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GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 75 Downs Trending Up G avin Downs got lit up. In 2012, the true freshman walk-on pitcher — the 5-foot- 11, 165-pounder wasn't even on Purdue's 35-man roster — had to face the Boilermakers' vaunted Big Ten championship lineup. The bats of Kevin Plawecki, Cameron Perkins and the rest didn't let up on the youngster, taking their aluminum bats to balls and lacing them around the yard. Downs was the patsy, a spare arm to throw to the lineup during practic- es when Purdue didn't want to waste a regular. But a student of the artistry of pitching, Downs didn't just throw, he studied, keying on what worked (rare) and what didn't (frequent) and using the knowledge to try to make himself better. "I had to learn how to pitch," Downs says now, as the fourth-year junior pre- pares his first season as Purdue's No. 1. "It was like trial by fire with those guys, because they had some big bats in the lineup. It really helped, learning how to pitch against guys that on paper match up really well against you." It helped shape who Downs is. Al- though he's up to about 6-foot, 190 pounds now, the Fort Wayne native still isn't overpowering and never will be. The fastball's gained velocity, up from the high 70s he was throwing a few years ago to the mid-80s now, but it's his location that makes him effective. He can hit spots with the two-seam fastball, a mid-70s curve and a low 70s changeup. Last season, he had 20 walks in 74 innings, with 27 strikeouts. "I learned very quickly that I have about this much space," Downs said, motioning from the bottom of his knee to the top, "before I start to get into trouble, unless I really fool them. But it's definitely different, because you come from high school where you know there are guys you can overpow- er with 79-80 mph, but here that's the low end. "If anything, they're going to be sur- prised by how slow it is. It was definite- ly an experience (that freshman year). I just looked at it, knowing that nothing is guaranteed and to enjoy what I had." Expectations were few. Although he enjoyed a solid senior season at Carroll High School, he didn't have any schol- arship offers to continue playing in col- lege — he did have smaller school op- portunities for soccer — but chose to come to Purdue to study engineering. Purdue was aware of Downs, but didn't think highly enough of him to offer a preferred walk-on slot. He had to try out. Still, Coach Doug Schreiber had a good feeling about Downs after watching a summer league game on Ball State's campus before the right- hander arrived in West Lafayette. "I just walked away smiling," the 17th-year coach said. "I think I had a smile on my face the whole two-hour drive home, because he threw strikes with all three pitches, he could throw Tom Campbell Junior Gavin Downs had few expecta- tions when he came to Purdue, but now, the right-hander is trying to fill a big role, taking the ball on Friday nights. BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com