Chalk Talk: Previewing TCU With Frogs O War

TCU has 4 players swinging over the .300 mark, lead by Cody Jones at .371/.500/.474. I think we can be honest and admit that outside of TCU and Oklahoma State, the Big 12 was pretty down this year and things got pretty dicey in the Fort Worth Regional and Super Regional. How do you think those numbers will translate to Omaha?

TCU’s offense is much better than it was in 2014, and was never really a problem in either the Regional or Super Regional. Even with the new baseballs, TD Ameritrade is still a hitter’s park. It won’t be as pitcher friendly this year, but it still skews that way. More than anything, the Frogs have such amazing execution. Whether it’s steals, hit and runs, or what have you; TCU finds ways to score with extremely effective base running and just overall offensive strategy. They’re also guys, like Keaton Jones, who while their numbers may seem unimpressive, are quite clutch when you need them to be. There’s not a bat in this lineup that can’t provide or contribute.

Mitchell Traver has the best ERA and BAA for TCU's starters, but he has 40 innings less than Preston Morrison. In a one game situation, who would you rather have on the bump, the guy with numbers or the guy with innings?

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Traver took over for Tyler Alexander early in the season, and was later replaced by him. Preston Morrison is the greatest pitcher in TCU’s history, and there hasn’t really been a "number 1" or "number 2" guy these past two years. Morrison’s been the second day starter since he began his career, and it’s a role he’s very comfortable in.

If you’re facing elimination or you’re trying to get to the semi-final, he’s the guy you want. The frustrating part is, however, despite his strong post-season starts, his team has never gotten him the win. Maybe that’s a second game thing, and not really a Morrison or a TCU offense thing. Despite that, you’ll still probably won’t see him Sunday. My guess would by Alexander or Traver, and judging by last week, it’s leaning towards Traver.

Tie game in the bottom of the 9th with nobody on and 2 outs, and Cody Jones is one of them. Who do you want at the dish to either walk it off or start a string of hits?

This is what makes TCU dangerous. Should Cody, our fastest player, get on base, he’ll steal 2nd thus setting up a go-ahead opportunity by Fagnan. He hits well, but I’ve always been a proponent of letting Connor Wanhanen hit 2nd rather than 3rd.

Is your ticket presale code still 12345?

Haha, well the last time we took flack for a code by an SEC school, we made it here, so...

I'm a big fan of your uniforms across all sports, a huge fan. I think in football you guys had the best set of "non-traditional" uniforms and in baseball your set is second only to Vanderbilt. With that being said, do you guys have any pro combat uniforms in the works to wear against us again?

You’ll either see our purple uniforms or our whites. I’d guess the former if we are the visiting team. Our baseball uniforms, especially in the postseason, are kept rather modest. Although, should we go far, we might see a Twins-esque throwback. Sticking with baseball, I do miss our Toronto-esque uniforms we wore a few years back. Those were "100"--as they kids say.

Football wise, I do kinda miss those blood spitting marble-looking helmets, and the whole uniform when we played y’all nearly two years ago. But after losing that game, and losing to Texas at home--the only two times we’ve worn them--we’ve hung them up for good. Probably for the better.

I’ve also warmed up to a couple of the new uniforms we’ll wear at some point this year as well. Although, I see nothing wrong with the combos we wore this year. We finally got a white helmet, and that matched really well with anything we wore.

Is Laguna Beach native Keaton Jones' walkup song Come Clean? And if not, why is he still on the team?

His amazing defense makes up for this mistake.