SLU hopes pitching depth will be factor in A-10 tournament (2024)

As he waited to scout the first game of the Atlantic 10 baseball tournament Tuesday, coach Darin Hendrickson claimed that he wasn’t sure about his starting pitcher for St. Louis University’s opening game of the tournament.

He wanted to watch Richmond and George Washington before deciding who would throw against the winner Wednesday morning in Tysons, Virginia. He hadn’t even told his team at that point.

Chances are Hendrickson will go with Jackson Holmes, who is 9-2 and has been the team’s top starter throughout the conference season. The opponent will be Richmond, which won that game against George Washington 12-4, and Holmes has been the one sure piece of the rotation puzzle.

“It’s truly about matchups, and that’s the beauty of being the No. 1 seed,” Hendrickson said. “Holmes pitched Friday and would come back on shorter rest, but he didn’t throw a million pitches. He would be fine. I’m not overthinking this. I think I know who will start.”

Hendrickson has depth of pitching that he hopes will help get the Billikens into the NCAA Tournament. SLU led the A-10 in team ERA and has solidified roles, even if it often takes a mass group effort.

Eight pitchers were used as starters in A-10 games, with Holmes holding down the Friday role after left-hander Tommy Ray was injured.

Hendrickson got five innings or more out of his starters in only nine of 24 conference games. The positive that emerged was the development of young pitchers who piled up innings sooner than expected.

“This is probably not as potent a staff as I’ve had, but it’s as deep,” Hendrickson said. “We could put 10 guys out there, and no one would really be fazed. We wouldn’t have a massive drop off. And our last two guys are electric. Get the ball to them with the lead, and we feel good.”

Winning the regular-season championship put SLU in prime position. The Billikens received a bye to start the tournament, and a win Wednesday would allow them to rest until a game on Friday.

Hendrickson will be ready to patch together his pitching as needed after seeing starters work fewer innings as the season progressed.

The team’s 4.61 ERA has been good enough to support a sometimes potent offense. Holmes has been a solid No. 1 starter with a 9-2 record and 4.52 ERA. He provided the bulk of the outings that reached five innings. As a general rule, Hendrickson expects more of those outings.

“Starting pitchers have to get deeper into games,” he said. “This four innings and stuff is not sustainable for programs like ours. We’re big on trimming the fat on pitches, but we’ve got guys at 40 pitches in the second inning. You have to make pitches. It’s not about velocity. It’s an epidemic in our youth.”

Opponents have hit .267 this season against SLU. A key stat for the Billikens is limiting their walks to 3.66 per game, which ranks 28th-best in the country.

Assuming Holmes starts Wednesday, Hendrickson will have his pick of guys moving forward. Charlie Weber has been second in the rotation recently. Ray is back from an injury, but the big left-hander is likely to come out of the bullpen.

The late innings will be occupied by Ethan Bell, who has six saves, and Evan Gray, who has three.

“I could see a lot of two- and three-inning linescores when it’s done,” Hendrickson said. “I’ve watched a lot of teams crawl to the finish line in the A-10 (with pitching), and we’ve prided ourselves on having one of the best bullpens, if not the best, for years.”

Aside from Ray, the Billikens also have regained outfielders Patrick Clohisy and Hayden Moore from injuries to return the lineup to nearly full strength.