Little by little, TCU baseball aims to get it done on offense
How can Jim Schlossnagle describe the TCU offense, which, to put it kindly, doesn’t exactly knock the ball all around the yard every game?
He smiles.
“Paper cuts, baby.”
The 12th-year head coach had just watched his Horned Frogs scratch out a 4-3 extra-inning win against Oklahoma on Tuesday night, their 10th this year with four runs or fewer.
“Watching us play offense is like drip, drip,” Schlossnagle said. “Eventually it hollows out a stone, I guess.”
For now, as the Horned Frogs finish a 12-game homestand with a weekend series against Wichita State (11-13) starting Friday, that will have to do. There may come a time when the Frogs’ offense rounds into shape. Until then, they are confident they can win with a trusted baseball formula.
“Yeah, we’re built on pitching and defense,” Schlossnagle said. “I think we can be a better offensive club as we continue to grow, hopefully improve throughout the season. Right now, it’s not all that explosive.”
But it is opportunistic at clutch moments. Jeremie Fagnan became the latest example when he delivered the game-winning single in the 10th inning Tuesday night.
“Honestly, the sky’s the limit for us,” the senior first baseman said. “We work hard every single day in practice. Our at-bats are getting better in games. We’re cutting down strikeouts. So if we just kind of stick with Coach Mo’s [Bill Mosiello] plan, I think we can be a really explosive offense.”
Center fielder Cody Jones looks like one of the first to emerge. He homered against Oklahoma to give the Frogs a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning. Last weekend against Oklahoma State, he homered and tripled. At .553, he leads the team in slugging; no one else is even at .400.
“He’s the most dynamic offensive player we have, both with his legs and with his bat,” Schlossnagle said. “That’s been a pleasant surprise. If we could just get one or two others there with him, we might be able to put something together.”
At least close games are nothing new for the Frogs (18-4). They have spent most of the past three seasons playing close games, Schlossnagle said.
“We’ve played so many close games in three years, the only one nervous about them is me,” he said.
The Horned Frogs are 4-3 in one-run games. They are 2-0 in two-run games and 2-0 in three-run games.
“These guys don’t panic,” Schlossnagle said. “They’ve always battled back. You look at the games we’ve lost, other than this past Sunday, you can count on the tying run coming to the plate. We’ve lost three games 7-6. Sunday was just a bad day for the Frogs. These guys never panic, they’re never out of the game. I wish we didn’t play so many games like that, but that’s just the makeup of the club right now.”
Watch those paper cuts.
Carlos Mendez, 817-390-7760
Wichita State at TCU
at Lupton Stadium
6:30 p.m. Friday: Mitchell Traver (3-0, 1.07) vs Willie Schwanke (0-2, 3.00)
2 p.m. Saturday: Preston Morrison (5-0, 1.62) vs Sam Hilliard (0-2, 6.08)
1 p.m. Sunday: Alex Young (4-1, 1.21) vs Jeb Bargfeldt (2-0, 2.16), FSSW Plus
This story was originally published March 26, 2015 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Little by little, TCU baseball aims to get it done on offense."