FORT WORTH — Jared Janczak has played on great TCU baseball teams. Jim Schlossnagle has coached them.
They know good baseball when they see it.
It’s not what they’re seeing right now.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been a part of a stretch like this,” Schlossnagle said. “I’m sure hoping this is the basement.”
Janczak: “We’re so close, I can feel it. But there’s a few things we’ve got to clean up all around.”
That became evident again Sunday in a 12-1 loss by run rule to Baylor in eight innings at Lupton Stadium. It was the eighth setback in nine games for the Frogs, who for a third consecutive game left themselves little chance to keep up with the Big 12 front-runners. The Bears left town with a three-game sweep after scoring 33 runs on 40 hits, benefiting from 10 errors, 11 walks, five wild pitches, a balk and six hit batters.
“It is what it is,” Schlossnagle said. “We’re searching, obviously. You start to compound it with the expectations. These kids don’t want to let anybody down. I don’t want to let anybody down. In this game, it can snowball on you in a super heartbeat. In both directions. Everybody feels it. It’s in the air. It’s in the dugout. You don’t expect a good thing to happen, you expect a bad thing to happen. I’ve given every speech I can give. It’s just a matter of playing one clean ballgame and everybody feeling a little bit better about themselves.”
It’s been a long time since a TCU team required such a thing.
Under Schlossnagle, the Frogs are five-time College World Series participants. Janczak played on two of those teams.
Their highs have been high. Their lows have not been this low.
“Not at TCU,” Schlossnagle said. “Last year we just weren’t a very good team, but we didn’t screw the game up. This is a team that I think is still capable in some form. I think this team is more talented and more capable than last year’s team. I think maybe that’s why it’s snowballed. Because everybody looks and sees, if we play better, what we’re capable of doing.”
That certainly goes for Janczak. The veteran is a representation of TCU’s former heights, a two-time All-American before Thoracic Outlet Syndrome sidelined him a year ago. Appearing for the first time in relief this season Sunday, he pitched aggressively. The bullpen is where he began his TCU career as a redshirt freshman in 2016, eventually becoming part of a CWS rotation in back-to-back seasons.
“It was nice to come out of the pen again, get a little adrenaline rush,” the right-hander from Belton said. “I thought I executed pitches well, but they put good swings on balls and hit it where we’re not. I’ve got to tip my cap to them.”
The Frogs could use a lift from anywhere. They’re playing with a makeshift lineup after losing their second lead-off hitter this year, Hunter Wolfe, who suffered a broken ankle on Saturday on a play at the fence in right field. He was hitting lead-off in place of Porter Brown, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in March.
Before the season even began, TCU lost two promising pitchers, Russell Smith and Caleb Sloan, to Tommy John surgery.
In Sunday’s game, TCU played with its first baseman in right field, its third baseman at first base and a backup shortstop at third. Wolfe himself is a shortstop who was playing outfield because Andrew Keefer missed a month with a sprained ankle. Keefer was the designated hitter Sunday, still not quite ready to play in the field.
For late-inning defense, sometimes the Frogs use catcher Zach Humphreys at third. On Sunday, a bouncing ball to his left sneaked under his glove on a lunging attempt.
Yet even the regulars are missing plays. Second baseman Austin Henry’s backhand feed to start a 6-4-3 double play in the third inning skipped high off the glove of shortstop Adam Oviedo. Baylor capitalized with the first of three consecutive three-run innings.
“It’s just the errors, the free bases or the plays we don’t make,” Schlossnagle said. “The error that should have been a double play ball. Of course, we’ve got guys playing out of position now. The ball that went under Humphreys’ glove. A normal everyday infielder probably makes that play.”
Schlossnagle is not trying to be harsh. He’s trying to be real. He’s a realist. Maybe too much of one.
“I think the guys have the right want-to. I don’t doubt any of that,” he said. “But morale’s horrible. It’s horrible. I’m at fault for some of that. It’s the fine line between holding people accountable, living up to the standards of the program and — I’m just not very good at Pollyanna thinking. I don’t believe in it. So it’s not in my nature to say everything is going to be OK when it’s not going to be OK. It’s just not who I am. It’s hard for me to change my stripes.”
Still, the Frogs (23-18) might yet change their season. At 6-9 in the Big 12, they sit tied for sixth, but just two games in the loss column behind second place. Three more league series remain, at West Virginia, home against Kansas and at Texas Tech, plus midweek games at Abilene Christian and home against Lamar. After that, the conference tournament.
There’s still a chance to finish north of 30 wins, a bare minimum for postseason consideration.
“We’ve just got to pick each other up, play through each other,” Janczak said. “It’s not an individualized game. It’s a team sport. So you’ve got to cheer those guys up when they’re down. And when they’re doing well, keep pushing them. It’s easy to be the 40-9 team or whatever. But when you’re on teams like this, once we get on top, it’ll be a fun story to talk about.”
(Photo: TCU Athletics)
