The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/112604
R By Bruce Winkworth anked as high as No. 8 in the preseason polls, NC State entered the 2013 college baseball season with significant star power. Sophomore right-hander Logan Jernigan may not have the same name recognition as, say, AllAmericans Carlos Rodon and Trea Turner ��� not yet, anyway ��� but Jernigan���s is a name to remember. A hard-throwing starting pitcher from Four Oaks, Jernigan alternately teased and tortured his coaches as a freshman a year ago. On the one hand was the electric stuff, very comparable to Rodon���s. On the other hand was the frustrating lack of command, resulting in 35 walks, 12 wild pitches and eight hit batters in just 52 innings. He held opposing hitters to a .198 average, but his WHIP (walks + hits per inning pitched) was 1.42. Count the hit batters as walks and that jumps to 1.58. He finished with a 5���1 record, but posted a 5.71 ERA. As the 2013 season approached, all indications pointed to a new and vastly improved Jernigan. The biggest change is his command. All through the fall, Jernigan threw strikes, pitched ahead in the count and dispatched hitters quickly. ���It���s all about control,��� Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent said. ���He threw too many pitches last year. He threw too many out of the zone and had too many walks. That���s something Logan���s got to overcome and he will. He was a freshman last year. He was better in the fall and he���s been better in the preseason.��� Jernigan was almost assuredly the most improved pitcher on the team during fall practice, showing that at his best he can be just about as good as any pitcher on the staff, including the indomitable Rodon. He showed flashes of that at times last season, just not often enough. Three of his first five appearances in 2012 were hitless, including five shutout innings with nine strikeouts Feb.��25 versus West Virginia, and a spectacular six-inning start March 11 against a hard-hitting Georgia Tech squad at Doak Field at Dail Park. Jernigan dazzled the Yellow Jackets that afternoon, striking out nine, but he also surrendered two runs despite not allowing a hit. He walked six, five of them in the third inning when Tech scored both runs. Take away that third inning and Jernigan allowed the eventual conference champions just two base runners in the other five innings he worked. His fastball sat at 93-96 the entire Jernigan limited opposing hitters to a .198 average during his freshman campaign, but he also had 35 walks, 12 wild pitches and eight hit batters in just 52 innings. photo courtesy nc state media relations Taking Command With Improved Control, Sophomore Hurler Logan Jernigan Could Have A Breakthrough Season time. That���s how good Jernigan can be, if only he can lose the five-walk innings. He appears to be well on his way. ���When I first got here, I was throwing a lot of balls out of the zone and I didn���t know how to deal with it,��� Jernigan said. ���Now, I feel that if I walk a batter I can come back and not let that last pitch bother me. Last year, it kind of lingered in the back of my mind.��� Jernigan also added a new pitch, a slider, to go with his four-seam and two-seam fastballs, curveball and changeup. And the slider makes a big difference. of a head-scratcher that Jernigan wound up in college at all. At 6-3 and a hair more than 200 pounds, he has a projectable athletic body to go with great stuff on the mound. That���s a combination that pro scouts normally find irresistible. So how did they resist Jernigan as a senior at South Johnston High School in 2011? That���s the million-dollar question. Twenty months from now, when he���s again eligible for the draft, it could well be worth even more than that. ���My senior year was a down year,��� Jernigan admitted. ���It was a really down year. ���He���s shown improved command with all of his pitches, fastball, breaking ball. He���s shown better command with his changeup, which has become a much bigger pitch for him. He���s definitely a three-pitch guy with two really dominant pitches. He���s going to be a big help for us.��� ��� Head coach Elliott Avent on Jernigan ���Last year my main off-speed pitch was a curveball,��� Jernigan said. ���I feel like I can command the slider a lot better than the curveball. That���s had a lot to do with the success over the fall, having a breaking ball I feel like I can throw for a strike. The curveball last year wasn���t real reliable.��� Coming out of fall practice, Avent envisioned a weekend rotation of Rodon on Friday, Jernigan on Saturday and senior righthander Ethan Ogburn on Sunday. Rodon is the stud All-American, Ogburn the savvy senior. Assuming Jernigan continues to pitch as he did in the fall and in preseason scrimmages, the Wolfpack���s weekend rotation will be formidable. ���He���s shown improved command with all of his pitches, fastball, breaking ball,��� Avent said of Jernigan. ���He���s shown better command with his changeup, which has become a much bigger pitch for him. He���s definitely a three-pitch guy with two really dominant pitches. He���s going to be a big help for us.��� Given his physical tools, it���s something My velocity was down for some reason. I had a lot of people tell me, a lot of scouts, that in baseball it���s all about what you���ve done for me lately, and I was throwing harder my junior year than my senior year. When it came draft time, I just didn���t put up the numbers.��� Jernigan, who hails from Four Oaks, loves hunting and fishing, and he loves the camouflage cap the team wore on Military Appreciation Day. When the topic is baseball, however, Jernigan is all business. ���That���s just how I grew up,��� Jernigan said of his Southern roots. ���I don���t go out there putting it out. All you have to do is hang around me for 10 minutes and you���ll figure it out. I grew up in a small town, but it���s been all about baseball the whole time. I had to have other hobbies and I like to hunt and fish, but really it���s been baseball. That���s all I can remember.��� And that���s what Jernigan intends to deliver in 2013 ��� some old fashioned hardball. ��� March 2013��� ������ 67 66-67.Logan Jernigan.indd 67 2/26/13 1:09 PM