TCU News: Baseball Bounces Back

Baseball:

TCU wallops Oklahoma State, evens Big 12 baseball series | The Star-Telegram

The Frogs bounced back after a(nother) rough Friday night, riding some big bats in the lineup and another solid performance by freshman Dalton Horton. Freshman Josh Watson homered again, his eighth of the season. Meanwhile, Texas Tech split a pair with Texas, so the Frogs remain two games behind as each goes into the series decider.

Trailing 2-1 after three innings, the Frogs regained the lead with two runs in the third inning. They added two in the fourth and two in the sixth to take a 7-2 lead, then added four more in the eighth to pull away.

Freshmen help TCU reinvent itself | D1 Baseball

Baker. Horton. Watson. Janczak. Brown. The Frogs are being led on offensive and on the mound by a bunch of guys who just bought their first lottery ticket. And it's working, to the tune of TCU remaining a top ten team.

Ten weeks into the season, TCU is sitting pretty at No. 9 in the D1Baseball Top 25 and 28-9 overall. There hasn’t been any dropoff in the winning department — but how TCU wins is completely different.

Oklahoma State routs TCU; Baker has possible arm strain | The Star-Telegram

While he stayed in the lineup as a hitter, and is expected to remain there, the Frogs can ill afford to lose another starter from the weekend rotation, especially with Traver's return on hold.

Baker started on the mound for TCU, but was removed after 1 1/3 innings with what coach Jim Schlossnagle described as a possible muscle strain in his right arm.

Baker gave up one hit, walked one and struck out three before leaving. He is expected to continue in his role as designated hitter the rest of the weekend.

TCU ex Jake Arrieta continues historic stretch for Cubs with second no-hitter | The Star-Telegram

Arrieta has truly found himself over the course of the last ten months, a time span in which he has hit more home runs (three) than he has allowed (two). He has had a major-league record 24 consecutive quality starts, and is on a roll that hasn't been seen in decades.

The last time Arrieta lost a game, the pitcher had to throw a no-hitter to beat him. That was Cole Hamels in his last start with the Phillies on July 25. The last time Arrieta didn’t have a quality start was June 16 against the Indians, when he allowed four runs on three hits and six walks in five innings. His four walks Thursday are the most he’s had since.

Football:

Texas, Texas A&M, and TCU QB commits train with Steve Clarkson | 247 Sports

The three future rivals have formed a fast friendship as they prepare for the next stage of their football careers.

For now, the Texas Forever rivalry between elite quarterback prospects Tate Martell, Shawn Robinson and Sam Ehlinger is about as friendly as it can be. Down the road however, competitive juices will take charge for the potential future starters at Texas A&M, TCU and Texas.

TCU's three major position battles come on the offensive side | Dallas News

Quarterback, wide receiver, and running back have a lot of unanswered questions, but the battle for pass catchers might be the most interesting because of the depth and talent littering the position.

6-foot-3 Taj Williams was one of the top junior college transfers in the country this last year and can be an instant contributor for TCU. Then redshirt freshman TreVontae Hights is familiar with the offense and played a lot of reps in practice with both Sawyer and Hill last year. Wild cards are true freshmen Isaiah Graham and Camron Williams but the best bets are Williams and Hights at this point.

Kenny Hill looks for redemption with Horned Frogs | Saturday Blitz

Kenny Hill has a lot more at stake than just reclaiming his on-field success, but the support of Gary Patterson, Sonny Cumbie, and Doug Meacham will certainly give him the best shot at success.

Overall, the former Southlake Carroll product did more positive than negative things on the field. In eight starts he threw for 2,649 yards 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Although he never quite got on track during the tough schedule. It doesn’t help that he had no help on defense as the Aggies gave up 28.1 points per game.

TCU receiver could join Dalton on the Bengals | Columbus Dispatch

Doc could be a great fit in Cincinnati across from AJ Green; a reliable target for Andy Dalton with great hands that can win a lot of jump balls and create mismatches across the board.

The Bengals countered those moves by signing Brandon LaFell from New England, but there is still one open spot that they hope to fill through the draft. Dalton and everyone else will be watching closely to see if a receiver is headed to Cincinnati in the first round.