TCU Wins 2021 Big 12 Baseball Tournament Championship; Receives National Seed in NCAA Tournament

 

TCU baseball won the 2021 Big 12 tournament championship, in Oklahoma City, on Sunday, May 30.

TCU outfielder Porter Brown was named the tournament's most valuable player.

During the tournament, the Frogs beat Kansas State twice, lost once to Kansas State, beat Texas Tech, and beat Oklahoma State, 10-7, in the championship game.

TCU and Texas tied for the 2021 Big 12 regular-season baseball championship.

This is the first time TCU has won both titles in the same season. The Frogs were regular-season champions in 2015 and 2017. TCU won tournament championships in 2014 and 2016.

TCU received the number 6 national seed for the 2021 NCAA baseball tournament. The seven other national seeds are: 1) Arkansas; 2) Texas; 3) Tennessee; 4) Vanderbilt; 5) Arizona; 7) Mississippi State; and 8) Texas Tech.

TCU will host a four-team regional tourney in Fort Worth, June 4-7. TCU opens against McNeese at 6 pm (Central) on Friday, June 4. Dallas Baptist and Oregon State play at 1 pm (Central) on Friday. 

The winner of the Fort Worth Regional will face the winner of the Columbia (South Carolina) Regional in a Super Regional. The four teams in the Columbia Regional are South Carolina, Old Dominion, Virginia and Jacksonville. If it reaches the Super Regional round, TCU will host the three-game series.

This is the Frogs’ 17th trip to the regionals; 15th under head coach Jim Schlossnagle. TCU is one of 12 teams nationally to play in 15 of the last 17 regionals, and is one of five schools to host a regional in eight of the last 12 years.

 

 

TCU Baseball Falters to Big 12 Conference Co-Championship

 

TCU and Texas are Big 12 Baseball regular-season co-champions

TCU Baseball was on the cusp of another Big 12 regular-season championship this past Saturday, May 22, in Manhattan, Kansas. 

Holding an 8-4 lead over Kansas State entering the bottom of the ninth inning of the finale of a three-game series, the Horned Frogs were three outs away from celebrating.

Instead, head coach Jim Schlossnagle and pitching coaching Ken Saarloos stood by and inexplicably watched veteran reliever Haylen Green melt down. The Wildcats scored seven runs off of Green and recorded an 11-8 upset on a walk-off three-run home run.  

The dramatic loss dropped the Frogs into a tie with the University of Texas for the regular-season Big 12 Conference championship. By virtue of their two-to-one series win over TCU in Fort Worth earlier in the season, the Longhorns earned the number one seed in the conference tournament, which begins Wednesday, May 26, in Oklahoma City.

 

 

TCU Outdoor Home Athletic Events Return to 'Normalcy'

TCU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jeremiah Donati announced that effective with the upcoming football season, all outdoor home athletics events on campus will return to 100 percent capacity.

“We are very excited about returning to 100 percent capacity because we know what it means to our fan experience and in providing a great home field advantage for our student-athletes,” Donati said. “With this great news, we will continue to follow all health and safety protocols with enhanced cleaning and sanitizing to ensure everyone feels secure about attending the games. We have outstanding leadership at TCU and would not be in this position without the guidance of our Campus Readiness Task Force."

In addition to the 100 percent outdoor capacity taking effect with the 2021 football season, tailgating at home TCU football games also will return this fall.

Donati said, the decision to return to full capacity was expedited by the increase in number of individuals vaccinated and the declining cases of COVID-19. Though not expected, any changes to the expanded capacity would be driven by updates in CDC or local guidance.

Face coverings, while still recommended, will be optional at outdoor home contests. Many of the safeguards put in place this past season, such as additional cleaning and sanitizing stations, will remain this fall.

 

 

 

2021 NFL Draft Features Two Frogs; Three Frogs Sign Free-Agent Contracts

TCU safety Trevon Moehrig and linebacker Garret Wallow were selected in the 2021 NFT Draft, which began on Thursday, April 29, and ended on Saturday, May 1. Frogs Ar’Darius Washington, Pro Wells and Artayvious Lynn signed priority free-agent contracts with teams after the draft. 

