Texas Christian one to beat in tournament

Rob Miech, Las Vegas Sun

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 | 7:06 a.m.

There will be no doubt about who enters the Mountain West Conference baseball tournament today as the league's dominant team.

In four seasons after leaving UNLV, coach Jim Schlossnagle has established Texas Christian as one of the dominant teams in Texas, along with the Longhorns and Rice.

That status alone should make fellow Mountain West foes cringe this week at Earl Wilson Stadium.

Last year, in their first season in the league, the Horned Frogs won both the regular-season title and the tournament championship. Repeating that feat shouldn't be much of a problem for a squad that won a school-record 43 games this season.

National rankings, top recruiting classes and a packed home stadium - eight of TCU's top 10 crowds have come in the Schlossnagle era - are now commonplace for a program that has won 162 games ... and counting ... under Schlossnagle.

The hitters (batting average)

.421 - Jordan Pacheco, New Mexico

.386 - Keith Conlon, TCU

.364 - Daniel Stovall, New Mexico

The home-run sluggers

12 - Austin Adams, TCU

11 - Daniel Stovall, New Mexico; Andrew Walker, TCU

Top pitchers (earned-run average)

2.80 - Jesse Craig, BYU

3.28 - Lance Sewell, SDSU

3.36 - Jake Arrieta, TCU

The fireballers (strikeouts by pitchers)

85 - Jesse Craig, BYU

83 - Jake Arrieta, TCU

76 - Craig Heyer, UNLV

Top thieves (stolen bases)

28 - Matt Foote, New Mexico; Leon Johnson, BYU

21 - Collin Fanning, BYU; Nate Burnham, Utah

The whiffers (strikeouts by hitters)

54 - J.T. Musso, BYU

52 - Steve Parker, BYU

50 - Troy Hanzawa, SDSU

Eagle eyes (bases on balls)

42 - Jordan Pacheco, New Mexico

40 - Jay Russell, New Mexico; Corey Shimada, Utah

A quick glance at the tournament teams

BYU - Led the conference with a team ERA of 3.74 and 98 stolen bases.

New Mexico - Senior first baseman Daniel Stovall was the league's lone two-time player of the week this season.

TCU - Don't look for the Frogs to make many mistakes in the field; they lead the Mountain West with a .974 team fielding percentage.

San Diego State - Opponents hit only .228 off 6-foot-3 sophomore lefty Lance Sewell.

UNLV - We hear athletic director Mike Hamrick turned down an extension request from coach Buddy Gouldsmith, in the final year of his contract, before the season. Then came a 22-34 campaign, but we hear Gouldsmith will be given a year to right the ship.

Utah - Sophomore second baseman Corey Shimada has led the nation in triples; he has 10, most of the season.

Mountain West Conference baseball tournament

at Earl Wilson Stadium

Today

Game 1: No. 3 Utah vs. No. 6 UNLV, 11 a.m.

Game 2: No. 4 SDSU vs. No. 5 New Mexico, 3 p.m.

Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 7 p.m.

Thursday

Game 4: No. 2 BYU vs. Winner Game 1, 11 a.m.

Game 5: No. 1 TCU vs. Winner Game 2, 3 p.m.*

Game 6: Loser Game 4 vs. Winner Game 3, 7 p.m.

Friday