Conference Big 12 Conference 2017 record 6–1 (0–0 Big 12) | Coaches No. 1 | |
Head coach Jim Schlossnagle (14th year) Assistant coach Bill Mosiello (4th year) Assistant coach Kirk Saarloos (5th year) | ||
The 2017 TCU Horned Frogs baseball team represent Texas Christian University during the 2017 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Horned Frogs play their home games at Charlie & Marie Lupton Baseball Stadium as a member of the Big 12 Conference. They are led by head coach Jim Schlossnagle, the winningest coach in TCU baseball history, in his 14th year at TCU.
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Previous season
The Horned Frogs enter the 2017 season on the heels of three consecutive trips to the College World Series. The 2016 TCU Horned Frogs baseball team notched a 38–14 (15–9) regular season record to finish third in the Big 12 Conference standings. In the postseason, the Horned Frogs won the Big 12 Tournament Championship with wins over Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas and West Virginia, were selected as one of sixteen NCAA Regional Tournament hosts for the third year in a row and the sixth time in eight years, swept through the Fort Worth Regional with wins over Oral Roberts, Gonzaga and Arizona State; advanced to the Super Regional round of the Tournament for the third straight year, where they faced #4 National Seed Texas A&M in College Station, TX for the best-of-three series; won the College Station Super Regional after an 8–2 win, 1–7 loss and 4–1 win; and advanced to their third consecutive College World Series. At the 2016 CWS, the Frogs notched a 2–2 record, winning their first two games over Texas Tech and Coastal Carolina before losing two consecutive games to Coastal Carolina and being eliminated from the tournament. TCU finished the season with a 49–18 record and ranked third in the final polls.
MLB Draft
The following Horned Frogs on the 2016 roster were selected in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft:
* indicates draftee had no more college eligibility
Departed Players
The following Horned Frogs on the 2016 roster departed the program prior to the 2017 season:
Summer Leagues
Between the 2015–16 and 2016–17 academic years, the following 2017 Horned Frogs participated in summer collegiate baseball leagues:
Recruiting Class
The Horned Frogs added the following 11 players to the roster as part of their 2016 recruiting class:
Season Projections
Coming off three straight College World Series appearances in 2014, 2015 and 2016, losing only four players to graduation and the Draft, and adding a highly-ranked recruiting class, the 2017 Horned Frogs were projected as one of the "Eight for Omaha" in July 2016 by Baseball America, D1 Baseball and Perfect Game.
The Horned Frogs started the 2017 season as the unanimous preseason #1 club. For the third straight year, TCU was picked to finish first in the Big 12 Conference.
Coaching Staff
TCU returns its entire coaching staff from the Frogs' 2014, 2015 and 2016 College World Series seasons. After leading the Frogs to their third consecutive College World Series and being named Baseball America's 2016 National Coach of the Year, Jim Schlossnagle, the winningest coach in TCU Horned Frogs baseball history, inked a six-year contract extension worth over $1 million per year, and assistants Shane Mosiello and Kirk Saarloos inked multi-year contract extensions.
Schedule & Results
All rankings from Collegiate Baseball on the date of the contest.
Rankings
The Horned Frogs started 2017 as the unanimous preseason #1 club. On December 20, 2016, TCU was ranked preseason #1 by Collegiate Baseball. The Frogs' were also ranked preseason #1 by Perfect Game on January 11, 2017, D1 Baseball on January 17, 2017, Baseball America on January 23, 2017, the USA Today Coaches Poll on January 26, 2017, and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on January 31, 2017.
^ Collegiate Baseball ranks 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
† NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
* New poll was not released for this week so for comparison purposes the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.