| Year: | 2018 |
| Team: | TCU Horned Frogs |
| Sport: | baseball |
| Conference: | Big 12 Conference |
| Short Conf: | Big 12 |
| Coachrank: | 12 |
| Record: | 9–4 |
| Conf Record: | 0–0 |
| Head Coach: | Jim Schlossnagle |
| Hc Year: | 15th |
| Asst Coach1: | Bill Mosiello |
| Ac1 Year: | 5th |
| Asst Coach2: | Kirk Saarloos |
| Ac2 Year: | 6th |
| Asst Coach3: | Zach Etheredge |
| Ac3 Year: | 5th |
| Stadium: | Lupton Stadium |
The 2018 TCU Horned Frogs baseball team represented Texas Christian University during the 2018 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Horned Frogs played their home games at Charlie & Marie Lupton Baseball Stadium as a member of the Big 12 Conference. They were led by head coach Jim Schlossnagle, the winningest coach in TCU baseball history, in his 15th year at TCU.
The Horned Frogs entered the 2018 season on the heels of four consecutive trips to the College World Series.[1] The 2017 TCU Horned Frogs baseball team entered the season as the unanimous preseason #1 team,[2] and the favorite to win the Big 12 regular season championship.[3] They notched a 39–14 (16–8) regular season record, and won a Big 12 Conference championship for the fourth-straight season, sharing the regular season co-championship with Texas Tech.[4] [5] In the postseason, the Horned Frogs advanced to the Big 12 tournament semifinals, before being eliminated by Texas.[6] TCU was selected as the #6 National Seed the NCAA tournament, the Horned Frogs' highest-ever national seed.[7] Star-first baseman/designated hitter Luken Baker was unavailable for the Tournament after a late-regular season injury.[8] The Frogs coasted to a 3–0 record in the Fort Worth Regional, with wins over Central Connecticut,[9] #11 Virginia,[10] and #20 Dallas Baptist,[11] and a 2–0 sweep of #8 Missouri State in the Fort Worth Super Regional to advance to the College World Series for the fourth-straight year.[12] [13] In Omaha, the Frogs fell in their opener to eventual-national champion, Florida, an 0–3 loss at the hands of Gator starting pitcher Alex Faedo.[14] TCU then eliminated #8 Texas A&M[15] and #4 Louisville to advance to a rematch with Florida in the national semifinals.[16] The Frogs' win over the Aggies marked the third consecutive season, and the fourth in the past six seasons, that TCU eliminated Texas A&M from the NCAA tournament.[17] The Frogs then beat #3 Florida 9–2 in the teams' first rematch[18] before falling to the Gators in a decisive national semifinal game, again an 0–3 loss to Alex Faedo.[19] The loss marked the third-straight year that TCU's season ended in the national semifinals.[20] TCU finished the season ranked #4 in every final poll, with a 50–18 record (the Frogs' third 50-win season).[19]
The following Horned Frogs on the 2016 roster were selected in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft:
| List of Drafted Players | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | 2017 Class | Pos. | Team | Round | Signed/Returned | |
| Austen Wade | Junior | OF | 5th | Signed[21] | ||
| Junior | C | 7th | Signed | |||
| Brian Howard | Senior | RHP | 8th | Signed* | ||
| Mitchell Traver | Senior | RHP | 20th | Signed*[22] | ||
| Cam Warner | Senior | INF | 28th | Signed* | ||
| Elliott Barzilli | Senior | INF | 32nd | Signed* | ||
The following Horned Frogs on the 2017 roster departed the program prior to the 2018 season:
| List of Departed Players | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | 2017 Class | Pos. | Reason | |
| Elliott Barzilli | Senior | 3B | Graduated, Drafted/Signed | |
| Alec Creel | Freshman | RHP | Departed | |
| Nolan Brown | RS Senior | CF | Graduated | |
| Trent Franson | Sophomore | INF | Transferred to Houston Baptist | |
| Mason Hesse | Senior | SS | Graduated | |
