Eshelman carves through Omaha

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.”