TCU baseball gearing up for Big 12 tournament
The college baseball postseason is finally here with the Big 12 tournament slated to begin Wednesday at Globe Life Field.
TCU enters the tournament on a high note after picking up series wins over Cincinnati and Utah to close the regular season. The strong finish helped the Horned Frogs (37-17) secure a No. 3 seed and a much needed first-round bye.
“It’s huge, just having an extra day off to get the body rested up and not play an extra game,” outfielder Chase Brunson said Tuesday. “It’s a big thing that can help you get that Big 12 championship and I think we’re all excited about it. So we’ll watch the games tomorrow and see who we play.”
The Horned Frogs will face either No. 6 seed Kansas State or No. 11 Houston in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. While they wait to see who their next opponent is, the Horned Frogs have been focusing on themselves.
During the open practice on Tuesday, TCU was relaxed and at ease going through a series of warms up. The series wins were huge for the Horned Frogs’ confidence after they ended the month of April losing three of four games.
“A win always gives you confidence,” outfielder Sawyer Strosnider said. “Especially those gritty wins because that’s how it’s going to be in the postseason. We know how it’s done.”
Along with the strong close to the regular season, the play of Strosnider is another reason TCU should be optimistic about its chances of capturing the Big 12 tournament title.
The freshman has emerged as a breakout star this season as he leads TCU in batting average (.360), hits (72), RBIs (50) and slugging percentage (.660). His prodiction led to him being voted Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
Strosnider credits his teammates and the staff for his outstanding freshman season.
“I just stuck with the process,” Strosnider said. “I started slow, but the coaches had faith in me so they let me play through it and I had a lot of help from my teammates.”
TCU’s bullpen led by ace Tommy LaPour could also be the difference in making a deep run in the conference tournament as the Horned Frogs will enter the tournament holding hitters to a batting average of just .244.
“We have some great leaders on this team, I think Caedmon Parker has done a good job of stepping up into that role,” LaPour said of the pitching staff’s success. “Coach (Kirk Sarloos) has been an unbelievable coach, Coach (Dave) Lawn has been great. It’s a complete effort and I think the biggest thing is we’re really tight and enjoy being around each other. We got a hard working group that loves each other.”
Chemistry will be crucial to TCU’s success in the single elimination format as one bad inning could be all that it takes to send TCU home early if the Horned Frogs don’t provide their best effort.
Like many other sports, baseball becomes a different game in the postseason.
“Everything’s faster,” LaPour said. “You’ve got to find a way to slow the game down because it will speed up on you. I think everyone feels the pressure and people either rise to the occasion or fold like a lawn chair. It’s a lot of fun.”
Beyond capturing another conference tournament crown, the Horned Frogs are also playing for a chance to cement themselves as one of the 16 host teams in the NCAA Tournament.
D1Baseball and USA Today both have TCU as the No. 15 overall seed, which means the Horned Frogs still have work to do to clinch hosting a regional.
It adds some pressure to the Horned Frogs, but TCU is taking a day-by-day approach to try and block out the noise.
“You’ve just got to focus on what’s important now,” Brunson said. “What’s important now is the Big 12 tournament and not looking too far ahead into the future. I know all those projections come up and we look at them, but we’ve just got to do a good job of staying in the moment and that’s this tournament.”
This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 2:15 PM.