| Dalton Horton | Sophomore | LHP | Transferred to Louisiana | |
| Brian Howard | Senior | RHP | Graduated | |
| Austin Ingraham | Junior | OF | Transferred to Texas A&M–Kingsville | |
| Ryan Merrill | Senior | SS | Graduated | |
| Junior | C | Drafted/Signed | ||
| Bryan Sturges | Freshman | U | Transferred to Howard College | |
| Mitchell Traver | RS Senior | RHP | Graduated, Drafted/Signed | |
| Austen Wade | Junior | RF | Drafted/Signed | |
| Cam Warner | Senior | 2B | Graduated, Drafted/Signed | |
| Evan Williams | RS Senior | OF | Graduated | |
The Horned Frogs added the following players to the roster as part of their 2017 recruiting class:
| List of 2017 Recruits | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | 2018 Class | Pos. | Previous School | Hometown | |
| A.J. Balta | SR | OF | Valencia, CA | ||
| Coby Boulware | FR | INF | Anthem, AZ | ||
| Danny Crews | JR | INF | Springfield, MO | ||
| Brad Czerniejewski | FR | OF | Lake Forest, IL | ||
| Tristan Hanoian | FR | INF | Costa Mesa, CA | ||
| R.J. Lan | FR | OF | La Mirada, CA | ||
| Augie Mihlbauer | FR | LHP | Mukwonago, WI | ||
| James Notary | FR | RHP | Westminster, CO | ||
| Adam Oviedo | FR | INF | Grandview, TX | ||
| Colton Parrish | JR | C | La Vernia, TX | ||
| Johnny Rizer | JR | OF | Cypress, TX | ||
| Conner Shepherd | RS SO | INF | Upland, CA | ||
| Caleb Sloan | FR | RHP | Centennial, CO | ||
| Dylan Smith | JR | RHP | Southlake, TX | ||
| Russell Smith | FR | LHP | Midlothian, TX | ||
Coming off four-straight College World Series appearances in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, returning anticipated starting pitchers Jared Janczak, Rex Hill and Nick Lodolo, and adding a highly ranked recruiting class, the 2018 Horned Frogs were projected as one of the "Eight for Omaha" in July 2017 by Baseball America, D1 Baseball, and Perfect Game.
The Horned Frogs were ranked in each major preseason poll and ranking. TCU was ranked #3 by Perfect Game,[23] #4 in the USA Today Coaches Poll,[24] #5 in the NCBWA Poll,[25] #7 by D1 Baseball[26] and Baseball America,[27] and #9 by Collegiate Baseball.[28]
Big 12 coaches predicted TCU would finish second in league play, with 4 of the 9 coaches picking TCU to finish in first place.[29]
TCU will return its entire coaching staff from the Frogs' 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 College World Series seasons. Pitching coach Kirk Saarloos, a California native, was reportedly courted by Stanford to replace 31-season head coach Mark Marquess, but Saarloos opted to remain at TCU.
| Name | Position | Season at TCU | Alma Mater | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | 15 | Elon University (1992) | ||
| Bill Mosiello | Associate head coach | 5 | Fresno State University (1986) | |
| Assistant coach | 6 | California State University, Fullerton (2001) | ||
| Zach Etheredge | Volunteer Assistant Coach | 5 | University of Texas at San Antonio (2008) |
The Horned Frogs' 2018 roster consists of 17 returners and 15 new players. Nearly half of the roster (15 of 32 players) are from outside the State of Texas. Sophomore catcher Zach Humphreys and freshman pitcher Russell Smith were high school teammates at Midlothian High School, and sophomore pitcher Cal Coughlin and freshman outfielder Brad Czerniejewski were high school teammates at Lake Forest High School in Illinois. Junior catcher Colton Parrish and junior outfielder Johnny Rizer were teammates at Blinn College before transferring to TCU prior to the 2018 season.
! style="background:#4d1979;color:white;"| Regular season|- valign="top" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb"| February 16 || 7:00 pm || ESPN3 || at * || #9 || Brazell Stadium • Phoenix, AZ || W
3–2 || Coughlin