2014 Forth Worth Regional

(capsules compiled by Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton, Colin Graves, John Whittle, Matt Mullen)

1. TCU Horned Frogs

Fort Worth, Texas

Automatic bid – won Big 12 Tournament

2014 record: 17-7, 42-15

Head coach: Jim Schlossnagle (Elon, 1992)

Record at school: 459-218, 11 years

Overall record: 536-265, 13 years

Assistant coaches: Bill Mosiello, Kirk Saarloos, Zach Etheredge

Team offense: .287 BA, 302 R, 12 HR, .365 SLG%, .378 OBP, 78-114 SB

Team pitching: 2.26 ERA, 512.2 IP, 411 H, 125 BB, 481 K

Top hitters: Garrett Crain (.340/1/27/.447 slg), Boomer White (.326/2/45/10-14 SB), Dylan Fitzgerald (.324/2/33/.451 slg), Derek Odell (.297/1/32), Cody Jones (.278/0/45), Kevin Cron (.277/4/32)

Top pitchers: Preston Morrison (9-3, 1.25 ERA, 108.1 IP, 77 H, 14 BB, 76 K), Tyler Alexander (9-3, 2.04 ERA, 83.2 IP, 70 H, 10 BB, 52 K), Brandon Finnegan (8-3, 2.14 ERA, 84 IP, 63 H, 24 BB, 110 K), Jordan Kipper (8-2, 3.01 ERA, 68.2 IP, 61 H, 14 BB, 65 SO)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2012 (4-1 Station Regional, 0-2 at Los Angeles Super Regional)

Notes: TCU is a national seed for the first time and has been to the tourney 10 of the past 11 years. The Horned Frogs used a 20-2 finish, which included four straight in the Big 12 tourney, to capture the national seed. They’ll be looking for their second trip to Omaha (2010). TCU has averaged nearly 42 wins a year in 11 years under Jim Schlossnagle, who guided UNLV for two years before coming to Fort Worth. He also had stops as a pitching coach at Clemson, New Orleans and Elon, his alma mater. Preston Morrison, who is 25-8 in three years, was the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and ranks seventh in the country in ERA. As a staff, the Horned Frogs rank fifth in the nation in ERA (2.26) and fourth in WHIP (1.05). Brandon Finnegan, who entered this season with a 4-13 career record, ranks 12th in strikeouts. The offense has gotten a lift from senior Dylan Fitzgerald, who hit .221 last year.

2. Dallas Baptist Patriots

Dallas, Texas

Automatic bid from Missouri Valley Conference

2014 record: 14-7, 40-19 (third in MVC)

Head coach: Dan Heefner (Olivet Nazarene)

Record at school: 256-153, seven years

Overall record: Same

Assistant Coaches: Dan Fitzgerald, Wes Johnson, Craig Parry

Team offense: .260 BA, 378 R, 43 HR, 43-56 SB

Team pitching: 3.70 ERA, 532.1 IP, 482 H, 252 BB, 493 K

Top hitters: Camden Duzenack (.310/0/27), Mike Wesolowski (.308/6/34), Austin Listi (.282/10/45), Justin Wall (.265/2/36), David Martinelli (.269/6/33), Drew Turbin (.261/5/31), KJ Alexander (.246/4/32)

Top pitchers: Brandon Koch (8-0, 0.48 ERA, 9 SV, 37.2 IP, 20 H, 17 BB, 64 K), Josh Urban (3-0, 2.78 ERA, 45.1 IP, 35 H, 28 BB, 39 K), Joseph Shaw (4-4, 2.85 ERA, 4 SV, 53.2 IP, 42 H, 14 BB, 49 K), Paul Voelker (9-4, 3.16 ERA, 91 IP, 86 H, 37 BB, 79 K), Cory Taylor (4-4, 3.50, 82.1 IP, 73 H, 51 BB, 90 K), Cy Sneed (8-3, 3.67 ERA, 98 IP, 91 H, 34 BB, 78 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2012 (2-2 at Waco Regional)

Notes: Dallas Baptist is in the field for the fourth time in seven years after capturing the MVC Tourney title in its first year in the league. The last time the Patriots were in the tourney, they won their first two games in Waco, but dropped two straight to Baylor. Coach Dan Heefner played at Olivet Nazarene and Northern Iowa – at NAIA Olivet Nazarene, he led the nation with 22 homers and 102 RBI in 2000. At DBU, he’s guided the Patriots to 37 wins per season. The Patriots lost four one-run games to NCAA tourney participants (TCU, Texas Tech and twice to Indiana State). Paul Voelker made successful transition from bullpen (24 appearances, 1 start in 2013) to win nine games. Sophomore Brandon Koch went from hittable freshman (0-2, 7.80 ERA) to shutdown closer – his K/9 IP is 15.48, which would be at or near the top in the country if he had enough innings to qualify. Austin Listi has hit 19 homers the past two years.

