TCU Baseball: Sam Stoutenborough Potential Game 2 Starter

As TCU took the first game of the series riding an impressive start from Kole Klecker, many hope the impressive pitching can continue for the Horned Frogs as they aim to punch their ticket to Omaha for the 6th time in program history.

One thing on everyone's mind right now is the question of who will start Game 2. Many believe that the honor will go to none other than Sam Stoutenborough. While Stoutenborough has been shaky against good-hitting teams, he's done a good job limiting big innings throughout the postseason. The biggest thing fans can expect from Stoutenborough is that he gives the Horned Frogs a chance to win. At the end of the day, that's the only job of a starting pitcher, especially when you are facing good teams here in the postseason.

Key factors for Stoutenborough to dominate on the mound today will be his location of each pitch. The righty doesn't throw 95-98 like other pitchers around the country, but what he does have is movement on his off-speed pitches. His slider and changeup location will be huge against a good-hitting Indiana St. team.

As for the Sycamores starting pitcher, Indiana St couldn't be more confident in Connor Fenlong, who in 5 of his last seven starts has gone 8.0 innings scoreless against good hitting teams. Comparing the two pitchers in their last five starts, the performances couldn't be more different. In Fenlongs last five starts, he's had three shutout performances earning himself a 1.93 ERA, while Sam Stoutenborough in his last five starts has an ERA between 7 and 8. No doubt the pitching matchup today will favor Fenlong, but I wouldn't be surprised if Stoutenborough shows out behind a sold-out Lupton crowd and gives the Frogs a solid start.

If I had to give some key factors for TCU's win today, I would say to the hitters, create chaos early in the game and feed off of the Lupton crowd. As for the pitching and defense, avoid the big inning at all costs. Throughout this NCAA Tournament, almost half of the games have been decided by a single inning where a team will score 6 or 7 runs and take all the momentum away from the other team. If the Horned Frogs can avoid this, they will be in good shape to punch their ticket to the College World Series.

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