TCU announces 2007 baseball schedule
10/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Oct. 18, 2006
2007 TCU Baseball Schedule
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The Frogs will open the season on the road for the second time in as many seasons when they travel east to Orlando, Fla. for a rematch with UCF. The three-game series is slated to begin Friday, Feb. 9.
"UCF is a great opponent for us to open with," said Schlossnagle. "They return one of the top pitchers in college baseball, Tim Bascom, as well as featuriing a great recruiting class. Over the years, the have consistently been a Top 40-50 RPI team."
The home portion of the schedule is slated for a Feb. 13 start date when the Frogs host Metro-plex rival, Dallas Baptist. Following that game, the Frogs open up a three-game series with Super Regional pariticipant Oral Roberts on Friday, Feb. 16.
"The Oral Roberts series should be a great one," remarked Schlossnagle. "Rob Walton is one of the best coaches in all of college baseball and had his team a game away from Omaha last season vs. Clemson."
On Feb. 23, the Frogs return to the road for the first of two tournaments. TCU will play four games, including a doubleheader on Saturday, in the Baseball at the Beach Tournament, hosted by Coastal Carolina. Friday, the Frogs will square off against the host, while Saturday's doubleheader will feature contests against UNC-Wilmington and perennial powerhouse, Notre Dame. In the tournament finale on Sunday, TCU will play NCAA Tournament pariticipant, North Carolina State.
"The tournament in Myrtle Beach is annually one of the nation's best," Schlossnagle said. "Coastal Carolina was a number one regional seed in 2005 and UNC-Wilmington won 42 games last year and was a top 50 RPI team. Notre Dame is always a national contender and NC State will have one of the top teams and pitching staffs in all of the ACC in 2007."
The beginning of March will see TCU return home for a brief three-game series against Vermont. The series is set to begin Friday, March 2.
A four-game road trip comes next for the Horned Frogs as they head south for their second tournament of the season. For the second-straight year, the Frogs will take part in the Whataburger College Classic hosted by the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Double A affiliate of the Houston Astros. The tournament, which runs March 10-12, will feature College World Series participant Rice, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Texas Tech. A Tuesday evening affair with Texas Tech in Lubbock on March 13 concludes the road trip.
"We really enjoyed the Whataburger Classic last year," said Schlossnagle. "It was very well run and was well attended."
The Frogs defense of their Mountain West Conference title begins March 16 when they host Air Force, the first of two series during the season, in a three-game set.
"The Mountain West Conference continues to improve nationally," remarked Schlossnagle. "San Diego State signed a top 25 recruiting class, New Mexico returns one of the most potent offensive teams nationally, BYU is very well-coached and always plays its best late in the year and UNLV will be vastly improved."
A trip across town for a Tuesday, March 20 meeting against UT-Arlington opens up a five-game road trip for the Frogs. They will head west for the first of two series meetings against BYU in a series that is slated to begin Thursday, March 22. TCU wraps up the road swing at Texas A&M, which appears on the schedule for the first time since the break-up of the Southwest Conference in 1996. The game also begins a stretch of six straight Tuesdays against the Big 12.
"We appreciate the opportunity to play the area Big 12 schools," said Schlossnagle. "I know a lot of people are excited, as am I, to get Texas A&M back on the schedule. I'm looking forward to my first trip to College Station and having the Aggies back in Fort Worth in 2008."
TCU takes a break from conference action March 30-April 1 when UC Santa Barbara heads to Fort Worth for a three-game set.
A season-long eight-game road trip commences on April 3 with a trip to Norman, Okla for the first of two meetings with the Super Regional participant, Oklahoma Sooners. Following that game, the Frogs head to Colorado Springs to complete the home-and-home series with Air Force, which opens on Thursday, April 5.
A trip South to Waco, Texas awaits the Frogs upon their return from Colorado. TCU will square off against Baylor on April 10 before heading out to Las Vegas, Nev. for a three-game series against UNLV beginning April 13.
Following the eight-game road trip, the Frogs return home for a nine-game homestand beginning with an April 17 meeting against Oklahoma. TCU will take on BYU for the second time when it heads to Fort Worth for a three-game series beginning April 19. The third and final meeting with Texas Tech takes place on April 24 at Lupton Stadium.
A three-game series with conference foe San Diego State begins April 27 and the homestand wraps up with a May 1 meeting with Baylor.
The Frogs will head to Salt Lake City, Utah for their final road series of the regular season. The three game set with Utah begins May 4.
A seven-game homestand closes out the regular season, beginning with a three-game series against UT-Pan American (May 11-13), followed by a midweek contest against UT-Arlington on May 15. The regular season concludes May 17-19 with a three-game series against New Mexico.
"Our goal in scheduling is always to try to achieve a sort of competitive balance that challenges your team for postseason play and also provides some good life experiences for the players," remarked Schlossnagle. "Scheduling now is done two and, sometimes, three years in advance so, sometimes, things change late in the game, but, this schedule should be a good test for this team."
TCU will begin defense of its MWC Tournament title when it heads to Las Vegas for the Mountain West Conference Postseason Tournament, which runs May 22 through May 27.
First pitch for the 2007 campaign is slated for 6:30 p.m. (CST) on Feb. 9 against UCF in Orlando, Fla.
In addition, the 2008 baseball schedule is almost complete and will include home games versus Cal State Fullerton, Ole Miss, Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas A&M and road games versus Wichita State, Oral Roberts and the MetroDome Tournament against Tulane, Pepperdine and Minnesota.
