Surge of TCU pitching rotation a reminder of this time last year

The performance of the TCU starting rotation last week in Oklahoma City could not have come at a better time, reminding the Horned Frogs of last season.

Nick Lodolo, Jared Janczak, Brian Howard and Mitchell Traver turned in their best collective week, going 3-0 with a 1.29 earned-run average at the Big 12 tournament.

The Frogs hope that’s a springboard into this week’s Fort Worth Regional against Central Connecticut State, Virginia and Dallas Baptist.

“When you do well, obviously it builds confidence, and you can build off of that, and when you do things positively, you just continue to get better,” Traver said after his seven-inning outing in a semifinal elimination game against Texas. “I think the timing is great, but I was just really excited how the guys pitched this weekend. I think that there are a lot of positives we can take away. For me personally, I’m definitely in that group.”

Janczak and Howard were unscored on in their outings, and Howard struck out a career-high 12 against Kansas.

Traver matched career highs with seven innings and eight strikeouts.

Lodolo allowed runs in only one of the seven innings he pitched against Kansas, leaving with the game tied.

TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle is reminded of the point in 2016 when the rotation also began turning in its best performances.

“If you think about last year, this time of year, Janczak was just getting in the rotation,” he said. “Brian, in his last five starts — Kansas State, Texas here, Arizona State, at A&M in the Super Regional and Coastal Carolina in Omaha — he won all five of those and pitched great. Getting Janczak back healthy and getting Brian to this time of the year, where he normally shines, that’s what we’ve been counting on.”

Schlossnagle says the Frogs hold the potential to play their best games yet, but it is tied to starting pitching.

“I’ve said the whole season that we haven’t played three or four consecutive days of really good baseball, and the reason that’s the case is because the starting pitching hasn’t been consistent,” he said. “And that’s not calling anybody out. That’s just a fact. The game begins and ends with starting pitching, in my mind.”

Lodolo, Janczak, Howard and Traver averaged 7.0 innings per start last week. Combined, they walked five, gave up 17 hits and struck out 31 in 28 innings.

“It’s awesome to see all those guys start to step it up as the games get a little more important,” first baseman Connor Wanhanen said. “It’s awesome to have them going out there filling it up. That’s when we get excited as position players. We want to stay on defense as little as we can so we can go in and hit and get them some runs.”

This story was originally published May 30, 2017 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Surge of TCU pitching rotation a reminder of this time last year."