By outreach@cw.ua.edu (Cody Estremera)
Right-hander Brock Love has been a Jack-of-all trades so far this season. Love’s record is currently 1-1 with a save and a 4.05 ERA in his four appearances.
“It’s fun getting to compete, regardless of when it is,” Love said. “Wherever I pitch, relief or starting, it’s perfectly ok with me.”
Love has been one of the main go-to guys coming out of the bullpen. All but one of his appearances has come out of the pen.
In his last outing, Love threw 4.1 innings of relief for starter Nick Eicholtz. In that outing, Love earned his first win, and struck out 10 of the 13 batters he faced for a career high. His previous high came against Troy last year.
“I was trying to be efficient. I was locating really well, and competing every hitter and every pitch,” Love said.
Last season Love pitched 30 innings over a span of 11 games, finishing with a 3.30 ERA.
“I think he’s on the right direction,” head coach Greg Goff said. “He’s starting to understand that ‘God has blessed me [Love] with a lot of ability, and I [Love] want to work at it to see what I [Love] can become.”
Goff has made sure to protect the sophomore’s arm, by making sure that he gets at least two or three days of rest between outings.
“We feel we have to win games,” Goff said. “If we need to emerge him in the game, he’s one of our best guys. So far its worked for us out of the pen. He always wants the ball.”
Love and the rest of the Crimson Tide face off against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in its next series starting on Thursday at 6 p.m. Freshman Garret Rukes gets his second career start. He went 3.2 innings and allowed just four hits against Jacksonville State.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff enters at 2-8 on the season. The Golden Lions notched its only two wins in their series win over Grambling.
“We have to treat them like a normal team coming in,” Love said. “We have to compete, regardless of who we play and try to get wins.”
Source:: The Crimson White Sports
