STARKVILLE — A year ago, Nick Routt wasn”t sure if the elbow pain that derailed his sophomore season would ever cease.
The Mississippi State left-hander had to have surgery to repair the ulnar nerve in his pitching elbow. His strikeout pitch, a screwball action changeup that required heavy pronation, was the cause of the pain.
After being named to the All-Southeastern Conference Freshman team, Routt was expected to be the ace of the 2010 staff. Instead, he threw only 19 1/3 innings as a sophomore and entered the 2011 season as the pitching staff”s biggest question mark.
If he returned to form, MSU would join Chris Stratton as established starters.
Trainers closely watched Routt to open the season, and the MSU coaching staff didn”t give him his first start until March 16. He was kept under 55 pitches for his first three starts, a span in which he gave up three earned runs in 10 1/3 innings.
Though Routt”s workload increased throughout the season, his longest outing in his next eight starts was six innings. Routt logged five innings or more only three times in the eight starts.
During the stretch, starting pitchers Stratton and Devin Jones began to struggle and MSU”s bullpen became a stronger option in close games.
So when the Bulldogs had a chance to clinch their first NCAA regional tournament win since 2007 on Sunday against Georgia Tech, Routt seemed an unlikely candidate to turn in MSU”s first complete game of the season.
The Silver Spring, Md., native allowed two earned runs on six hits and struck out six — his most efficient start of the season — to lead the Bulldogs to a 7-3 win against the host and No. 9 Yellow Jackets.
MSU coach John Cohen said he wasn”t sure when Routt started to turn the corner, pegging him a “tough read” when trying to figure out how he was feeling.
“He can feel great or he can feel lousy,” Cohen said. “It”s tough to read him. When the ball comes out of his hand the way it did tonight, and really, these last five or six starts, especially the fastball, it becomes obvious to you he”s healthy and feeling it. He went through a long progression with Butch Thompson. He went through a long recovery working his tail off to get back to do the things he did for us tonight.”
Routt was anxious for the coaches to give him the chance to work through adversity and to allow him to go deeper into games. He felt in recent weeks Cohen and pitching coach Butch Thompson had gone to the bullpen too early, which affected his confidence as he learned to work without his changeup.
Routt didn”t have to worry about early adversity Sunday. He retired the Yellow Jackets in order for the first three innings. By that time, he had a 6-0 lead and more leeway to work deep in the game.
Routt didn”t face the prospect of Cohen going to the bullpen until the ninth, when he surrendered three singles and a run with one out.
Thompson wanted to bring in Caleb Reed to face back-to-back right-handers, but Cohen wanted Routt to finish the game.
“I just looked out there and felt like that guy wanted it,” Cohen said. “To Butch”s credit, the right move there at the end, right-on-right would have been Caleb because Caleb just destroys right-handed hitters.
“I would not have hesitated three weeks ago, but Nick deserved that opportunity. And even though all the numbers dictated we should have taken him out, I wanted him to finish that out.”
For much of the season, Routt has worked with just his fastball as he started to perfect a more direct changeup. Though most of his pitches Sunday were fastballs, he tried the new changeup and had great success.
“Against the right-handers, it was very effective,” Routt said. “I know we got some early first-pitch swings on it. That double play we turned in the fifth inning was on a changeup. It felt good (throwing it).”
Fully healthy, full of confidence, and with a complementary pitch, Routt is back to the point he envisioned as a freshman.
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