CWS Day 1: Connor Jones/Virginia
OMAHA,
Neb. – Cal State Fullerton ace Thomas Eshelman knows what it's like
to pitch in big games. He's been the Titans' Friday ace since his
freshman year, and routinely takes the ball opposite some of college
baseball's best. For as impressive as his success has been, since day
one in college, it isn't completely unprecendented. However, the
manner in which he has done so is.
Eighteen.
That's the number of walks he has issued during his college career
going into Sunday night's highly anticipated matchup with Vanderbilt,
a game suspended at 9:22 p.m. due to lightning and
rain with the Titans up 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth. Eshelman, who
once again didn't allow a free pass in 5 2/3 innings of work, matched
up against yet another high profile ace, Carson Fulmer, who was
recently taken with the eighth overall pick in the draft by the
Chicago White Sox.
While
both Fulmer and Eshelman have enjoyed a great deal of success while
in college the two couldn't be anymore different. Generously listed
at 6-feet tall, Fulmer comes right at you with a fearless,
competitive demeanor as well as a mid-90s fastball and hammer curve.
Eshelman has the more classic pitchers' build at 6-foot-3,
210-pounds, but doesn't possess of a single pitch that stands out.
That
doesn't mean he's a soft-tosser, as he pitched in the 88-89 range on
Sunday, touching 90 mph early, with the ability to touch a tick or
two higher at times. However, that's almost irrelevant, as when it
comes to talking about Eshelman to conversation begins and ends with
his impeccable command.
What
makes it even more remarkable is the fact that Eshelman was primarily
a catcher for Carlsbad High School near San Diego.
“Our
high school needed a catcher so I kind of changed positions at that
point in time,” Eshelman said of his position switch. “Pitching
was always a dream of mine, I've always been throwing out on the
mound. Coach (Kirk) Saarloos, who's actually the pitching coach for
TCU, saw me throw at an Area Codes Game tryout. He was grading
pitchers and he actually put a pretty good grade on me.
“I
went down to Cal State Fullerton's campus to check it out and they
ended up offering me a scholarship. To be able to get a scholarship
from these guys I just put my nose down and worked hard and was able
to get the Friday night job my freshman year and I just kind of
rolled with it from there.”
Eshelman
of course is being humble when he says that things rolled from there.
He was a Freshman All-American and in three years for the Titans has
gone 28-11 with a 1.65 ERA, throwing 12 complete games over the span
of 370 2/3 innings prior to Sunday's game. With a 12-3 record and a
1.48 ERA, his freshman year may very well have been his best, at
least statistically, issuing just three walks. However, his
strikeouts have slowly but surely increased each of the last three
years, going from 83 to 99 to 131 this year.
And
although he isn't going to blow away a lineup for a nine-inning
stretch – although he did strike out nine Commodores on Sunday –
his time spent behind the plate allowed him to place a higher value
on the finer aspects that allow pitchers to succeed.
“I
didn't really have that type of command during my high school years,”
Eshelman said of his uncanny control. “I always had walks, I never
had like three walks in a season, but I just kind of understood the
other side of the coin as a catcher. When you're catching you hate
guys that throw balls and balls in the dirt. I've always had a
respect for catchers and they know the game.
“It's
good for my teammates too; the more strikes you throw and the (fewer)
amount of pitches you throw they get into the dugout quicker and they
can score you some runs. It keeps your pitch count down and you can
go longer in games.”
Fullerton
Head Coach Rick Vanderhook, who is now in his fourth year at the helm
of the Titans' baseball team has been with the program now for 27
years and has always had an eye for good arms and a knack for
developing them.
“He
just does what he does,” Vanderhook said of his young ace. “He
doesn't try to overthrow the ball and he doesn't try to overdo
things. He pitches at the bottom of the zone, he pitches at the top
of the zone; up, down, in and out. He has command of the fastball and
the other stuff he throws for a strike. The first thing we're taught
in this game is to throw strikes.”
Fulmer
isn't the first high-profile arm that Eshelman has faced this season,
also enjoying head-to-head matchups with another notable, high-octane
arms.
“Thomas
has matched up against some guys,” Vanderhook said. “Dillon Tate,
who was just drafted fourth. (Kyle) Funkhouser, who's pretty good.
The kid from Maryland, (Mike) Shawaryn, who's going to be a high pick
next year. He's had his matchups against guys and he's up for the
challenge. Win or lose we're going with what we've got best, and who
plays the game best comes out in the end.”
In
those three games Eshelman allowed only one earned run over 23
cumulative innings, winning one of them (against Tate), losing
another (Shawaryn) and not factoring into the decision in the third
(Funkhouser), although the Titans did win that game, 3-2.
That
game was the biggest, not only of those three but possibly of his
career – at least prior to Sunday's CWS tilt – and it was also
his most recent, the first of two games in a three-game series
against Louisville in Kentucky. That game helped propel the Titans to
Omaha in their unlikely upset of one of the most dominant teams in
the nation all season long.
At
the bottom of the dogpile after Fullerton's clinching win last Monday
was Eshelman, who came on in to pitch the bottom of the 11th in a recently turned 4-3 ballgame, thanks by a solo shot by David
Olmedo-Barrera in the top of the inning, to close things out.
“It
was an unbelievable feeling,” Eshelman said, who happened to be
drafted by the Houston Astros in the second round of the 2015 MLB
Draft at the same time he was on the mound. “To be one of the eight
teams left in Division I baseball is what every college player dreams
of. It's really humbling and a dream come true that's for sure.”
