Snubbed of preseason All-Big 12 honors, TCU baseball is determined to prove itself
TCU baseball is viewed as a top-10 program in preseason polls going into the 2021 season. None of the players, though, earned preseason All-Big 12 honors on Wednesday.
That ranked as the most surprising development on the day the 2021 schedule was released. As one of the top teams in the conference, TCU had been expected to land at least one player on the preseason All-Big 12 team. Instead, the snub should serve as motivation for the Frogs.
“I have no problem with the way the coaches voted,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “I love our team and although we are an older team, we are a mostly unproven team. We look forward to become a proven one as the season progresses.”
Kansas was the only other program shutout from the preseason team. Texas Tech had four selections followed by three apiece from Baylor, Oklahoma State and West Virginia. Oklahoma and Texas each had two honorees, and K-State had one selection. (Iowa State does not have a baseball program).
Texas Tech’s Dylan Neuse, a Keller Fossil Ridge product, was named the conference’s preseason player of the year. K-State’s Jordan Wicks and Texas’ Ty Madden shared pitcher of the year honors with Texas’ Mike Antico and Tanner Witt being named newcomer and freshman of the year, respectively.
2021 schedule
Along with the Big 12 releasing the preseason team, TCU announced its 2021 schedule with 55 games. That’s a pretty typical schedule, which includes 29 home games, 20 road games and six neutral site games.
The Frogs’ neutral site games will be played at big-league ballparks. They open the season in the State Farm College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington Feb. 19-21 with games against Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Arkansas.
The other neutral-site games are in the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston March 5-7. TCU will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (March 5), Texas State (March 6) and Sam Houston State (March 7).
TCU’s home opener at Lupton Stadium is set for Tuesday, Feb. 23 against Texas Southern. The Frogs’ first Big 12 series is a three-game series against Baylor March 26-28 at Lupton.
It’s unclear how many fans will be allowed at Lupton, although it is expected to be limited capacity amid the coronavirus pandemic. Ticket information will be released at a later date.
The Big 12 tournament is scheduled to be played in Oklahoma City May 26-30.
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 4:05 PM.
