Return to glory: TCU reliever’s comeback from injury has Horned Frogs eyeing CWS
The first time Augie Mihlbauer learned about TCU he was 10.
The Mukwonago, Wisconsin, native was watching the Wisconsin Badgers play the Horned Frogs in the 2011 Rose Bowl. TCU upset the heavily favored Badgers that day.
“We had confidence that the Badgers would win the game,” he recalled. “We were like, ‘Wow.’ That was the moment I kind of learned about TCU.”
Mihlbauer, the longest-tenured member of the TCU baseball team, leads the Frogs into the College Station Regional this weekend. TCU (36-20) opens the double-elimination tournament against Louisiana (36-21) at 7 p.m. Friday at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
Host and No. 5 national seed Texas A&M plays Oral Roberts at 1 p.m. Friday.
With one more appearance, the left-handed reliever will be tied for second all-time for the TCU career record with 88. Trent Appleby is TCU’s career leader with 96 appearances. It was a fact Mihlbauer was unaware of until a recent text from his dad Brad.
Former TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle, who is now coaching Texas A&M, saluted Mihlbauer’s perseverance through the injury.
“He has always been willing to take the ball when healthy, is extremely competitive and a great teammate to the guys around him,” Schlossnagle said. “Augie was a pleasure to coach.”
After proving to be a bullpen workhouse in his freshman and sophomore seasons in 2018 and 2019, a shoulder injury required surgery before the 2020 season and sidelined him.
“I remember being in the training room being told you’re going to be sidelined this whole season,” Mihlbauer said. “I remember feeling devastated.”
Mihlbauer, a graduate student who graduated with a criminal justice degree a year ago, attacked the rehab process to make it back the next season.
It wasn’t easy, however, as he struggled to regain the groove he had his first two seasons when he . He only pitched in 12 games in 2021, but he was finding it late in the season, allowing just one run in his final 6 2/3 innings pitched.
“You’ve got to think of it as being part of the journey and everything happens for a reason,” he said. “I kept working to get back to the player I knew I had the potential to be. I felt like there were still some things I needed to work through mechanically and mentally to get back to what I used to do.”
He got there. This season, Mihlbauer has been outstanding out of the pen. He’s 3-0 with a 2.66 ERA in 20 1/3 innings. He hasn’t allowed a run in his past 8 2/3 innings going back to April 16.
“I’m just letting it ride. I feel like I’m in a place now where I’m the player I used to be, so to speak,” he said. “It feels good to just be out there and be confident again and just to be able to do my job.”
With an extended postseason, Mihlbauer could challenge Appleby’s TCU record. Mihlbauer would love nothing more than to help the Frogs return to the College World Series in Omaha. That’s why he came to TCU.
“It’s kind of getting to the point now where it feels like it has been too long of a wait,” said Milhbauer, who joined a TCU program in 2018 coming off four consecutive CWS appearances. “I think we have the team to get there and I’m excited to see if we can. I’m excited to roll into this regional and play our best baseball and see where it takes us.”
