TCU Hosts San Diego State In Final MWC Showdown

TCU hosts San Diego State in what should be a season ending, MWC Championship coronation weekend. The seniors will take their final at bats at Lupton Stadium Sunday, and some juniors too. This is a great group that we are letting go, let's not forget what they have done over the years. Coats, Rivera, Jordan, Elander, Merck, Allen and Von Tungeln; Get out and support these athletes, lets get this Championship locked down.

MWC STANDINGS
1. TCU (16-5)
2. New Mexico (16-6)
3. San Diego State (11-10)
4. UNLV (7-17)
5. Air Force (5-17)

RPI
TCU: 29
SDSU: 155

SOS
TCU: 60
SDSU: 42

RANKING
TCU: #20 (Baseball America)
SDSU: n/a

TCU NOTABLES
• The Horned Frogs have won 19 of their last 22 games.
• TCU holds a one-game lead over New Mexico in the race for the regular season title coming into the final weekend.
• This weekend's series against San Diego State will mark the athletics department last regular season competition against the Mountain West.
• TCU swept the season series from Oklahoma for the first time since 2004 with a 1-0 win on Tuesday night.
• Brandon Finnegan had a no-hitter going into the eighth inning and stretched his scoreless innings pitched streak to 25.
• Jason Coats drove in the lone run against the Sooners.
• Derek Odell has an eight game hitting streak.
• TCU has outscored opponents 36-4 in its current five game winning streak.
• The Frogs rank in the top 12 nationally with their 2.88 ERA.

SAN DIEGO STATE NOTABLES
• The Aztecs snapped a four-game losing streak with a 13-7 win over Loyola Marymount on Tuesday.
• San Diego State suffered a big loss on Saturday when No. 1 starter Michael Cederoth was hit by a line drive at Texas A&M. His season is likely over.
• The Aztecs have already locked up the third seed in the upcoming MW Tournament in Las Vegas.
• Chris Wilson paces the team with nine of their 17 total home runs.
• The Aztecs' Justin Hepner is tied for the conference lead with seven saves.
• As a team, San Diego State is hitting .279 and averaging 5.6 runs per game.
• The pitching staff has posted a 5.01 ERA and is allowing opponents to hit .290.
• Tim Zier, Greg Allen and Cody Smith are tied for the team lead with nine stolen bases.
• Defensively, the Aztecs are fielding .966 with 68 errors on the season.

SERIES NOTABLES
• The Horned Frogs and the Aztecs will be meeting for the 33rd time on Friday night.
• TCU holds a 21-11 edge in the all-time series.
• The Frogs took 2-of-3 from the Aztecs in San Diego earlier this season.
• TCU is 6-3 all-time against San Diego State at Lupton Stadium.
• Since joining the Mountain West, the Frogs hold a 16-10 series lead.

OH WHAT A RIDE
The Frogs seven-year tenure in the Mountain West is coming to a close this weekend as TCU will play its final regular season series against a league opponent. Since joining the league, the Frogs are 126-21 (.803) in conference play. They have played 52 series over the course of the seven seasons and owns a 47-5 record in those series.
TCU has been the model of consistency with a 62-15 record at home and a 61-16 record on the road. The Frogs have the most wins against UNLV (25) and the fewest wins against San Diego State (16). The Aztecs have handed the Frogs the most losses (9), while Falcons have defeated TCU the fewest number of times (2).
Along the way, the Horned Frogs have claimed six regular season titles and four conference tournament trophies.

MAKING HISTORY
Jason Coats made history on Sunday afternoon as he joined Royce Huffman as the only two Horned Frogs in school history to have 300 hits and 200 RBIs. Coats has made a steady trek up the career charts this season. He is the all-time leader in doubles with 68 and at-bats with 897. He ranks second all-time in hits (302), RBIs (201) and total bases (493).
Additionally, he ranks third with 191 runs scored and is tied for fifth with 12 triples. With one more home run, he will move into a tie for fifth all-time.

TWO-OUT PRODUCTION
The Horned Frogs exploded for 33 runs over the weekend as they swept the Falcons to move into first place in the league. Out of those 33 runs, 25 of them came with two outs in the inning. On the season, the Horned Frogs have pushed across 117 of their 262 (45%) total runs scored with two outs. As a team, the Frogs are hitting .283 with two outs. Jason Coats leads the team with 19 two-out RBIs.
TCU has allowed 72 of 169 (43%) runs allowed to score with two outs. Opponents are hitting .237 against the Frog pitching staff with two outs.

MOUND DOMINATION
The TCU pitching staff has allowed more than five runs in a game twice since April 5, a span of 22 games. On the season, the Horned Frog pitching staff has allowed five or less runs in 39 games.
Even more impressive is that in 24 games, the Frogs have allowed two or less runs. The bullpen has held opponents scoreless in 24 of 49 games and hasn't allowed an earned run in 28 of 49 games.

REPEATING HISTORY
One of the trends of the previous eight Jim Schlossnagle-coached teams is late-season surges. Over the course of his tenure at TCU, he has racked up 381 victories. 222 of those wins have come in April and May. Schlossnagle owns a .767 (222-61) winning percentage in the final two months of the regular season.
Since the calendar flipped over to April this season, the Horned Frogs are 19-6, including a 7-1 mark in the month of May.

UNTOUCHABLE
Freshman left-hander Brandon Finnegan has been in a grove over the last seven weeks. He was pulled from a March 25 start at New Mexico after giving up six runs in 1 1/3 innings. Since then, Finnegan hasn't allowed a single run. He is 3-0 in 11 appearances, including a pair of starts. In 25 innings pitched, Finnegan has allowed 13 hits, only two that went for extra bases, walked 12 and fanned 23. Opponents are hitting just .151 against him.
Tuesday night was his best outing as he held Oklahoma hitless until the eighth inning. He pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out seven.

DID YOU KNOW
TCU defeated Oklahoma 1-0 on Tuesday night. It was the first 1-0 win for the Frogs since March 25, 2008 against TAMU-Corpus Christi.
The Horned Frogs put together an impressive season against its future Big 12 foes. TCU was 7-2 against the conference (as it will look in 2013) this season.

IMPRESSIVE STRETCH
In this current five-game winning streak, the TCU pitching staff has made a case for being one of the best in the country. In the last five games, the staff has allowed just four runs, lowering the team ERA to 2.88. The Frogs gave up three runs in the fifth to New Mexico on May 5. Since then, they have allowed four runs in 49 innings. Entering the week, the Frogs' 2.94 ERA ranked 12th nationally. TCU has not had a sub-3.00 ERA since the 1968 season when it compiled a 2.83 ERA in 29 games played.