Month one recap, pt. II

You've got the positives. Now for the negatives of TCU's season one month in.

1. Non-conference - TCU did beat Ole Miss, and had wins against Cal State Fullerton and Minnesota. But the ultra-tough non-conference schedule left the Horned Frogs with a sub .500 record (4-8). TCU's losses came by a margin of 3.5 runs.

2. Home delivery - The Horned Frogs have five players with double digit RBIs, led by Bryan Kervin (21). As a team, TCU has 115 RBIs, which puts it near the bottom of the Mountain West Conference:

Team (Overall record, conf. record) - Team RBIs
New Mexico (18-10, 3-3) - 197
Utah (10-12, 3-3) - 158
BYU (12-15, 3-3) - 155
San Diego St. (17-10, 5-1) - 152
UNLV (12-12, 4-2) - 142
TCU (14-12, 2-4) - 115
Air Force (9-15, 0-5) - 111

3. Injuries - The Horned Frogs dealt with them last year, and lost two key players in pitcher Steven Maxwell, who underwent Tommy John surgery, and junior Matt McGuirk.

4. The rotation - TCU started out the year looking to Seth Garrison and Maxwell. Garrison, who was the Friday starter, was eventually replaced by Tyler Lockwood and is a mid-week starter right now. Maxwell was lost to injury. Freshmen Greg Holle (1-2, 5.60 ERA) and Sean Hoelscher (1-2, 4.44) have been thrown into the fire as the Saturday and Sunday starters, and have shown potential. 

5. Left stranded - Problems with driving in runs have also led to problems with runners left on base. In their last five games, an average of nine runners (8.6) have been left on base by TCU. A look at where the Horned Frogs rank in the Mountain West Conference:

Air Force - 157
Utah - 175
UNLV - 192
TCU - 204
BYU - 210
San Diego St. - 223
New Mexico - 238

-Trae Thompson