TCU baseball looks to steal another victory against Oklahoma State

When TCU meets Oklahoma State in a three-game baseball series starting Friday at Lupton Stadium, two of the home team’s strengths will be tested.

The TCU lineup walks a lot and steals a lot. The Horned Frogs lead the Big 12 with 33 steals and are seventh in the country in walks with 124.

Yet Oklahoma State has issued the third-fewest walks in the conference, 64, and has stopped 10 of 18 stolen base attempts.

The third-ranked Frogs are coming off a weekend series against Kansas last week in which they hit .198 and scored 11 runs. But they were 4-for-4 on stolen bases and drew 12 walks.

TCU will start the series with sophomore right-hander Jared Janczak, who threw eight no-hit innings against Kansas last week, followed by freshman left-hander Nick Lodolo on Saturday and senior right-hander Brian Howard on Sunday.

Oklahoma State counters with senior right-hander Tyler Buffett (3-2, 4.13 ERA) on Friday, followed by freshman right-hander Jonathan Heasley (2-2, 2.29) on Saturday and junior right-hander Blake Battenfield (2-0, 2.89) on Sunday.

This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 5:50 PM with the headline "TCU baseball looks to steal another victory against Oklahoma State."