Lincoln Memorial baseball turned to Ethan Elliott when 'season hung in the balance'
Lincoln Memorial junior pitcher Ethan Elliott threw three innings just two days after a 142-pitch outing to lead his team to the NCAA Southeast Regional.
Lincoln Memorial baseball turned to Ethan Elliott when 'season hung in the balance' Lincoln Memorial junior pitcher Ethan Elliott threw three innings just two days after a 142-pitch outing to lead his team to the NCAA Southeast Regional. Check out this story on knoxnews.com: https://knoxne.ws/2rE8oKq
For Knoxville News Sentinel Published 12:50 p.m. ET May 14, 2018 | Updated 12:59 p.m. ET May 14, 2018
Lincoln Memorial pitcher Ethan Elliott delivers a pitch during a game this season.(Photo: Lincoln Memorial University athletics)
Before the first pitch of the opening game in the South Atlantic Conference championship series, Lincoln Memorial junior pitcher Ethan Elliott was already in his coach's ear.
Just two days before, he'd pitched a gem against Carson-Newman, going seven innings in a 9-2 victory. It wasn't enough rest, coach Jeff Sziksai said. Elliott disagreed.
"Ethan was bugging me the entire day to get in the game," Sziksai said. "He was being a nuisance, actually. He threw (142) pitches on Friday night and just had two days' rest. We didn't want to use him."
By the time the final three innings of the championship game against Catawba rolled around, Sziksai had become convinced. LMU had battled back to tie the score with a three-run home run from Tyler Adams in the top of the ninth.
After already playing 18 innings in the doubleheader, Sziksai knew he needed to stop any chance of a scoring spree in the bottom of the inning. He called Elliott's number, and his ace left-hander trotted to the mound out of the bullpen.
"If we had a chance to win this thing and the season hung in the balance, there's nobody else I'd want to give the ball to," Sziksai said. "I've never been part of an ending quite like that, with what was at stake. Our players showed incredible resilience all night long. They got it done."
The Railsplitters won 9-7 in an 11-inning game on April 30. Elliott, the former standout at Catholic High School, was named tournament MVP, pitching three innings with one hit, three walks and three strikeouts.
Elliott is 9-3 with a 2.85 ERA and will be draft eligible in June.
Elliott bounces back after 142 pitches
Lincoln Memorial (35-19) opened the day in the driver's seat of the SAC tournament. The Railsplitters hadn't lost, and all they had to do was win one game against archrival Catawba (30-23) to secure their second straight trip to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional.
Jeff Sziksai (Photo: Lincoln Memorial University athletics)
"For 16 innings we could not get a spark," Sziksai said. "We couldn't get a shutdown on the mound or defensively when we needed it all day. Comebacks for us this year have not been unusual. We knew if we still had an out to work with, we had a chance."
Elliott had a feeling he might be called upon, so he did his usual pregame routine to prepare. He wanted to know if his arm was ready after the 142 pitches he'd thrown two days before.
"I had tested out my arm and did my long toss a little bit," Elliott said. "I got a couple of pitches off the mound just to make sure I could go. There was no pain or soreness when I was throwing. I felt fine."
For a while, it didn't look like it would matter. Catawba charged out to an early 3-0 lead and led 7-2 after four. From the outside, Lincoln Memorial looked done for. From inside their dugout, it was a different story.
"Every at-bat, we didn't want any crickets in the dugout," Elliott said. "We wanted to bring the enthusiasm to the field."
Symbolic of the season for Railsplitters
Although LMU was the defending SAC champions, it didn't play like that for long stretches of 2018. Losses and key injuries piled up. Closing out the regular season in April, the Railsplitters lost seven of their last 14 games.
"Our expectations within our own locker room were high," Sziksai said. "We were treading uphill through a big part of the conference season. I never doubted how good we were. We just didn't execute very well for a while there."
Lincoln Memorial won its final four games, including a three-game series sweep of Mars Hill.
"It's been the most gratifying year for me as a coach," Sziksai said. "Not just for what we've accomplished, but the manor in which we accomplished it."
The Railsplitters are the No. 7 seed for the Southeast Regional and will open the NCAA tournament against second-seeded and No. 6 ranked Georgia College on Thursday in Tigerville, S.C.
Adam Greene is a freelance contributor.
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