TCU baseball holds in top 5 rankings, searching for offense

TCU remained at No. 3 in the Baseball America rankings but dropped a spot to No. 4 on the D1Baseball.com list, where Big 12 leader Texas Tech assumed the No. 3 spot following a sweep at Texas.

The Horned Frogs (14-5, 2-1) went 2-2 last week, losing at Long Beach State and winning two of three against Kansas at home.

The Frogs are also No. 3 in the Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game rankings as they go into a game at Abilene Christian on Tuesday, trying to shake out an offense that has managed only 4.4 runs per game since March 5. They began the week getting shut out at Long Beach State.

“Guys have track records, and if they have track records and they’re working at it, as long as they don’t put too much pressure on themselves, then I’m convinced they’ll come out of it,” said coach Jim Schlossnagle, whose team hit .198 and scored 11 runs in a three-game series against Kansas. “It’d be awesome to have them all come out of it at once. The biggest key is pitching and defense. They need to be consistent, and the base running.”

Sophomore left-hander Dalton Horton (0-1, 8.00 ERA) will start against Abilene Christian (9-10) and freshman left-hander Nick Skeffington (1-1, 9.45) from Arlington Martin.

TCU senior right-hander Mitchell Traver, sidelined since Feb. 28, is a possibility for a start next week against UT Rio Grande Valley, Schlossnagle said.

This story was originally published March 20, 2017 at 5:16 PM with the headline "TCU baseball holds in top 5 rankings, searching for offense."