BGSU baseball picked up a 6-2 victory over Akron on Thursday with redshirt senior left-handed pitcher Ethan Stade continuing his electric stretch on the mound, striking out double-digit Zips and picking up the win.
After being thrust into the weekend series starter with senior right-hander Jacob Turner being week to week, Stade recorded back-to-back eight-strikeout appearances against Ohio and Northern Illinois before his Akron outing.
The lefty feels more comfortable as a starter, being able to play loose and relaxed in comparison to coming in as relief.
“The nerves are a little less. There aren’t as many nerves anymore, but when there were the first couple of weekends, it mentally hurt me a little bit. Now I’m able to just go out there, I’m just focused on using my best stuff, and it’s been working,” Stade said.
Even when the Minnesota State transfer does get taken out of his comfort zone, such as when he gave up a home run in the sixth inning of the Akron game, he knows that head coach Kyle Hallock trusts him to work through rough moments.
“He’s the type of dude that just needs a cotton t-shirt to pitch in and to know what time the game starts, then you turn him loose, and that’s what he does,” Hallock said, “That’s why he pitches in the role he does, he executes, and he adheres to everything we ask him to do.”
Stade added another 10 strikeouts to his total of 37 on the season in his seven innings of work.
Heading into the matchup against the Zips, Stade slotted in tied for sixth in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) for strikeouts and will most likely fly up the list following his outing on Thursday.
In addition to strikeouts, Stade also sits within the top 10 of lowest opponent batting average, hits allowed, and runs allowed in the conference.
With Stade giving the Orange and Brown another series-opening victory, they will look for their first series win on Friday, needing to take one of their doubleheader games against Akron to do so.
The doubleheader will begin with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch, followed by a 45-minute break following the conclusion of game one, before the Falcons and Zips battle again for the last game of the series.
