Self-Confidence Makes Austin Ross an Effective Pitcher
Coming out of Captain Shreve High School in Shreveport, La., you almost had to look twice at right-hander Austin Ross’ numbers. In his high school career, Ross was 24-2 with a 1.32 ERA with 177 strikeouts and only 20 walks.
During Ross’ freshman season in 2008, LSU was pretty solid with former Tigers Jared Bradford, Ryan Verdugo and Blake Martin leading the weekend rotation. Louis Coleman and Ryan Byrd were stable mid-week starters, leaving Ross as a dependable reliever out of the bullpen.
“I knew it was the opportunity to get my feet wet a little bit,” Ross recalled. “It was really the first time in my life that I had been a reliever. My goal all along though was to be one of those weekend guys.”
In 21 appearances that season, Ross amassed a 3-1 record with a 2.58 ERA. His first win came in a seven-inning relief appearance against Southern where he allowed no runs on four hits with eight strikeouts. Later that year, Ross pitched four scoreless innings against Texas Southern in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional, where he earned a save after allowing only three hits. With the departure of Bradford, Verdugo and Martin, the stage was set entering the 2009 season for Ross to transition from reliever to weekend starter.
“I took that summer in between freshman and sophomore year to get back in the groove of being a starter,” Ross said. “It’s a different mentality, and your arm has to get conditioned for it, but it wasn’t that big of a transition. I just had to get back into it.”
In 2009, Ross showed flashes of brilliance, earning SEC Pitcher of the Week honors twice, the first of which came against UCF in early March when he pitched six shutout innings with two hits, no walks and 10 strikeouts. That start against the Golden Knights was only the fourth of his career.
Ross’ most impressive performance came against Ole Miss later that month where he limited the Rebels to one run on two hits in eight innings of work with one walk and five strikeouts. In the NCAA Regional, Ross matched his career-high strikeouts with 10 and allowed only two runs in 6.2 innings against Southern.
Despite some outstanding performances, Ross finished the year with a 6-8 record and 5.18 ERA. However, after using the offseason to acquire a new change-up and refine his other pitches, Ross’ sights are only set forward
“Last year I was just too inconsistent,” Ross said. “I showed I could be good at times, but I was making too many little mistakes. Sometimes it just came down to like three or four pitches in a game.
“From a personal standpoint, I didn’t have the greatest year. It was just up and down the whole year. I used this summer to just flush that and work on myself to get ready to go again this year.”
So far this season, Ross is 2-0 and leads the team in strikeouts with 25. Also, in 18 of his 21.2 innings so far this season, he has not allowed a single run. Ross attributes much of his success so far this season to his mindset and his ability to trust himself.
“A big thing with pitching is knowing that your stuff is good enough for you to be out there, and being able to trust your abilities,” Ross said. “I want to have that mindset like, ‘here it is, hit it; it’s just me versus you’ I think I’m doing a better job of that this year.”
A pitcher’s mindset is one of the most valuable tools he possesses. LSU head coach Paul Mainieri said that Ross has utilized a strong mindset this year and is happy with the way he’s pitched so far this season.
“Austin seems to be more mature this season,” Mainieri explained. “When you have an intelligent kid with some experience, he begins to understand the mindset it takes to be successful. That mindset has led to Austin being more successful this season.
“I’m really happy with his performance so far. He has really risen to the occasion for us this season, especially with Anthony Ranaudo out of the starting rotation. He really stepped up in the second game against Kansas and pitched well for his team when we needed it coming off a loss Friday night.”
One of the most important elements for a pitcher to possess is a good short-term memory. A pitcher can’t afford to be haunted by a previous poor performance. Ross is very aware of the importance of a good short-term memory, and he knows focusing on the start he is in makes all the difference.
“Every time out is a new time out,” Ross said. “It’s tough on those days off when you pitch poorly the last time out. You have to get past that, though, and focus when you’re out there again. That’s the one game you’re able to pitch; the others don’t matter. That’s why trusting yourself is so important.”
Ross’ self-confidence is another facet to his keen mindset. Above ability, past performances and outside criticism, self-confidence may be the most revealing aspect of a pitcher’s character. Coach Mainieri maintains that confidence and a desire to compete are indeed keys to being successful.
“Confidence is everything,” Mainieri said. “I preach that all the time that you have to love challenges and you have to want to compete, but also have unwavering confidence. I think Austin has never been short on that.”
“I like being the guy that gets to go out there; the guy that coach hands the ball to,” Ross said. “In that situation, you’re the guy who is trusted to go out there and get the win for the team.”
In a sport that is constantly summarized by numbers and statistics, the pitcher is almost always remembered by his objective performance. For Austin Ross this season, his goals extend beyond record and earned run average; he’s not much of a numbers guy, anyway.
“There’s no number goal for me. I think those will take care of themselves,” Ross said. “I just want to not take any pitches off, and not let things snowball. I want to just go after guys, be aggressive and make my pitches.”