The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Adrian Alaniz: Putting his best foot forward
06.19.2005 | Baseball
OMAHA -- If freshman pitcher Adrian Alaniz was at all nervous about starting Texas' opener of the 2005 College World Series, he didn't let it show.
Alaniz threw seven innings strong and got touched up for only one run in the fourth while guiding the Longhorns to the 5-1 CWS win over rival Baylor in front of a record-crowd of 26,641 Saturday night.
"I was feeling a little pressure," said Alaniz, who is 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA in three NCAA postseason starts. "But then again, that's the life of a pitcher. That's something that we live for as pitchers. I just wanted to go out there and make aggressive pitches.
"It was the largest crowd I've ever played before in my entire life. You don't want that to get into your mind because you can't let the overall atmosphere get into your head. Once I was on the mound, I was focused on the catcher's mitt. Things were just zoned out from there."
After going 6.2 innings in the do-or-die win over Ole Miss on Monday, the right-hander from Sinton, Texas, was the beneficiary of early run support against Baylor Saturday night as senior shortstop Seth Johnston connected on a two-run homer to left center field scoring Nick Peoples, who started the game with a single up the middle and was sacrificed to second by Drew Stubbs.
"We got to bat first today and we were fortunate to put two runs on the board," Alaniz said. "Going out there with a two-run lead took a lot off me and made me a little more comfortable coming onto the mound."
Alaniz worked quickly and effectively, utilizing pinpoint control of his curveball to get ahead in the count with first-pitch strikes.
"As a pitcher, having an 0-2 count is really important because I can throw anything I want," Alaniz continued. "Today, I had some 0-2s but also had some 3-0s, but overall, I I think I had more 0-2s than 3-0s."
The lone run charged to Alaniz came in the fourth when Baylor mounted a two-out rally in which Paul Witt connected on a RBI-single through the left side with runners on the corners - the Bears third straight two-out single. But before Baylor could complete a momentum shift, Alaniz thwarted the rally getting Michael Griffin to fly out to deep left with the bases loaded to maintain the Longhorns' 2-1 lead.
"That could've been a momentum builder for them, had they gotten a base hit from [Michael] Griffin," Alaniz said. "But I was fortunate to get out of that inning with only one run. In that situation, one run is not going to hurt us that much so I was very fortunate."
Of his seven innings pitched Saturday night, Alaniz retired the first two batters of the inning five times, including the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh - his final four frames.
"As the game goes on, Adrian's competitiveness takes over," Texas coach Augie Garrido said. "That's when he really starts thinking about winning the game."
So far, in NCAA postseason play, Alaniz is 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA after making three starts. He also owns one complete game and 18 strikeouts over a team-best 22.2 innings of work. In those three starting assignments, Alaniz has worked a minimum of 6.1 innings and allowed only one earned run in each of those outings.
