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College | Story | 3/12/2020

Scout Take: TCU

Connor Spencer

Photo: Gene Wood (TCU Athletics)

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TCU Horned Frogs

What Happened: Now No. 25 TCU battled against a tough Southern California College Baseball Classic field and ended their weekend with a 1-2 record. Their weekend was highlighted by a marquee 8-4 victory against UCLA on Saturday that felt like an offensive shootout at one point with a total of 24 hits total in the ballgame. On Sunday they very narrowly fell to then No. 3 Vanderbilt via a walk-off walk in the bottom of the ninth inning. If TCU was able to hold onto the lead on Sunday against the Commodores, the narrative of their weekend drastically changes. However, with two losses on the weekend, including a Friday night loss to unranked USC, makes the competitive squad drop five spots this week despite their quality play.

Carrying Tool: A balanced offense. TCU has power, speed and competitive at-bats riddled throughout their lineup, and they have the ability to put up a crooked number at any time as they proved against UCLA on Saturday. Second baseman and five-hole hitter Gray Rodgers currently leads the team with a .373 average and they have five hitters hitting .295 or better to this point.

Concerns: Big-time pitching in the Big 12. There’s a solid balance of talent and experience on both sides of the ball for TCU and Sunday starter Russell Smith returning from injury this season adds an extra layer of productive depth to their rotation that they’ll desperately need in the long run. However, if they want to get back to their old ways and make another run at Omaha, their strengths will need to continue to excel and that includes the excellent offensive production they’ve gotten so far this season. But with premium pitching matchups due up soon in Big 12 conference play including names like Cade Cavalli, Bryce Elder, Bryce Bonin and Carson Seymour, the road ahead will not be an easy one.

Best Player on the Field: Although the offense has plenty of talent and production throughout the order, there honestly isn’t too high of a projected prospect to speak of currently in the lineup. Junior transfer Gray Rodgers is quickly making himself known at the plate as he leads the team in average and poses a solid potential power threat in the middle of the order. Experienced redshirt senior and cleanup hitter Gene Wood, who graduated from Alabama last season, has been a huge boost to this offense with five homers and a .353 average through 51 at-bats this season. However, it should be noted that the best prospects on the team belong to the pitching staff with Riley Cornelio, Charles King, Russell Smith and Haylen Green – who has yet to give up an earned run through 17 2/3 innings pitched this season.

Fearless Forecast: With four teams currently ranked in the PG College Top 25, it’s not hard to argue that the Big 12 will send five teams to the postseason again this season, with Texas Tech and Oklahoma in the mix to be a Regional host. The Horned Frogs were one of the last if not truly the last team in on Regional selection day last season, and many argued they didn’t deserve the postseason berth after faltering hard in conference play. That won’t be the case this year as the 2020 squad possesses far more balance and production on both sides of the baseball. They just need a slightly better showing in conference play in order to punch their ticket to a 2020 Regional, and if they heat up at the right time, they have the potential to be a very dangerous matchup in late May.

Previous player reports:
March 6: Haylen Green, Johnny Ray
March 7: Charles King
March 8: Russell Smith

Players Covered: Gene Wood, Gray Rodgers, Sam Thompson, Zach Humphreys, Tommy Sacco, Conner Shepherd

Gene Wood, 1B
After making only 39 starts in his college career at Alabama, Wood is having a breakout farewell tour at TCU that may garner him a chance at to play at the next level, although his age is a factor. As mentioned above, Wood’s .353 average is good for second on the team and his five homers on the season is a team high. His home run on Saturday against UCLA was an experienced looking one as he was able to keep his hands back just long enough to find barrel and hook a line drive around the right field foul pole.

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