Gil LeBreton 
Baseball coach has Horned Frogs on the road to success
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
He has a handsome new baseball stadium, four consecutive conference tournament titles, four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and a contract that should keep him at TCU through 2014.
But something in coach Jim Schlossnagle's voice tells you he isn't satisfied.
He wants to get the Horned Frogs to the College World Series.
There's no magic formula, but Schlossnagle has seen the road map. It begins with events like this, the Phillips 66 Mountain West Conference Baseball Championship tournament, at the Frogs' Lupton Stadium this week.
With the regular season title already in hand and a 39-16 record entering tonight's game against UNLV, TCU is expected to again be invited to join the NCAA Tournament field.
But nothing is ever certain when the oft-fickle selection committee meets this coming weekend.
Schlossnagle, therefore, sees two challenges that have been laid at TCU's feet -- one for his players, to again win the conference tournament and clinch the NCAA invitation, and the other for all fans of the Horned Frogs.
"I hope TCU fans are up to the challenge of showing up and supporting this conference tournament this week," Schlossnagle said. "We need to set a precedent that we can host and support an event like this, so that we can show the selection committee that we're capable of hosting an NCAA regional."
Schloss knows what he's saying. This is one time where sitting home, grumbling on the chat boards about where to find the MWC telecasts, won't make for a good TCU fan.
This is the conference baseball tournament, and it's not in Austin or College Station but right in the TCU family's front yard. The Frogs are ranked in the Baseball America Top 25 and riding the crest of a 10-game winning streak.
The home-field advantage -- and the spoils that could come with it -- are there for TCU's taking.
The Frogs have earned that kind of support. In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, of sorts, for Schlossnagle, the Frogs ended up placing eight players on the all-conference team.
"More than that," Schlossnagle said Tuesday, "this is the first team that I've ever coached or been a part of that I can honestly say gave me its best effort each and every day. In the past I've had teams that maybe won just on ability some days or maybe gave away a game to a lesser opponent. But this team, across the board, gave everything it had."
After opening against the likes of Cal State Fullerton, Pepperdine, Tulane, Ole Miss and Wichita State, the Frogs were 10-10 at one point. But their season seemed to take off when Chris and Steve Ellington (who aren't related) became a regular part of Schlossnagle's lineup at midseason.
Right fielder Chris Ellington comes into the game against UNLV with a .347 batting average and a team-leading 47 runs batted in. Left fielder Steve Ellington is hitting .342 and leads the team in on-base percentage (.438).
Third baseman Matt Carpenter rebounded from what Schlossnagle called "the hardest .240 I've ever seen" to raise his average to .273 with a team-high seven home runs and 37 RBI.
TCU learned the hard way in March, losing back-to-back conference series to New Mexico and UNLV, that MWC baseball was on the upswing. In the past two seasons, only TCU finished the regular season ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA's RPI. This season, however, there are three MWC teams.
The conference schools have been following TCU's lead, scheduling quality non-conference opponents when possible.
The idea is to impress the selection committee by climbing the NCAA ladder. The Frogs have already accomplished part of that by averaging 41 victories over the past five seasons under Schlossnagle and by showing they can win games in an NCAA regional.
But Schlossnagle wants his program to take the next step.
"To me, it starts with hosting a regional," he said.
Schlossnagle remembers his eight years as an assistant at Tulane. The Green Wave went to six NCAA regionals. The first five were on the road, and Tulane went home empty. It hosted the sixth, advanced to host rival LSU in the Super Regional round, and then rode a series victory over the Tigers into the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
"If you host, you play in your own environment," Schlossnagle said. "You sleep in your own bed. Would you rather be playing at home, in front of your own fans, or at A&M in front of 7,000 Aggies?
"That's why I say that our fans can be a big part of this this week by showing up at this tournament."
Schlossnagle, trust him, knows the NCAA road map. He wants the Frogs' to end in Omaha.
glebreton@star-telegram.com