Moehrig was drafted in second round with the draft’s 43rd pick by the Las Vegas Raiders. Wallow was drafted in the fifth round with the 170th pick by the Houston Texans.

Prior to the draft, Moehrig was projected as a first-round selection. If he would have been taken in the first round, it would have marked the first time in TCU history for the Frogs to have three consecutive drafts with first-round picks. L.J. Collier was a first-round pick in 2019 and Jalen Reagor and Jeff Gladney were first-round selections in 2020. In the last three seasons, TCU has had six players selected in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft. 

Moehrig, recipient of the 2020 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back, is the first TCU player drafted by the Raiders since center Barret Robbins in the second round in 1995.

Named to seven All-America teams in 2020, Moehrig was selected First-Team All-Big 12 by the conference head coaches for the second straight season. He ranked among the national leaders with 1.1 passes defended per game (two interceptions, nine pass breakups). His 11 passes defended trailed only teammate Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson (13) in the Big 12. He placed third on the Horned Frogs with 47 tackles, including two for loss.

Moehrig took part in nine takeaways over the last two seasons which tied for second in the FBS.

Pro Football Focus ranked Moehrig as the nation's No. 1 safety in 2019 with the third-most valuable season in the PFF College era. 

Wallow joins former TCU teammate Ross Blacklock on the Texans. Blacklock was a second-round pick by Houston last year. 

Wallow was a two-time First-Team All-Big 12 selection and Honorable-Mention Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He also earned 2019 Honorable-Mention All-America honors and was a 2020 Academic All-Big 12 recipient.  

Wallow closed his career with 295 tackles to rank fourth in the 20-season tenure of TCU head coach Gary Patterson. Wallow also was a team captain in each game in 2020 as the lone player on the field for the coin toss. 

In 2020, Wallow led TCU in tackles for the second straight season. His 90 stops and 9.0 tackles for loss per game both placed second in the Big 12. He also tied for the conference lead and sixth nationally with three forced fumbles, including one at the TCU one-yard line in the final minutes to preserve a 33-31 win at Texas.

As a junior, Wallow led TCU and the Big 12 with 125 tackles, including 18 for loss with 3.5 sacks. The 125 stops, more than double the next-closest Horned Frog (Moehrig, 62), ranked fourth in a season under Patterson. Wallow tied for ninth nationally in both tackles (10.4) and tackles for loss (1.5) per game. 

Patterson now has had 55 players drafted, with 131 in NFL camps. 

Washington, a safety, signed a priority free-agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens. He ranked among the biggest surprises to go undrafted in the 2021 NFL Draft, even though undersized at 5-foot-8 and 178 pounds. 

Washington had 37 tackles and five pass breakups in 2020. The 37 tackles were the seventh-most on the team. He earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors in 2020. He had an even better 2019 season as a redshirt freshman.

Washington was named the Big 12’s defensive freshman of the year in 2019, and was the second-highest graded safety last season by Pro Football Focus. Only Moehrig was graded higher by PFF in 2019. 

Washington allowed five catches out of 265 snaps in coverage in 2019, according to PFF. He also had five interceptions, which were the most by a freshman in the Gary Patterson era. 

Washington redshirted as a true freshman in 2018. 

Wells, a tight end, signed a priority free-agent contract with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Wells finished last season with 13 catches for 195 yards and three touchdowns, with at least one reception in seven of the eight games of the 2020 season. He had five touchdown receptions and 17 receptions in 2019, when he was named second-team All-Big 12.

Wells redshirted as a true freshman in 2018. 

Also a tight end, Lynn signed as a priority free agent with the Dallas Cowboys. 

Lynn was used primarily as a blocking tight end at TCU, but had success in the passing game when targeted. He had seven catches for 88 yards and a touchdown in six games in 2020. He had 11 catches for 118 yards and one score in 12 games in 2019. 

Over his four years at TCU, Lynn had 22 catches for 236 yards.