TCU will be playing in its sixth Super Regional in the last eight years, one of only four programs to do so.
There was no dogpile -- or possibly, frogpile -- as TCU clinched the Fort Worth Regional with an 8-1 victory against Arizona State on Sunday night.
Just lots of handshakes and smiles.
Does it mean winning NCAA regional championships is becoming routine for the Horned Frogs? After all, that was six in eight years and three in a row at home.
Maybe.
Probably, it was more a reflection of what lies ahead. Another series awaits TCU en route to an unaccomplished goal -- winning a national championship. That's still at least seven victories away, starting with this week's best-of-three Super Regional series at Texas A&M. The winner goes to the College World Series.TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle, on a muted celebration after winning the Fort Worth Regional
"It's hard to get in the NCAA tournament, it's really hard to host, and it's even harder to win," coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "We don't want to downplay that. But at the same time, there's a level of expectation among the players and the coaches. They don't go to the weight room at 6 a.m. in the fall to win a regional; they go to the weight room at 6 a.m. to win a national championship."
The Horned Frogs coach says he won't downplay a regional championship, but that it's only part of what TCU wants to accomplish.
Last season, the regional-winning celebration was raucous and lasted long into the night -- with good reason. The Frogs rallied from an 8-1 deficit in the eighth inning to defeat North Carolina State after coming out of the losers bracket. It had required two victories the day before.
MORE: Eight super regional hosts, game times announced
TCU has swept four NCAA regionals with Sunday night's win. The others were in 2009, 2010 and 2014, all at Lupton Stadium. The Frogs trailed in two innings in sweeping this year.
This weekend, the Frogs breezed. They outscored Oral Roberts, Gonzaga and Arizona State 19-4. They didn't commit an error, hit .318 and had a 1.33 earned-run average. Second baseman Cam Warner homered twice and was the tournament MVP. TCU hitters drew 18 walks and were 5-for-5 in steal attempts.
Only in two innings did the Frogs trail. Brian Trieglaff got the final three outs for the title with a seven-run cushion.
"When you work hard and you do the right things -- you want the ball to bounce your way -- but this is what you expect to happen," Schlossnagle said. "At least it's what we expect to happen. There's no dogpiles there. Our job is to be ready to play the next time we're asked to play."
It was the fourth NCAA regional sweep for TCU, all at Lupton Stadium. The Frogs also went 3-0 in 2009 against Wright State, Oregon State and Oregon State, in 2010 against Lamar, Arizona and Baylor and 2014 against Siena, Sam Houston State and Sam Houston State.
TCU improved to 17-3 in NCAA regional games at home and 28-18 overall.
"I thought we played a very clean brand of baseball all weekend," Schlossnagle said.
It was worth some handshakes.
This article was written by Carlos Mendez from Fort Worth Star-Telegram and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
