Colleges

Change in approach works for FSU hurler

After rough start, his season turns on advice from his older brother.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published June 3, 2005

Florida State senior reliever Kevin Lynch used to think he should try to strike out everyone on the perfectly placed pitch.

"I'd try to be too cute," he said.

The results weren't always handsome. But after a particularly rough outing Feb.13 against Auburn, he got some pretty good advice from older brother Matt, a former FSU star now in the Oakland Athletics' farm system.

"Don't give the hitters too much credit," Matt preached after that 9-2 loss, FSU's first of the season. "They're not as good or as smart as you think they are."

"I struggled a little bit earlier in the year, but he stood behind me the whole time," Kevin said. "He knows how much of a competitor I am and that I hate losing. He said, "You've got the stuff to do it. You just have to make pitches and make them hit it."'

Brother knew best.

Lynch, 22, blossomed rapidly and has enjoyed a career year for the Seminoles, the top seed in the Tallahassee region who open the double-elimination tournament tonight against Army. Auburn and South Alabama are the other matchup.

He leads the team in wins (10), which nearly equals his total (11) from his first three years combined, and has set the school record for single-season appearances (44) as well as career appearances (134). He also sports a glistening 2.28 ERA.

Here's the math: Against Auburn, he gave up three hits and four earned runs in one-third of an inning, his third less-than-stellar performance of the young season, and his ERA climbed to 8.00. Since then, he's allowed six runs in 38 outings.

"Kevin Lynch has been undoubtedly one of our most valuable players this year," said coach Mike Martin, who has leaned heavily on his bullpen of Lynch, former Countryside star Matt DiBlasi and closer Tyler Chambliss, given a shaky starting rotation.

"I don't think I've ever had a pitcher who's appeared in two-thirds of the games that we've played. It's a little bit mind-boggling. To throw the numbers out that Kevin has attained is also mind-boggling."

Here's a sampling: Lynch's strikeout to walk ratio is 3:1 (60-20) and opponents are hitting just .203 against him. Perhaps more impressively is the job he's done in pressure-packed situations.

Ten times he has come in with the bases loaded; seven times the opponents failed to score.

That includes a gem against Virginia Tech on March 18 when he came in with the bases loaded, no outs and FSU clinging to a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Oh, yeah, he also inherited a 3-and-0 count. Lynch simply struck out the hitter, got the next to pop up and ended the threat with another strikeout. FSU went on to win 3-1.

"I'm more mature this year," he said. "I don't let a lot get to me."

Fragile emotions can be the undoing for a pitcher, especially a reliever. What manager/coach is going to hand the ball to someone who may not heal after a bad inning?

Matt, 24, in his third minor-league season and 5-2 after 10 starts with the Double-A Midland Rockhounds, said he stressed the need for an unflappable demeanor and a simplistic approach to his brother.

"I told him that every once in a while you'll have a bad outing and you have to deal with it,"' he said. "I'm proud of what he's done this year."

Florida State outfielder Shane Robinson was thinking about tonight's NCAA region when life threw him a curve.

Not that he had to worry about hitting it, like that would be a problem for the former Jesuit star. Instead, all he had to do was accept it.

Collegiate Baseball named him its national player of the year on Thursday afternoon. He joins J.D. Drew (1997) as the only Seminoles to win the prestigious award in its 22-year history, and he's one of only two sophomores to win it in the last 15 years.

"I'm kind of shocked and in awe over the whole thing," he said. "I don't think it's really set in on how big this award is. It's just nice to be recognized on a national level and it's something I can share with my family and my friends and my teammates and coaches. It's a real honor."

And a well-deserved one for Robinson, 20.

He ranks in the top five nationally in six offensive categories: runs (91, first), hits (118, second), stolen bases (46, third), doubles (25, fifth), batting average (.439, fifth) and on-base percentage (.539, fifth).

"We are very excited that Shane was selected for this honor," FSU coach Mike Martin said. "He has meant so much to this baseball team and I think that needs to be taken into consideration."

Freshman Walter Dix, who won last weekend's 100- and 200-meter sprints at the NCAA East region, was named the USA Track and Field's athlete of the week. He won the 100 in 10.22 seconds, but ran a 10.06 in the qualifying round to break the American junior record of 10.07 set by Stanley Floyd in 1980 and equaled by DaBrayn Blanton in 2003.

[Last modified June 3, 2005, 01:17:06]