Freshman Myles Upchurch Continues To Grow Into Weekend Role For Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After the first shaky start of his career last week, Myles Upchurch responded.

The freshman put together the best performance of his young career on Sunday, striking out a career-high 11 batters over six innings in Alabama's 12-2 win over North Florida, looking in complete control for most of the game en route to his third win.

"I've kind of bragged about his poise, and that's what makes him good," head coach Rob Vaughn said. "The moment's not too big, and he's not trying to do extra... He threw some really good up-and-down curveballs, some really good sliders, got them to chase some sliders, executed the heater at a decent level today, and then that changeup's just a weapon. So he was outstanding."

Upchurch, one of the most highly-touted members of a star-studded Alabama freshman class, won the final weekend starting job in the preseason. He sits at 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA through 18.2 innings pitched, striking out 31 batters in that time. His 11 strikeouts were the most by an SEC freshman pitcher in a game this season.

"I think each outing, just consistently, something got better and better and better," Upchurch said. "I'm still nowhere near where I want to be, but today was a good step forward."

Upchurch was sharp early in Sunday's contest, striking out four batters through the first 2.1 innings. With one out in the third, nine-hole batter Seth Alford beat Upchurch on a fastball for a solo home run. Upchurch would allow another batter on, his third hit allowed of the game. He would throw a wild pitch to move him to scoring position before responding with an inning-ending strikeout.

"It's just a challenge heater, and he beat me there. There's nothing I can really do about it," Upchurch said of the home run. "(Pitching coach Jason Jackson) always says next pitch, next three guys. So that's my mentality every time."

Upchurch put together three straight 1-2-3 innings after that, striking out the final batter of all six of his completed frames. He ran into some trouble in the sixth, giving up a walk and a single to start the inning, and was removed from the game, ending an impressive outing.

"It's pretty rare for you to have every pitch working in the outing, but today I did," Upchurch said of his performance. "It was pretty fun. There's times where you throw and you only got two pitches with you, and you gotta grind it out, and there's times where you got everything. So learning how to manage when you don't have your pitches makes it a whole lot easier when you have them there."

The early returns on Upchurch have been impressive. With Vaughn praising his poise and maturity on a seemingly weekly basis, there is confidence that he can carry this high level of play over to SEC competition.

"Everyone knows that the SEC is the best conference in baseball, so we all know that it's gonna be a grind and it's gonna be a challenge," Upchurch said. "Our preparation doesn't change during the weeks coming up. It doesn't change at all. It doesn't change what I do, and it doesn't change what the hitters do. All we can do is just send our best stuff."

As the locked-in Sunday starter, Upchurch's performances will undoubtedly determine the results of numerous rubber matches in conference play. If Upchurch continues to execute near this level, Alabama’s Sunday spot may quickly become one of its biggest strengths.

"I don't need Myles to be anything more. I need him to just go out and be that," Vaughn said. "When he gets punched in the mouth, go be that again. When you have success, who cares? Go be that again."