What to watch for: TCU baseball at DBU

One more game is left to be played on TCU baseball’s 4-game road trip, but the Horned Frogs are back in the metroplex tonight as they play at Dallas Baptist for the first-leg of the routine home and home series between the two DFW schools.

Here’s a rundown of what to watch for as TCU looks to extend its win-streak to three games.

No. 19 TCU (20-10) at Dallas Baptist (22-9)

Where: Horner Ballpark — Dallas, Texas

When: April 9, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. CT

All-time series: TCU leads, 47-26

TCU starting pitcher: Jared Janczak (0-1, 7.94 ERA)

Projected DBU starter: Jimmy Fouse (2-0, 1.64 ERA)

What to watch for

Staying hot: TCU — No. 19 in the latest D1Baseball.com rankings on Monday — is going for its third consecutive victory after taking two straight from Oklahoma to wrap up the team’s weekend in Norman. The Horned Frogs improved to 5-4 in Big 12 play with the series victory, holding the Sooners to a combined six runs in the two wins after allowing seven in the series opener.

The Frogs’ bats have cooled off a bit over the last four games, as TCU hasn’t plated more than six runs in any of those outings. That stretch included a 3-2 win over UT-Arlington at home last Tuesday and a 4-2 win over the Sooners in Game 2 on Saturday. But there’s still nothing stopping JUCO transfer Jake Guenther, who earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors on Monday after hitting .615 over the weekend at Oklahoma. Guenther has reached base safely in all 30 games this season and ranks second in the Big 12 with a .394 batting average.

Janczak back on track? 2019 hasn’t been the year Jared Janczak envisioned by any means, as the man who was once TCU’s go-to ace has continued to struggle with the injury bug. Tuesday will be Janczak’s first time taking the mound since the Frogs’ series at San Diego last month, still looking to pick up his first win of the season. Janczak enters the DBU matchup with a 7.94 ERA over 11.1 innings of work this season, so he’ll have his work cut out for him if he intends for his first win of the year to come against a DBU team that plated 30 runs (30!) against Air Force just more than two weeks ago. The good news though — the Patriots have lost three of their last four, and have been held to five runs or less in all of those contests.

DBU vs. the Big 12: DBU is no stranger to Big 12 competition, as the Patriots have already gone up against a Big 12 foe five times this season ahead of Tuesday’s contest. DBU dropped both ends of a home-and-home with Baylor by a combined score of 15-5, but split an additional home and home with Oklahoma and also posted a 7-5 home victory against Oklahoma State last month. The Patriots are 2-1 vs. Big 12 competition at Horner Park in 2019, so this isn’t a game that TCU can overlook by any means.

Patriots to watch: Jimmy Fouse, Tuesday’s starter for DBU, has only pitched more than 1.2 innings on one occasion this season, so he isn’t necessarily an ace of sorts by any means. Nonetheless, pitching has been a strength for the Patriots this season, as DBU’s pitching staff ranks No. 15 nationally with 314 strikeouts on the season. At the plate, the Patriots are hitting a collective .280 and rank 6th in the nation with 72 doubles on the year. Infielder Jackson Glenn has been a big part of that success, with a team-high 14 doubles this spring. Jackson is batting an overall .333 with 43 hits and 24 RBIs. 6-foot-6 infield Bryce Ball is also a threat, having homered seven times this season entering Tuesday.