By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

When the 2013 season began, Clemson pitching coach Dan Pepicelli had a pretty good idea he was going to get a lot out of freshmen Matthew Crownover and Clate Schmidt. Coming out of high school, the two were rated among the best pitchers in the country by both ESPN and Baseball America.

It is of no surprise Schmidt has become the Saturday starter for the Tigers, while Crownover, who came back from Tommy John surgery in only 11 months, has anchored down a spot as a mid-week starter.

And though those two are holding their own—Schmidt a 2-0 record with a 4.15 ERA, while Crownover has a 3.57 ERA and is also 2-0—Zack Erwin is coming on strong, especially as of late. The freshman from Duluth, GA has compiled a 0.59 ERA and a 2-0 record in 15.1 innings spanned over nine appearances.

That includes Saturday’s 8-4 victory over Duke, when he came in relief of Schmidt and pitched 4.1 innings of scoreless baseball.

“He did a good job,” Clemson head coach Jack Leggett said.

Erwin came in with two outs in the fifth inning and the Tigers (15-8, 5-4 ACC) nursing a 6-4 lead with a runner on. After walking the first man he faced, he got the Blue Devils’ David Perkins to ground out to short to end the threat.

From there, the lefty settled down as he got 11 of the next 14 batters out, allowing only three hits and more importantly no runs. Erwin ended the game by getting Duke’s Grant McCabe to hit into a double play at second base.

“My stuff was working pretty well (Saturday),” Erwin said. “I pitched well and Clate set me up. I came in at a good spot, and I was just lucky enough to finish the game.”

Erwin’s stuff was not only working on Saturday. It has been working for a while now. Including the 4.1 scoreless innings he threw against the Blue Devils, he also produced four scoreless innings in five innings of work to get a win against Virginia on March 16, while also earning a save in a scoreless inning last Wednesday against Morehead State.

Erwin has allowed only two runs off eight hits so far in his 15.1 innings of work, while also recording 12 strikeouts to four walks. And though he has done most of that damage against ACC competition, the freshman is not letting it go to his head.

“I have always been confident. Results don’t really matter to me,” he said. “I never get too excited or too down on myself. I’m kind of always in the middle. I threw everything pretty much normal.”

And even when he is not throwing normal, like in the last inning against Duke, when the velocity on his fastball lost a little something, he stood tall and trusted his defense, inducing the double-play ball to Steve Wilkerson at second base.

It also helps when the offense adds two runs to give him some breathing room, like Clemson did with the two runs it added in the bottom of the eighth inning.

“That’s always nice,” Erwin said. “I was confident they would get the job done regardless, but it is always nice to have four extra runs. It makes it a lot easier.”

It also makes it a lot easier for Pepicelli, who now has the luxury of being able to call on another freshman on his pitching staff.