Quote:Strike Three: Golden Spikes Spotlight on Austin Kubitza

For Rice junior righthander Austin Kubitza, the key has always been harnessing the extreme movement on his fastball well enough to throw strikes. There are times when his ball moves too much and his walks pile up—he has 37 walks in 67 innings this year, about as many as he threw in 80 innings last season.

But extreme movement is a double-edged sword, and it also allows him to escape jams with strikeouts and weak contact. He ranks fourth in the nation with 90 strikeouts (just five behind leader Carlos Rodon of North Carolina State), and his 12.15 strikeouts per nine innings are second-most of any pitcher with at least 70 strikeouts (behind only Rodon’s 14.9).

It helps, of course, that Kubitza can complement his running, sinking two-seamer with a devastating swing-and-miss slider.

“It has a lot to do with that slider,” Rice coach Wayne Graham said of Kubitza’s strikeout rate. “He throws his slider up to 87, and he keeps it in the 80s, and it’s usually got good tilt. When you can throw that pitch from his angles, it’s nasty. Plus his fastball is never straight. So basically every pitch is like a breaking ball. It makes it real rough on the hitter.”

Kubitza did not have good control two weekends ago against Central Florida, when he walked five in four innings and took his second loss of the year. So the Owls used him for 50 pitches or so Tuesday against Texas Tech, and he responded with four hitless innings, walking just one. Because of the midweek appearance, Rice gave Kubitza an extra day of rest, starting him Saturday against Houston ace Austin Pruitt. Kubitza responded with seven innings of two-hit, shutout ball, walking three and striking out 10 in a 4-0 victory to improve to 6-2, 1.22 on the season.

“We were thinking he just needs to get out there so he has better command,” Graham said, explaining the midweek start. “He’s doing a lot of things better. If he can throw strikes with (his fastball), usually it just makes a terrible time for the hitters because of the movement, and a lot of it is sinking movement. I’ve seen righthanded hitters time and again swing over his fastball, and lefthanded hitters, it moves away from them so they chase it. He’s an unusual pitcher because he has all that crazy movement.”

Kubitza flashed plus fastball velocity as a lanky freshman, leading scouts to believe he would grow into a hard thrower. But he pitches more in the high 80s as a junior, reaching 91 and every once in a while 93. Still, there aren’t many fastballs in the nation that are more effective, because of its life. And the deception in his delivery helps, too.

“He covers the ball pretty well because he throws a little across his body, and he’s over 6-foot-6,” Graham said. “So when you’re having a little trouble picking up the ball, and it’s coming in at that angle, it creates a real problem. If he throws a good (slider), it doesn’t get hit. They’ve got to hope he hangs it, and occasionally he does and it gets hit, but when it’s down, it’s deadly.”