Entering the 2018 season, it was no surprise that the NC State baseball team was loaded at the plate.
At the halfway mark of the season, that preseason notion still rings true as 10 Wolfpack players are batting over .300. Furthermore, NC State ranks No. 11 in the NCAA in batting average and atop the ACC, backed by the obvious heroics of junior outfielder Brett Kinneman’s 12 home runs, tied for fifth most in the NCAA.
While the No. 8 Wolfpack (23-5, 9-3 ACC) seems to have no problem riding its bats to another postseason berth, senior pitcher Brian Brown hasn’t let people forget about the dominance of the Pack’s starting rotation.
Though Kinneman and other heavy hitters receive most of the praise, Brown has bounced back from a lackluster junior campaign and currently ranks No. 1 in the NCAA in ERA (0.41). Brown was named a Perfect Game Midseason All-American Wednesday.
“I think I’m being a little more aggressive with my pitches, and just realizing it’s hard to hit,” Brown said. “Even if you throw it in the zone, they still gotta put a good swing on it and get a base hit.”
In Brown’s junior year, the 2017 season, the Glenmoore, Pennsylvania, native was supposed to be the ace to lead the Pack deep into the postseason after making the ACC All-Freshman Team in 2015 and a promising sophomore season.
After a humbling 2017 that saw little improvement, he claims that he didn’t drastically change anything with his pitching or his mindset; however, he has burst onto the scene.
“I think I just got back to the basics, slowing down and getting my mechanics right,” Brown said. “Back to what I did before, that really helped me out.”
“Going back to the basics” for Brown has definitely panned out thus far. In the previous two seasons, Brown averaged ERAs of 3.70 and 3.76 and records of 7-3 and 4-3, respectively. His record this year currently stands unblemished at 4-0.
NC State pitching coach Scott Foxhall is in his fourth year with the Pack and has been through all the ups and downs with Brown, and believes the lefty has finally put it together. Foxhall has had his fair share of solid pitchers in Raleigh, nine of which have been drafted, but praises Brown above all others.
“I think he’s just put everything together,” Foxhall said. “He is the most attention-to-detail pitcher that I’ve ever had, and I think it’s a cumulative effect of all of the details that he’s acquired over the last three years and understanding how to process them and what to do about them has come together this season.”
Having veterans in Brown and graduate pitcher Johnny Piedmonte has been paramount to NC State’s success. Brown and Piedmonte are serviceable starters who can pitch six or seven innings.
“[Having Brown pitch for six innings] is very valuable,” Foxhall said. “It saves your bullpen, it’s a confidence that when the guys know he’s going out there [they say], ‘We’ve got a great chance to win this game if we play hard and do the little things we are supposed to do…when Brian Brown is out there, we have a chance to win.’”
The lineup truly believes that they always have a chance to win with Brown on the mound, which would be a surprising notion one year ago.
While he insists that he hasn’t altered his throwing motion, it is obvious to the naked eye that Brown’s pitches have improved.
Foxhall says while he believes the senior has gotten better every year, it is his breaking ball that is the real difference in his arsenal. Foxhall attributes Brown’s development to his now-complete understanding of pitching and the batter he’s facing.
“[Brown] just doesn’t have very many weaknesses in his game,” Foxhall said. “He’s able to recognize what the hitters are trying to do against him and he has the weapons to combat that.”
Head coach Elliott Avent, however, says that it’s not a different mindset or more experience than his opponent that gives Brown the edge. Avent insists that Brown put forth the effort in the offseason to fuel his stellar senior year.
“When he came in this fall, I said, ‘Wow that’s a different guy,’” Avent said. “You could tell he had obviously made an offseason commitment with his body and everything he did.”
Whether it’s a strict offseason workout regime, fine tuning his mechanics, increasing aggression with his pitches or going back to the basics, it’s difficult to pinpoint the true source of Brown’s evolution; in fact, he doesn’t think he’s physically changed at all — but he thinks the people around him have.
“Honestly I don’t think I feel that much different than I have before,” Brown said. “But I can feel the confidence in my teammates behind me. You can definitely feel that a little bit more. … They have that faith in me to get the job done.”
