Frogs would ‘absolutely love to’ give ace Janczak one more chance in Omaha

TCU wants to keep winning to give itself a chance to win the College World Series, of course.

But also to give Jared Janczak another start in Omaha, if possible.

“We’d love to. Absolutely love to,” center fielder Nolan Brown said.

Janczak and the Horned Frogs walked away disappointed from his start Sunday against Florida, a four-inning outing that was his shortest of the season at full health. The sophomore ace gave up three runs and walked a career-high five, unable to find the deception on his pitches to beat the Florida lineup.

He took his first loss of the season and told a reporter postgame, “I think your guess is as good as mine,” as to his missing command.

“Usually he’s a real relaxed, chill guy,” shortstop Ryan Merrill said. “But he was not happy yesterday. He was upset. That’s why we want to give him one more chance.”

That will take some doing, however.

Coach Jim Schlossnagle said he won’t bring Janczak back before Saturday, by which time TCU will have had to win three games.

“He shouldn’t be happy. I wouldn’t expect him to be,” Schlossnagle said. “He’s been great for us his entire career, since he got in the rotation. Everybody’s allowed to have a bad day. Unfortunately, his was on this stage. I sure do hope we get to see him pitch again. But we’re going to have to stay around a while.”

Janczak (9-1) can get another shot at a 10-win season if the Frogs can give him one more start.

“I’m a senior, he’s a sophomore, I want to play short one more time behind him because I know I’m probably going to get 20 ground balls when he’s on,” Merrill said. “And he did great yesterday. Obviously, you’re going to have your days, just like a hitter or a defender. But he’s still our guy. He’s a huge reason why we’re here in the first place.”

This story was originally published June 19, 2017 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Frogs would ‘absolutely love to’ give ace Janczak one more chance in Omaha."