No easy decision for TCU’s Schlossnagle on starter against Louisville

TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle did not have an easy time with his decision for starting pitcher Thursday against Louisville.

He expected to decide late Wednesday whether to go with senior right-hander Mitchell Traver or freshman left-hander Nick Lodolo.

“I don’t know that there’s a right or wrong answer in that,” Schlossnagle said after the Horned Frogs lifted weights at Creighton. “In my mind, it’s always about trying to win the tournament and seeing what the best matchup is as we move forward. But at the end of the day, if either of them executes pitches, we’ll be fine. If either of them don’t, then we won’t. I don’t think there’s a wrong answer.”

Traver has pitched in six NCAA postseason games for TCU, going 3-2 with a 2.59 ERA, 12 walks and 29 strikeouts in 34.1 innings.

Lodolo got his first NCAA tournament inning on Sunday against Florida, striking out two in one inning of relief.

“Mitchell’s pitched great, he’s started games here before, he’s certainly not going to be wowed by the atmosphere,” Schlossnagle said. “For the future of the program, you want Nick to have a chance to start a game. The easiest way to do that is to win one more, and they’ll both get one more start.”

TCU (48-17) and Louisville (53-11) meet at 7 p.m. Thursday. The winner advances to a Friday night game against Florida, needing to win two games to advance to the championship series next week.

Traver last pitched on June 3 against Central Connecticut State, allowing a run and striking out nine in seven innings.

Lodolo’s start start was May 24 against Kansas, when he gave up three runs in seven innings.

“At the end of the day, you can’t make decisions with your heart,” Schlossnagle said. “You owe that to the school and you owe that to the rest of the players on the team. The beauty of it is, they’re both champing at the bit to start. But they’re both also all about the team, so they’ll be fine with whatever happens.”

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 12:31 PM with the headline "No easy decision for TCU’s Schlossnagle on starter against Louisville."