By Hunt Palmer
As SEC play begins Friday, pitching roles are taking shape.
Freshman phenom William Schmidt has started three midweek games over the last three weeks, minimizing his impact on the weekends.
The starts have gone exceptionally well, totaling 9.2 innings with just eight hits and three runs, two earned, allowed. Schmidt has struck out 11 and walked two.
He worked his pitch count up to 73 against North Dakota State last week. Tuesday against Xavier, he was pulled after an inning and just 14 pitches. That makes him available for SEC play as Missouri comes to Baton Rouge.
“We’ve hit it just right, as far as what we wanted to get done these through these four weeks without overextending him,” head coach Jay Johson said on Off the Bench Thursday morning. “We got him basically a bullpen on Tuesday night. Worked out perfectly, and he’s lined up and ready to go for the weekend.”
Schmidt and Conner Ware have been the midweek starters for the last three weeks. Conceivably, both could be added to the bullpen on the weekends moving forward. Ware is an older player having spent two seasons at Pearl River Community College. Schmidt is fresh from the high school ranks, but you wouldn’t know it watching him pitch.
“I love putting him in the game,” Johnson said. “The reason I do, is he thrives on the competition. He looks like he’s been doing it a long time, and he’s also pretty darn talented.”
Expect to see Schmidt in some relief capacity over the weekend. As for next week when New Orleans comes to Alex Box Stadium for a Tuesday night tilt, don’t anticipate Schmidt firing 70 more pitches based on Johnson’s tone.
“I think his days of throwing on any Tuesday are probably over for the rest of his career here.”
