Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

46° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Baseball: Freshman pitcher shows no learning curve

One conversation with Ethan Bramschreiber will tell you that he’s the epitome of a humble freshman contributor. One opportunity to watch Bramschreiber pitch will show you that his talents aren’t humble at all.

The righty, who shrugged off attention focused on him and instead credited his teammates for his success on the mound, pitched 4.2 innings of relief in the second game of Northwestern’s double-header against Penn State on Saturday, striking out six while walking two and allowing his first and only hit against the last batter he faced in the eighth inning.

Bramschreiber’s 99-pitch outing was his longest through nine appearances. With his success and with the starting rotation still fluctuating in its complexion – junior Francis Brooke did not pitch this weekend due to an undisclosed reason, though coach Paul Stevens is hopeful he might start this upcoming series at Minnesota – the question of the week becomes whether Bramschreiber can fill a weekend rotation slot for NU.

“(Saturday was) my first time going more than two or three innings,” the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder said. “It was a different experience; it’s kind of hard. I’m a freshman and I have three more years left, so my role is yet to be determined.”

With Brooke temporarily sidelined and anticipated Friday starter Zach Morton out for the season with a torn ACL, Stevens has called on a handful of younger hurlers to pitch important Big Ten innings, both as starters and relievers. Of those pitchers, Bramschreiber has been arguably the most impressive, posting a team-low 1.62 ERA, and Stevens hasn’t been afraid to use him in various high-leverage situations, though Saturday’s appearance did more to keep NU in the game than guarantee a win.

“A performance like (Saturday’s) does elevate his status,” the skipper said. “But his status has been pretty elevated, because we’ve used him to close and come into some close situations.”

Bramschreiber said he and pitching coach Tim Stoddard have been working “tremendously” on his velocity and on sustaining it throughout each outing.

Saturday against Penn State, Bramschreiber’s fastball velocity consistently sat between the high-80s and low-90s, indicating that the Glendora, Calif. native’s hard work has been paying off. Stevens deemed Bramschreiber’s fastball one of the reasons his off-speed pitches are effective in keeping hitters off-balance.

“Bramschreiber pitches off his fastball,” Stevens said. “His fastball makes everything else look good, because it’s hard to sit on somebody throwing that hard and make an adjustment to your breaking ball or changeup.”

Senior third baseman Chris Lashmet said Bramschreiber’s hard slider and fastball command combine to make an effective mix in any league. Bramschreiber said his slider is the pitch he and Stoddard have worked on the most since he arrived at NU.

“Coming into the fall, the main concern about my repertoire of pitches was the slider,” Bramschreiber said. “So (Stoddard and I) have been trying every different combination and grip of slider. We finally found one that works. It’s been day and night, long nights, to get to where we needed, and we finally found it.”

After his Saturday outing against the Nittany Lions, it seems certain that Bramschreiber – whether as a starter or shut-down reliever – has played and will continue to play a significant role for the Cats.

“(Bramschreiber) has been all over the map for us with his opportunities on the mound,” Stevens said. “He’s done an awfully good job for the most part for us, and (Saturday) was no exception to him having a pretty doggone good day.”

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Baseball: Freshman pitcher shows no learning curve