TCU baseball missed the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years, raising major questions about Kirk Saarloos and the program’s future.
FORT WORTH - TCU baseball entered the season with big expectations. Now the Horned Frogs are headed into the offseason with big questions.
The NCAA Tournament field is set, and TCU was not included among the 64 teams.
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That means the Frogs have now missed regionals in two of the past three seasons, a jarring slide for a program that’s supposed to be built for June baseball.
Injuries were part of the story, but they can’t be the whole excuse. Louis Rodriguez, Kade Eudy, Tommy LaPour, Chase Brunson and Sawyer Strosnider all dealt with setbacks at different points, and that absolutely made the season harder.
But plenty of teams absorb injuries and still find a way into the postseason. TCU simply didn’t do enough.
The Frogs had stretches where the talent flashed. Lance Davis, Zack James, Jack Bell, Cole Cramer and Brunson all delivered important moments.
There were games where TCU looked dangerous enough to make a run. But those moments never turned into a reliable identity.
The defense wasn’t clean enough.
The lineup wasn’t consistent enough. The pitching staff never fully stabilized.
For a team with this much recruiting hype and roster talent, the end result just doesn’t match the investment or expectations.
The bigger concern is development. TCU has had multiple sophomore classes expected to take major jumps, only for the same questions to return.
If players aren’t consistently getting better year to year, that points to something deeper than bad injury luck or a few rough weekends.
Now Kirk Saarloos enters a critical offseason. He has led the program for five seasons, and the pressure is real. TCU doesn’t have to win a national title every year, but missing the NCAA Tournament twice in three seasons isn’t close to the standard.
Roster turnover will only make this more complicated. LaPour, Strosnider and Brunson could be headed toward the draft, and the transfer portal will likely hit the roster too. Stability may be hard to find.
Dave Lawn’s retirement creates one change already. Bill Mosiello’s offense will draw scrutiny. John DiLaura’s recruiting remains valuable. Athletic director Mike Buddie now has decisions to make.
Something has to shift. For TCU baseball, this offseason can’t be business as usual.
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