Still alive in Omaha, Frogs get one of their wishes: another Janczak start

Five days ago, center fielder Nolan Brown said TCU would “absolutely love to” give their ace, Jared Janczak, another chance to pitch this year in Omaha.

They’ve done it.

The Horned Frogs defeated Florida 9-2 on Friday, their third consecutive elimination-game victory, to force a second semifinal against the Gators for a trip to the championship series — and Janczak will start.

He will face Florida’s Alex Faedo, a first-round Major League draft pick, on Saturday night in the same matchup as the CWS opener.

“He’ll give us a chance,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said of his sophomore right-hander. “If he just fills up the strike zone, he’ll give us a great chance.”

Janczak (9-1, 2.19) walked a career-high five batters and gave up three runs in four innings plus three batters in the first meeting against Florida, taking his first loss of the season.

He said after the game he was “too amped up,” despite it being his third CWS start. He started twice in 2016.

“It’s just a bad day, in my mind,” Schlossnagle said. “He shouldn’t be amped up. He’s been here before. If I say anything to him, it will just be, ‘Trust your routine, breathe, pitch at a low heart rate and do what you do. Give us a chance to make plays behind you.’”

The Florida start was Janczak’s shortest outing of the season, not counting three perfect innings in a warmup start at Cal on May 19, his first since coming off a shoulder strain that sidelined him four weeks.

Schlossnagle said it was a standard week of work in Omaha for Janczak.

“He stayed pretty much in normal routine. He threw a little short pen, flat-ground thing that he normally does before he starts,” Schlossnagle said.

Janczak, like Faedo, will make the start on five days’ rest. Janczak threw 87 pitches. Faedo threw 106.

“He’s pitched on one less day’s rest this year,” Schlossnagle said. “If he’s ever going to play pro ball, he’ll have to get used to it every five days. I think he’ll be fine.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2017 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Still alive in Omaha, Frogs get one of their wishes: another Janczak start."