And
at one point in time this season the Titans weren't even expected to
make it to the postseason much less Omaha despite opening the year
ranked 19th in PG's preseason Top 25, as they fell out of
the rankings by midseason after a disappointing start. They did right
the ship by going 19-5 in Big West play, prompting them to host a
Regional prior to their big Super Regional win over Louisville.
“It
wasn't easy,” Vanderhook added of the Super Regional win. “It was
intense. It was a war, a dogfight, a boxing match, whatever you want
to call it. We talk about sometimes ultimate fighting because the
kids are all in it. In ultimate fighting it's three rounds, and if
you win two of them you win, and we actually won two of them.”
In
their College World Series opening game against Vanderbilt on Sunday
night Fullerton got on the board in the third thanks to an RBI single
by Taylor Bryant that brought home Timmy Richards, who led off the
inning with a walk. Richards also walked with one out in the fifth
and scored on a wild pitch after advancing to third on A.J. Kennedy's
one-out double. Kennedy scored on a sharp single through the right
side of the infield off the bat of Josh Vargas.
Although
the Titans don't have that one, defiining offensive presence like
almost every other team in Omaha, including Vanderbilt (Dansby
Swanson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft), they execute
a team-based offense as well as any other team in the nation.
“We
have different guys all the time come around and do things and it's a
good thing,” Vanderhook said of his team's offense. “We score
runs in different ways. We can get hit by a pitch, we can steal a
base and we can do a few things to score. We just want to score one
more run than the other team, we're not going to slug them to death.”
With
Cal State Fullerton up 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth with a 3-2 count, two outs and a runner on
third base, the game will be completed on Monday with a start time
projected for 11:05 a.m. local time, although rain is expected to continue to be
an issue in the area.
TCU
10, LSU 3
Another
one of college baseball's most established pitchers took the mound on
Sunday as long-time TCU ace Preston Morrison got the start against
LSU. Sophomore lefthander Jared Poche got the nod for LSU over
freshman sensation Alex Lange due to the amount of lefthanded hitters
in TCU's lineup, but it was once again Morrison and his Horned Frogs
teammates that emerged as the 10-3 winners.
The
first three innings went by in the blink of an eye before TCU got on
the board first with a two-run fourth inning. Leadoff hitter Cody
Jones and No. 2 hitter Jeremie Fagnan both reached on throwing errors
by Poche, scoring on RBI singles by Connor Wanhanen and Dane
Steinhagen.
LSU
responded with a single run in the bottom of the inning, an RBI
groundout by Andrew Stevenson that scored Alex Bregman, who opened
the inning with a sharp single through the left side of the infield.
However,
TCU once again made the most of the opportunities presented to them,
just as they've been doing the entire NCAA postseason. After two
walks and a single loaded the bases with one out in the top of the
fifth, the Horned Frogs added another run on a fielding error by LSU
third baseman Conner Hale. With the bases loaded yet again, Fagnan
was hit by a pitch to make the game 4-1 Frogs.
A
two-run single by Wanhanen pushed the score to 6-1 and also forced
Poche out of the game. Hale did somewhat atone for himself by ending
the inning with a pair of putouts on the same play, but by then the
damage was done.
“He
did a great job the first time through the order, I don't think we
had a runner on base,” the lefthanded hitting Wanhanen said about
their approach against Poche. “We really talked about him in our
meetings, staying on balls and seeing pitches up because with so many
lefites he's going to be throwing a lot of breakers. Make sure he
pitches up especially with two strikes. Trying to get our pitch; he's
a strike thrower and it showed today, he was filling the zone we were
just putting good swings on it.”
And
for good meassure TCU added four more runs in the seventh, capped by
a big two-run double by Derek Odell to the gap in right-center.
Wanhanen
finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and both Steinhagen and Odell were
2-for-5 with two RBI. Despite going hitless, Jones scored three runs
and also threw out a runner at home plate from center field with Evan
Skoug providing a textbook block of home plate.
“It
was huge,” TCU Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle said of the play after
the game. “Skoug's job there gets overlooked. He hung in there
against a good baserunner, Jared Foster, a guy that can run and a
big, physical football player. He hung in there, caught the ball and
got the tag down.”
Bregman
and Kade Scivicque each went 2-for-4 in the loss. Foster also had two
hits, one being a home run pulled to left field off of TCU reliever
Brian Howard in the eighth. The blast was the third home run of the
2015 College World Series, which already matches the number hit all
of last year after only three games.
As
for Morrison he just did his thing, cruising through seven innings in
impressive fashion, allowing just one run on five base hits,
recording five strikeouts and 10 groundball outs while retiring the
final 12 batters he faced. With the win Morrison moves to 12-3 on the
year, and 37-12 in his career.
“He's
something else,” Wanhanen added of his ace teammate. “Watching
him he didn't look phased by anything. If something goes his way, or
it doesn't, he looks the exact same. He's stoic out there. To watch
him work it's like he's just perfecting his craft. Getting to see him
compete his tail off is so fun every time.”
Although
it didn't seem to have much importance for this game TCU did turn to
Riley Ferrell in the ninth in a non-save situation to give him some
much needed confidence after he was unable to secure a win in each of
TCU's last two Super Regional games. Ferrell came out firing, blowing
away the final three LSU batters with mid- to upper-90s heat and his
signature upper-80s slider.
“Certainly
it's a great step in the right direction,” Schlossnagle said of his
flamethrowing closer. “He threw a good fastball, good breaking ball
and struck out three guys. Obviously it was a perfect scenario to
give him the confidence he needs. He's had a great week of practice
and we're not going to win here if we don't have him here as a part
of it, and for him to be a part of it is to pitch.”