The selection committee made it clear TCU is in the NCAA tournament field of 64 teams because of its pitching.
Four-deep in health, arms and performance in the rotation for the first time in 2019, the Horned Frogs head to the Fayetteville Regional on Friday looking to feed off the mound momentum that emerged at the Big 12 tournament last week.
It will be handy. But the Frogs will take with them another aspect of their team that has been with them all season.
The bats.
As much as TCU performed on the mound, the lineup did a lot of heavy lifting in the five games, highlighted by a 14-run outburst in one inning.
“This offense can be special,” said left fielder Josh Watson, who hit .500 (12-for-24) with two homers and drove in 10 runs in Oklahoma City.
He was just doing his job.
“I was just going out there enjoying every moment with my teammates,” the senior said.
There was a lot to enjoy in the fourth inning against Oklahoma on May 23. In that frame of the elimination game, Watson doubled and homered as the Frogs set a school record for runs in an inning. They hit for the cycle twice in the frame, which is also bound to be a record.
It wasn’t the only example of TCU’s prowess at the plate.
On Saturday, the Frogs hammered Oklahoma State relief pitching in a five-run eighth inning and a two-run ninth for a 13-6 victory. The next day, after trailing 4-0, the TCU hitters tied the game, and Austin Henry’s home run produced a 6-5 lead in the 10th inning before OSU rallied with two runs in the bottom of the frame.
“Our bats have been there all year,” pitcher Brandon Williamson said.
In the five games at Bricktown Ballpark, TCU hit .330 with 16 doubles, four triples and seven home runs. The Frogs walked 22 times and slugged .581 with a .404 on-base percentage for a .985 OPS, scoring 41 runs.
“They’re competitive,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said of his hitters. “We have competitive at-bats. I’m a firm believer in our offensive style.”
The Frogs did it while while missing two key factors. Leading hitter Jake Guenther, the conference newcomer of the year, got only four at-bats because of a sore wrist, and the team did not have a stolen base, attempting only two and getting caught both times.
Johnny Rizer had three doubles, four walks and a home run. Hunter Wolfe slugged .684 and walked four times, a valuable performance at the top of the lineup from the junior at near full health.
Catcher Zach Humphreys, who hit .267 in the regular season, hit .333 and drove in nine runs.
The Frogs were also bolstered by two doubles and a triple from Andrew Keefer, who hit third in the fall games and appeared destined for a major role in the lineup before injury cost him games, too.
“Our ability to steal bases and our ability to put pressure on defenses is a far cry from what it was to start the season,” Schlossnagle said. “We still are competitive. We just have to play well.”
TCU will face good pitching this weekend, of course. But as postseason events go longer and pitching thins, offenses can become the stars of the show. The Frogs are potential headliners, ranking 28th in the country in average (.295), 30th in slugging (.455), 34th in walks (.287) and 31st in on-base percentage (.391).
They are literally tough outs.
“Being selected, it’s a lot of responsibility,” Watson said. “We’ve got something to prove now. It’s kind of been our thing all year. We’ve got to prove to everyone we deserve to be here.”
They already made that point in the batter’s box in Oklahoma City.