-4 with a 2.61 ERA, and Howard was 10-2, 3.19, including a 4-0, 1.35 mark in winning his Big 12 tournament, Fort Worth Regional, Super Regional and College World Series starts against, respectively, Texas, Arizona State, Texas A&M and Coastal Carolina.

Lodolo, drafted 41st by the Pittsburgh Pirates but opted to stick with college and TCU, was rated the top left-handed pitcher in California.

Traver was 1-3 in four starts after missing most of the season with a back injury. He and Howard both turned down professional baseball to return for their senior seasons.

The Frogs return eight pitchers who saw action last season, including closer Durbin Feltman. They added seven freshman pitchers besides Lodolo, including Charles King of Coppell.

“Once we get into the season and see how they’re pitching, we’ll probably juggle it a little bit to see what the best matchup is to win a weekend conference series,” Schlossnagle said of the rotation. “Depending on how everybody stays healthy and depending on how everybody pitches, Charles King and Jake Eissler are definitely guys that we see being starting pitchers at some point in their career.”

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 1:24 PM with the headline "TCU sets starting rotation for opening series vs. Penn State."