As Griffin Kirn's pitch count crossed the century mark and continued to climb, there was no worry for himself or head coach Steve Sabins.
Kirn had been working towards this all season long, and it's starting to come together for the left-hander at the right time.
This time last year, West Virginia made a run to the Super Regionals, and they did so on the back of Derek Clark. This year, their ace is just like Clark. A Division II transfer, a left-handed pitcher, a guy that does not have overpowering stuff, but just wants to do one thing — pitch.
"I just kept telling [Sabins] I was going to get a zero. I felt like I got better as the game went on. Offspeed got better, command got better, and I was just ready to go. I wanted the ball for the whole game. And I did that," Kirn said.
Two weeks ago at Kansas State, Kirn cruised through seven innings, allowing only two runs. He was taken out at only 77 pitches, and the Mountaineers ended up losing the game.
In the two starts since then, Kirn has pitched a combined 17.0 innings, allowing five earned runs while walking four, and striking out 19. In the process, he also threw 127 and 129 pitches respectively, giving his team everything he had.
"Griffin Kirn was ridiculous. Gave him the ball to start the game and never gave the ball to anybody else. Went 129 pitches and threw every pitch with conviction and grit. Things hadn’t been going great for us the last several weeks, and so it always takes one heroic performance," Sabins said.
Kirn has been working towards moments like this all season. He has not missed a start, and now has pushed WVU to the Big 12 Semifinals, and he is in line to pitch in an NCAA Regional next weekend.
Sabins wasn't worried about Kirn's pitch count, moreso worried about how he handled innings. After the fifth inning, there was not much concern on the faces of WVU's coaching staff as he allowed two hits over the final four innings.
"Wasn't worried about the pitch count for Griffin, was more worried about a long inning. If you've thrown that many pitches, and then something kind of gets away from you a little bit, having a 30 or 40-pitch inning wouldn't be okay at that point. But his stuff was ticking up. He's a horse," Sabins said.
Sabins has full confidence in Kirn, and Kirn will be asked to do a lot if this team wants to continue their season beyond next weekend. Sabins said he remembers the times he's cut Kirn short like he did two weeks ago, but it's all so he can be prepared for moments like this.
"We feel really confident about how Griffin has been built up. There was probably three or four instances throughout the regular season that Griff was pissed at me for coming to get him after 75 pitches. But I think in the larger, bigger scheme of this thing, he's been taken care of and built up correctly, so he can go have 130-pitch performances. So tonight, it looked like he could have thrown 150 pitches, and I'm glad I didn't have that decision to make," Sabins said.
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