'A Hell of a Time To Be a Frog'

TCU’s athletics season has been indelible, an unforgettable sports parade that has included triumphs, and, yes, shocking setback to those peach peddlers.

Sports is like life itself and life itself includes failure. No way out of it.

But mark down the national 2022-23 national college sports scene as “The Color Purple.” And the baseball team appears to be whipping up something special, a capstone event to finish it all off in the school’s 150^th year. 

There is lots to be done yet on all that, but it's time to crank up the ol' #ToadToOmaha hashtags. It seems only fitting that the Horned Frogs baseball team end this glorious sports run at the apex of their level of baseball — the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

TCU made it there with a sweep of No. 14 Indiana State on Saturday in front of record crowds who flocked to Lupton Stadium on short notice for the Fort Worth Super Regional and a great cause, as it turned out.

The Frogs enter the eight-team tournament this weekend one of the hottest teams going having won 19 of their last 21 games and 11 consecutive.

"It's a hell of a time to be a Frog," said Saturday’s winning pitcher Sam Stoutenborough after his team’s 6-4 victory over the Sycamores.

Undoubtedly.

The Frogs are the first school in the College Football Playoff era to reach the CFP and College World Series in the same season. The Frogs, of course, also advanced in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. TCU’s venerable sports information authority, Mark Cohen, reminded us on social media that in addition to the football team, four other Frogs sports programs finished as national runners-up, including women’s golf, which have made back-to-back NCAA national championship appearances; men’s tennis; the rifle team, and women’s beach volleyball.

In the fall, men’s tennis became only the seventh program in 50 years of the indoor tournament to win back-to-back championships, topping Texas 4-0.

The Frogs bring a fajitalike searing hot streak into their game with Oral Roberts, making its first world series appearances since 1978. TCU is going back to the College World Series for the sixth time, all of them since 2010 and first since 2017.

The CWS appearance also marks TCU’s first under second-year coach Kirk Saarloos, who took over for Jim Schlossnagle. Schlossnagle left the program to take over Texas A&M in 2022. Schlossnagle transformed the program that never could — or even had a chance to — while playing on a field adjacent to Schollmaier Arena back in the day.

The Frogs were ranked No. 15 by D1 Baseball to start the season but underachieved quite frankly, reaching a low point in late April and early May.

Like life itself, things change and people grow. TCU has jelled and is now achieving. The current Frogs have outscored opponents 194-70 during the last 21 games, which includes winning Big 12 tournament championship.

TCU first baseman Cole Fontenelle went 5-for-7 in the two games with Indiana State with a walk, two home runs, three RBIs, and four runs.

“Before the season started, I was talking to our staff and said if we’re gonna get to where we want to get to, Cole’s gonna have to have a pretty good year,” Saarloos said on Saturday.

“I don’t know what’s he’s hitting, but it’s pretty special to be able to see that.”

Fontenelle, who started his college career at Washington before transferring to McLennan Community College and finding Interstate 35W northbound, is hitting .347. Since April 30, Fontenelle has hit .403 and in his past four games, he’s been relentless on pitchers, going 9-for-16.

That manner of smacking the ball around is downright Max Dugganian.

The best story of the weekend, though, was what was done for our fellow man.

The Frogs only hosted this weekend after Indiana State had to decline because of a scheduling conflict with the Special Olympics Indiana, which has come to Terre Haute for the past 51 years.  

The Lupton Drinking Club, which offers commentary on TCU sports through the podcast medium, immediately asked for donations for the cause of the Special Olympics in Indiana. Then in advance of the series, Jeremiah Donati, TCU’s athletics director, announced that the school would donate a dollar from every concession transaction over the weekend.

In total, more than $50,000 was raised, including almost $15,000 from concession purchases made by the more than 17,000 combined who attended both games. On Saturday, 8,944 watched, reportedly the biggest to ever watch a college baseball game played at a campus stadium in the state.

The Frogs winning and advancing to the College World Series to cap an incredible sports season was a big hit.

TCU living out the values of loving one's neighbor: a grand slam.