Roaming With the Roddens: Omaha!

Since Joe was a small child he has wanted to visit Omaha for the College World Series. Because he has spent most of his summers playing or coaching, he has never been able to go and recently we have been waiting for a good reason to make the trip. That finally happened in 2015! Joe currently has three former players that play prominent roles on the TCU (Texas Christian University) baseball team. He had been hoping all season that they would make it back to Omaha as they did in 2014 so that we could go and watch them.

A couple of days before we made the drive to Nebraska, Joe got a message from his former ace and team captain, Mitchell Traver, that he had been picked to start the game we would be attending against LSU. This was an elimination game against one of the top programs in college baseball history. Mitchell would be toeing the rubber against the Tigers and a hostile crowd of over 25,000 fans. LSU has been to Omaha so many times over the past couple of decades that they have converted many of the locals to cheer for them.

The boys set us up with tickets to sit with the TCU families and the entire experience was amazing. Mitchell threw well and kept the Horned Frogs in the game long enough to hand it over to TCU's dominant bullpen. Another of Joe's former players, Dane Steinhagen, the TCU left fielder, had been slumping a bit and Joe had a nice talk with him about his hitting approach before the game. Dane promptly went out and was the star of the night offensively leading TCU to a big victory with three huge hits and three RBI! Before the game, Joe also got to have a nice chat with Brian Trieglaff, another of Joe's former players and captains and one of TCU's outstanding relief pitchers.

Dane and Joe before the LSU game talking hitting. Joe loved it!

Field level with Brian before the game. This was a happy reunion that brought tears to Lindsay's eyes!

On the field with Mitchell after his strong start to eliminate LSU.

Winning the game set up a rematch with Vanderbilt, who defeated TCU 1-0 earlier in the World Series, so we decided to stay in Omaha longer than originally planned to watch the game. The day between games we explored Omaha. It is a wonderful and underrated city. The entire community does an outstanding job hosting the College World Series and it is a trip every baseball fan should make! Dane's family took us out for an amazing chicken fried steak at the favorite restaurant of Warren Buffet. We also had the chance to catch up with the other boys' families.

During the game Dane was used on the television broadcast graphic above

Brian is always one of the most positive and supportive team members on the team.

Mitchell continues to dominate as he did at Houston Christian.

TCU lost to Vandy in the next game to end their season, but they were one of the final four teams standing in the nation, and losing to the Commodores is nothing to be ashamed of. Dane had another big hit for the Frogs as the stable middle of the lineup force he is, and we got to see Brian throw two innings in relief. The trip was one of the highlights of Joe's baseball career (as a player or coach) and he has never been prouder!