3. Sam Houston State Bearkats

Huntsville, Texas

At-large bid from Southland

2014 record: 22-8, 41-17 (first)

Head coach: David Pierce (Houston, 1988)

Record at school: 119-61, 3 years

Overall record: same

Assistant coaches: Sean Allen, Philip Miller, Phil Haig

Team offense: .287 BA, 338 R, 36 HR, .400 SLG%, .366 OBP, 49-61 SB

Team pitching: 2.79 ERA, 516.2 IP, 456 H, 192 BB, 328 K

Top hitters: Anthony Azar (.376/9/47), Colt Atwood (.323/0/37/10 2B), Ryan O’Hearn (.301/8/44/10 2B), Corey Toups (.297/7/28/11-13 SB), Carter Burgess (.293/0/27/15 2B), Luke Plucheck (.265/2/26), Ryan Farney (.264/0/18/11-11 SB)

Top pitchers: Sam Odom (9-2, 1 SV, 2.57 ERA, 73.2 IP, 55 H, 28 BB, 36 K), Jason Simms (5-3, 4 SV, 2.72 ERA, 72.2 IP, 62 H, 15 BB, 38 K), Ryan Brinley (3-2, 8 SV, 3.22 ERA, 36.1 IP, 37 H, 8 BB, 30 K), Tyler Eppler (8-6, 3.33 ERA, 102.2 IP, 97 H, 29 BB, 61 K)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2013 (1-2 at Baton Rouge Regional)

Notes: This is the ninth Division I regional appearance for SHSU. The Bearkats have been in the tourney field for each of the past three seasons and for the sixth time in the past eight seasons. SHSU won 15 of 16 before dropping its final two games in the Southland tournament. Opponents are hitting just .238 against SHSU pitching with a slugging percentage of .296. The Bearkats took two of three from Dallas Baptist the second weekend of the season. They defeated TCU 9-4 at Minute Maid Park on Feb. 28 on the first day of the Houston College Classic. Junior catcher/infielder Shea Pierce is the son of head coach David Pierce. Catcher Anthony Azar was the first Bearkat to be named Southland Player of the Year in baseball.

4. Siena Saints

Loudonville, New York

Automatic bid – won MAAC Tournament

2014 record: 17-7, 26-31 (second in MAAC)

Head Coach: Tony Rossi (The College at Brockport 1965)

Record at School: 800-956-6 (45 years)

Overall Record: 800-956-6 (45 years)

Assistant Coaches: Michael Kellar, Elliot Glynn

Team offense: .264 BA, 263 R, 10 HR, 60-84 SB

Team pitching: 5.40 ERA, 465.1 IP, 555 H, 202 BB, 285 K

Top hitters: Vincent Citro (.333/0/21/18-26 SB), Mike Allen (.303/1/19), Dan Swain (.291/2/23/12-15 SB), Justin Esquerra (.289/2/29), Andres Ortiz (.268/3/27)

Top pitchers: Matt Gage (4-7, 4.81 ERA, 101 IP, 111 H, 35 BB, 85 K), Ed Lewicki (4-7, 5.02 ERA, 75.1 IP, 82 H, 35 BB, 48 K), Bryan Goossens (3-4, 5.83 ERA, 80.1 IP, 110 H, 25 BB, 37 K), Matt Quintana (4-2, 3.94 ERA, 2 SV, 48 IP, 58 H, 11 BB, 28 K), Neil Fryer (3-4, 4.78 ERA, 8 SV, 32 IP, 42 H, 11 BB, 21 K)

Last NCAA Appearance: 1999 (0-2 at Winston-Salem Regional)

Notes: Siena made an incredible run in the MAAC Tournament, reeling off four wins in 30 hours, to claim its first NCAA appearance in 15 years. The wins included a pair against heavy-favorite Canisius but maybe shouldn’t have come as such a surprise as the Saints took two of three at Canisius during the season. Siena started the season 0-17 before going 26-14 the rest of the way and played 34 road games. The Saints are making just their second NCAA tourney appearance. Coach Tony Rossi has been leading the Saints for 45 years, second only to Texas’ Augie Garrido (46) in terms of active coaches. Senior Vincent Citro has started 216 of his 217 games over four years and had a monster MAAC tourney, going 14 for 20 (.700) with nine runs.