Buhr and IU ‘Ready for Everything’ at Knoxville Regional
5/30/2024 4:00:00 PM | Baseball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Drew Buhr is about to reveal a pitching secret.
Are you ready for it?
The senior transfer has emerged as a dominant pitching force for Indiana's NCAA tourney-bound baseball team. Early season struggles have morphed into shut-down performances.
What caused the turnaround? We'll get to that.
First, though, consider this -- Does a good warmup produce a good performance?
"It varies," Buhr says. "Sometimes, warmups will lie to you. Sometimes, you'll feel great, throw great, and then go in the game and can't find the strike zone. It's like, 'I was just throwing so great out there.'
"At other times, it's like, I can't throw to anybody. Then you go in the game and are locked in."
As a result, Buhr says, "I don't put too much thought into the warmups. I just let it be what it is and get ready, then go out and compete with whatever I have that day. It's not so much what's in the bullpen."
What's on the field for Buhr has impressed. In his last nine appearances, he has allowed zero runs four times, and one or two runs four times. He has 27 strikeouts in 28.2 innings.
In 4.2 innings against Nebraska in last weekend's Big Ten tourney, he allowed one run in 4.2 innings.
For the season, Buhr is 2-2 with a 3.35 earned run average. Only Jacob Vogel (2.42) and Connor Foley (3.71) have better ERAs on the team.
Improvement came from work and perspective.
"I try to give my best each day," he says. "Whatever I have, I'll give it all I have. If it's pitching off the fastball, or off the cutter, whatever it is that day, I'm going to do it to give our team the best chance to win. When my name is called, do what I need to do to help the team."
Buhr is a good example of the benefits of a change in scenery despite a big jump in competition. In two seasons at Bellarmine, including 24 starts and 29 appearances, he showed the strike-'em-out knack IU coaches seek with 122 strikeouts and 58 walks in 137.1 innings.
Still, with only five victories to show for it, Buhr wanted more. Once he got to work with Hoosier pitching coach Dustin Glant, improvement came, just as it did for the entire pitching staff.
"It's just attacking," Buhr says. "It's being super confident and going after guys with our best stuff and know that what we have will get it done."
Third-seeded IU (32-24-1) will have to get it done against second-seed Southern Miss (41-18) in Friday's Knoxville Regional opener with either top-seed Tennessee (50-11) or No. 4 seed Northern Kentucky (35-22) next in the double-elimination event.
From a pitching standpoint, necessity might supplant rest given the stakes.
"We have to execute pitches," Buhr says. "Work deep into a game and give us a chance to win.
"We might have to throw on Friday and bounce back on Sunday. We've done it before. We've thrown in every type of environment. We're ready for everything. I'm excited to see how that works in the regional."
While Foley (4-1) and Ty Bothwell (6-3, 4.90 ERA) are the main starters, IU has the pitching depth so necessary in postseason play. That includes Brayden Risedorph, Aydan Decker-Petty, Julian Tonghini and Vogel. Head coach Jeff Mercer can call on anyone at any time.
"That's how our whole year has been," Buhr says. "You can't say we've had a solidified, set rotation every weekend that we'd follow. We're used to these moving parts.
"You try to win the first game, then worry about the second game. The focus is to win that game. Go one game at a time. There's no sense in worrying about saving arms when you don't know if you'll get to a Game 4 or Game 5. Try to win the game we're in at that moment and go from there."
Offensively, IU hopes to learn from its Big Ten tourney struggles against Nebraska, which limited the Hoosiers to six runs in two games, primarily by throwing off-speed pitches. It helps to have standouts such as outfielder Devin Taylor (.352 with 18 home runs, including homers in six of his last 10 games) and third baseman Josh Pyne (30 straight games of reaching base, 58 career doubles, five off the school record).
"You've got to execute to your plan," Mercer says, "but at some point, you have to take changeups and not expand the zone. At times, we've done that well. At other times, we've struggled with it. That's been a frustration of ours. We have to be very professional.
"We have to be disciplined enough to follow the game plan and be physical enough to hit balls out of the park. We have to bunt for a hit. Run the bases. Put those things together.
"We have to stick to the plan or we'll get our butt kicked."
First baseman Brock Tibbitts says the Hoosiers have learned their hitting lesson.
"At this point of the season, we have 50 to 60 games under our belts. Opponents are able to see every at-bat and all the metrics that go into it.
"Nebraska did a good job of mixing every count. They were heavy with off-speed and changeups. They got us off our timing. We have to adjust to that, stick to our plan and not get too worried about the next pitch before it's thrown."
As far as scouting the three other regional opponents, Mercer says Glant will evaluate opposing hitters and assistant coach Zach Weatherford will take opposing pitchers. Assistant coach Derek Simmons will handle the defensive shifts and alignments as well as "niche" offensive philosophies.
"Those guys are doing all the spins, the nuances, the metrics, the in-depth evaluation," Mercer says. "I like to watch one to two good games from each team to get a feel for them."
