Pierce’s wins say enough
AUSTIN — Tennessee Tech coach Matt Bragga is a hard act to follow. Glacier-blue eyes, electric demeanor, infectious laugh. For three days at DischFalk Field, the ever-candid Bragga was a media darling. Texas fans who stayed late and slumped over the metal barriers erected around the super regionals staging area even delivered a sincere round of applause for Bragga and the Golden Eagles on Sunday following their final meeting with the media.
David Pierce couldn’t possibly match his counterpart’s cranked-up-to-11 intensity. Not his style. And that’s fine, because his style has led Texas baseball back to the College World Series.
Making the right calls
The second-year coach speaks more deliberately than Bragga, his thoughts rolled out slowly and delivered with a slight Texas twang. And he likes to deflect.
Asked Sunday about all UT has accomplished this season — Big 12 championship, regional host selection, College World Series berth — Pierce cheered and congratulated all but one person.
“It goes back to our players,” he said Sunday. “This is not a typical Texas team full of blue-chip players. We have some, but we have a lot of contributors and that’s what’s been really, really special about this group.
“Nobody ever got to the point where they thought we weren’t good. And there’s so much positive coaching. From coach (Phillip) Miller, from coach (Sean) Allen, and coach (Phil) Haig. Probably the only one that would be a pain in the butt would be me.”
Good luck finding another soul who would agree with Pierce’s self-assessment. Standout reliever Parker Joe Robinson, whose father, Jeff, pitched for Augie Garrido at Cal State Fullerton in the early 1980s, wouldn’t, not after the coach helped revamp his throwing mechanics.
When Pierce was hired in 2016 to replace Garrido, he seriously considered rescinding Robinson’s scholarship.
But Pierce and pitching coach Haig didn’t immediately discard him. Instead, they focused on lowering Robinson’s release angle, or “arm slot.”
The junior this season has allowed four earned runs over 302⁄3 innings, struck out 30 and walked seven. He has pitched five shutout innings during the NCAA Tournament, including a career-high 2
2⁄3 in UT’s Game 3 triumph.
“Parker Joe and I actually talked in the summer that I was coming in, and we talked about his delivery over the phone,” Pierce said. “I coached him over the phone and we said, look, you’re a stock righthander, let’s try this out. And he started doing it and sending me video before I even got here, so we had a little jump-start there.
“He’s just so cool, and the thing is he’s not trying to be somebody else. He does what he can. Great with location, and he’s touched 90 (miles per hour) from that slot right now.”
Pierce and his staff also worked vigorously last summer and fall on refining the approach of Italian-born Odessa College transfer Matteo Bocchi.
The result: a 4-1 record with a 3.31 earned run average. On Sunday, he hurled a career-high five innings of one-run ball in the Game 3 win.
Most of Pierce’s decisions have paid dividends, especially of late.
After collecting only five hits from three players in a Game 1 loss to Tennessee Tech, Pierce retreated to the lab and tinkered. He emerged with a new lineup in the five through nine spots: D.J Petrinsky, Jake McKenzie, Masen Hibbeler, Tate Shaw, Ryan Reynolds.
That quintet batted .303 with a .405 on-base percentage and scored six of UT’s nine runs in two wins over the Golden Eagles.
On track in a hurry
Pierce admitted he’s somewhat plagued by impatience. Two years ago, he arrived in Austin determined to “fast forward” this program back to contender status.
“I didn’t know how long it would take, but I felt confident with the resources, the administration, the support that we get, that they’re going to give us everything possible to be successful,” Pierce said.
With Texas back in the College World Series for a record 36th time, it seems the program is keeping pace with Pierce’s abbreviated timeline.
“Coach Pierce knows his personnel, and he uses it to an elite level,” Bragga said. “Man, they know what they’re doing.”