As the College World Series nears, Louisville baseball has confidence in its bullpen

OMAHA, Nebraska – It’s impossible to understate the importance of a talented, and deep, bullpen to Louisville pitching coach Roger Williams.  

Starters make the headlines and get most of the praise, but for the Cardinals, bullpen arms are essential.  

Despite being led by All-American ace Reid Detmers, no Louisville starter has thrown a complete game this season. A few have gotten close, as recently as Bobby Miller’s eight-inning one-hit outing against East Carolina, but each game somebody runs out of the bullpen and is asked to finish the game.  

“You have to have weapons in the bullpen you can trust,” Williams said. “When we’ve had strong bullpens, those are normally the years when we’ve gone to Omaha and played deep into the postseason.” 

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If you are looking for a reason why Louisville has made the jump from the team that lost in the 2018 NCAA regional, to a team that is one of four favorites to win the College World Series, look no further than the bullpen.  

With arms like Adam Elliott, Bryan Hoeing, Michael Kirian, Michael McAvene and others, the Cardinals have a bullpen that’s not just deep, but one that has a variety of strengths. And one that McAvene said gives Louisville, who will open play Sunday at 2 p.m., against Vanderbilt, a leg up on its competition.  

“You have to have guys who can finish it out and bridge it to the end of the game,” he said. “I think having the bullpen we’ve had has set us apart from everybody else.”  

Louisville’s season was on the brink of elimination in a June 2 NCAA Regional game against Indiana. With McAvene, the team’s closer, ejected after voicing his displeasure over a called ball, the Cardinals called Kirian out of the bullpen.  

The sophomore left-handed reliever stepped in with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and a 3-2 count.  

Relievers are often asked to come in and bail teams out of difficult situations, but this was unlike any other moment. Kirian was coming in with the at-bat nearly finished. 

“I was just trying to make sure I didn’t get ahead of myself and focus on making my pitches,” Kirian said.  

It took just one pitch for Kirian to record the game-ending strikeout.

Kirian's transformation this season has been remarkable. As a freshman he posted a team-high 12.71 ERA in 15 appearances. He admitted to having confidence issues.  

“You try not to think about it during the season, but it was a bit of an issue for me,” he said.  

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Kirian was the only pitcher on the roster with a double-digit ERA. The second-highest came from Riley Thompson at 6.82.  

After an offseason perfecting his craft, maturing and working on his mentality, Kirian has become one of Louisville’s most trusted relievers. He leads the team with 24 appearances and has a team-low 1.53 ERA.  

“Like Reid (Detmers) last year as a freshman, he went through ups and downs and had his struggles," Williams said. "He has just matured in every way, understood what is necessary to have success, understood his delivery and how to prepare from outings."

Kirian's emergence has given the Cardinals versatility at closer, something they missed when Sam Bordner went down with an injury last year. 

The choice in the ninth inning is usually the hard-throwing McAvene, who leads the team with seven saves, but if the situation calls for a left-hander, Kirian can finish, as well.  

Louisville doesn’t just have flexibility at the back end, it has it throughout the bullpen. It's one of its strengths, Williams said.  

“Our bullpen is suited to finish the game,” Williams said. “We can mix and match with lefty and righty and we have some power at the back end.”  

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Six pitchers have posted an ERA under three this season, five of them are relievers with Detmers being the exception. Of those five relievers, three are right-handed and two are left-handed.  

While it might not be the deciding factor in an elite bullpen, Kirian said the variety helps.  

“We are lucky enough that everybody we bring out of the pen is a good arm that can compete at a high level,” he said. “At the same time, if something goes wrong we know we have a guy that is just as good behind him. That allows us to pitch with a lot more freedom.”  

As the season began, a quick look at the bullpen roster was all McAvene needed to be optimistic about an improved season. 

“Brian, Bobby (Miller) at the beginning of the season, Shay (Shmiddy), Adam, Kirian, you could go down the list,” he said. “Everybody that comes out of the pen, I don’t think there’s going to be anybody that a team is going to be like ‘Oh thank God,’ it’s going to be a battle every time.”  

For most of the season, Louisville’s bullpen has held up to finish most of the performances its starters have put together.  

But no bullpen is untouchable.

On May 7, the Cardinals went into the eighth inning tied with Vanderbilt 2-2. The Commodores scored four late runs to win the game, two on Kirian and two on McAvene.   

Even when they struggle, the Cardinals confidence doesn’t truly falter. They genuinely believe they are one of, if not the best, bullpen in the country.  

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But to be that, they know the mental steps they’ve taken this season have to continue.  

“I think everybody has shown a great deal of maturity, the mindset, the mentality on the mound and everything has taken a step up,” McAvene said. “Everybody has accepted the role they’ve been put in and nobody is gloating on what anybody else is doing. We are all just focused on what we have to do.”  

Their names might not be in the newspapers as much as the starters, but they know they are crucial to Louisville’s success.  

“Obviously starters are huge but who are you going to pass the ball to when the starter comes out?” Hoeing said. “Having a good bullpen can take you a long way.”  

Louisville has the fourth best odds to win the College Worlds Series at 8-to-1. The bullpen is a major reason for that and nobody in the program is overlooking that obvious fact.

“I think we are a little better in all areas, but I think most noticeable is the bullpen with McAvene, Kirian, Elliott, Hoeing and more. They are a lot more consistent this year,” U of L coach Dan McDonnell said.