By Friday, he'll have that feel. Could it help lead to a regional title?
We're about to find out.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Drew Buhr is about to reveal a pitching secret.
Are you ready for it?
The senior transfer has emerged as a dominant pitching force for Indiana's NCAA tourney-bound baseball team. Early season struggles have morphed into shut-down performances.
What caused the turnaround? We'll get to that.
First, though, consider this -- Does a good warmup produce a good performance?
"It varies," Buhr says. "Sometimes, warmups will lie to you. Sometimes, you'll feel great, throw great, and then go in the game and can't find the strike zone. It's like, 'I was just throwing so great out there.'
"At other times, it's like, I can't throw to anybody. Then you go in the game and are locked in."
As a result, Buhr says, "I don't put too much thought into the warmups. I just let it be what it is and get ready, then go out and compete with whatever I have that day. It's not so much what's in the bullpen."
What's on the field for Buhr has impressed. In his last nine appearances, he has allowed zero runs four times, and one or two runs four times. He has 27 strikeouts in 28.2 innings.
In 4.2 innings against Nebraska in last weekend's Big Ten tourney, he allowed one run in 4.2 innings.
For the season, Buhr is 2-2 with a 3.35 earned run average. Only Jacob Vogel (2.42) and Connor Foley (3.71) have better ERAs on the team.
Improvement came from work and perspective.
"I try to give my best each day," he says. "Whatever I have, I'll give it all I have. If it's pitching off the fastball, or off the cutter, whatever it is that day, I'm going to do it to give our team the best chance to win. When my name is called, do what I need to do to help the team."
Buhr is a good example of the benefits of a change in scenery despite a big jump in competition. In two seasons at Bellarmine, including 24 starts and 29 appearances, he showed the strike-'em-out knack IU coaches seek with 122 strikeouts and 58 walks in 137.1 innings.
Still, with only five victories to show for it, Buhr wanted more. Once he got to work with Hoosier pitching coach Dustin Glant, improvement came, just as it did for the entire pitching staff.
"It's just attacking," Buhr says. "It's being super confident and going after guys with our best stuff and know that what we have will get it done."
Third-seeded IU (32-24-1) will have to get it done against second-seed Southern Miss (41-18) in Friday's Knoxville Regional opener with either top-seed Tennessee (50-11) or No. 4 seed Northern Kentucky (35-22) next in the double-elimination event.
From a pitching standpoint, necessity might supplant rest given the stakes.
"We have to execute pitches," Buhr says. "Work deep into a game and give us a chance to win.
"We might have to throw on Friday and bounce back on Sunday. We've done it before. We've thrown in every type of environment. We're ready for everything. I'm excited to see how that works in the regional."
While Foley (4-1) and Ty Bothwell (6-3, 4.90 ERA) are the main starters, IU has the pitching depth so necessary in postseason play. That includes Brayden Risedorph, Aydan Decker-Petty, Julian Tonghini and Vogel. Head coach Jeff Mercer can call on anyone at any time.
"That's how our whole year has been," Buhr says. "You can't say we've had a solidified, set rotation every weekend that we'd follow. We're used to these moving parts.
"You try to win the first game, then worry about the second game. The focus is to win that game. Go one game at a time. There's no sense in worrying about saving arms when you don't know if you'll get to a Game 4 or Game 5. Try to win the game we're in at that moment and go from there."
Offensively, IU hopes to learn from its Big Ten tourney struggles against Nebraska, which limited the Hoosiers to six runs in two games, primarily by throwing off-speed pitches. It helps to have standouts such as outfielder Devin Taylor (.352 with 18 home runs, including homers in six of his last 10 games) and third baseman Josh Pyne (30 straight games of reaching base, 58 career doubles, five off the school record).
"You've got to execute to your plan," Mercer says, "but at some point, you have to take changeups and not expand the zone. At times, we've done that well. At other times, we've struggled with it. That's been a frustration of ours. We have to be very professional.
"We have to be disciplined enough to follow the game plan and be physical enough to hit balls out of the park. We have to bunt for a hit. Run the bases. Put those things together.
"We have to stick to the plan or we'll get our butt kicked."
First baseman Brock Tibbitts says the Hoosiers have learned their hitting lesson.
"At this point of the season, we have 50 to 60 games under our belts. Opponents are able to see every at-bat and all the metrics that go into it.
"Nebraska did a good job of mixing every count. They were heavy with off-speed and changeups. They got us off our timing. We have to adjust to that, stick to our plan and not get too worried about the next pitch before it's thrown."
As far as scouting the three other regional opponents, Mercer says Glant will evaluate opposing hitters and assistant coach Zach Weatherford will take opposing pitchers. Assistant coach Derek Simmons will handle the defensive shifts and alignments as well as "niche" offensive philosophies.
"Those guys are doing all the spins, the nuances, the metrics, the in-depth evaluation," Mercer says. "I like to watch one to two good games from each team to get a feel for them."
By Friday, he'll have that feel. Could it help lead to a regional title?
We're about to find out.
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