UCI pitching duo brothers in arms

Linked by position and performance, sophomore Scott Gorgen and junior Wes Etheridge have formed the potent one-two pitching punch that has helped propel the UC Irvine baseball team to the College World Series.

One or both have pitched in all five postseason games for the No. 4-ranked Anteaters (45-15-1), who meet No. 3-ranked Arizona State (48-13) today at 11 a.m. in a first-round game at Rosenblatt Stadium.

They have combined for three wins and a save in that stretch, allowing just one earned run and 22 hits in 36 innings between them. Their combined postseason earned-run average is 0.25 and opponents are hitting a combined .179 against them.

But while their pitching styles differ as much as their personalities, they have, in the nine months since they met, bonded off the field.

They are roommates and rivals, confidants and co-conspirators; friends for life who share giggles, exclamatory fist bumps and respect with equal frequency.

They also share a redemptive back story and a reliance on faith that has helped strengthen their connection.

“There was a little learning curve to get used to his sarcasm and his witty way,” Gorgen said of Etheridge, who typically follows him in Coach Dave Serrano’s starting rotation and is scheduled to start UCI’s second game Monday against an opponent to be determined. “But once we got a chance to sit down and talk about our life stories, I guess things clicked.”

THE COMEBACK KIDS

Gorgen’s initial challenge was created at birth, as he and twin brother Matt were two months premature.

“I spent the first 18 months of my life in the hospital,” said Gorgen, whose complications included a bout with pneumonia and a 35% hearing loss that requires him to use small hearing aids in both ears.

“I was a miracle baby,” he said. “The doctors told my parents I would never walk, talk, play sports or do anything. I was supposed to be in a wheelchair, drooling on myself. It’s just a real miracle that God gave me the opportunity to come through that; to be where I am today, which is competing at the highest level in athletics.”

Etheridge, on the other hand, was nearly derailed by his own bad decisions. In his early teens, he was struggling in school. He began skipping classes and smoking marijuana, associating with kids who were experimenting with harder drugs.

He developed an eating disorder, but weight wasn’t the only thing he lost. His passion for athletics also began to fade. He quit football and he was transferred from Huntington Beach High to Marina, where he continued a varsity baseball career that had begun as a freshman.

And though he was named Sunset League Pitcher of the Year in 2003, when he helped lead Marina to a CIF Southern Section championship, he was not recruited by any four-year schools and he landed at Cypress Community College.

It was there where he discovered the Bible and a faith that helped him view baseball with a new perspective. He said baseball and God saved him.

FAITH-BASED INITIATIVE

Gorgen said he grew up in a religious home and attended church regularly as a youth. But that all changed in high school, when he, too, began doing drugs and, he said, “going down a bad road.”

But sports, and eventual scholarship offers in baseball and football (he was a standout receiver and punter, and was wooed as a punter by Virginia, Boston College and Texas, among others), helped him leave “that [drug] phase behind.”

Gorgen said befriending Etheridge helped him rediscover the virtues of faith.

“I’ve talked to Wes about my whole life story, and we’ve had a lot of similar life experiences,” Gorgen said. “We’ve both learned by going through some tough times. His faith in the Lord has been huge and a real testament to the kind of person he has become. My faith and beliefs are very similar to Wes’ and I’m totally supportive of him reading the Bible. But more than that, seeing the way Wes acts and the way he presents himself, has made me a better person. Wes is a joy to be around and he has been an inspiration to me.”

ONE UPPING ON THE BUMP

Serrano said Etheridge and Gorgen are continually competing with one another for bragging rights. It’s a friendly rivalry that has boosted their performance.

“If Scotty goes out and pitches a great game, I think Wes is challenged to do the same thing, and vice versa,” Serrano said. “That’s a great thing to have on your pitching staff. They’re challenging each other for the same goal, which is to help the team win. And they’re trying to outdo each other for some of the props too.”

Etheridge agreed.

“We’re both competitive, and it’s a good competition,” Etheridge said. “It has been fun, especially in the postseason. We’ve pretty much been lights-out so far.”

Gorgen said part of the joy of performing well was being able to share that performance with his roommate afterward.

“It’s fun, because if I have a good game, I know when Wes comes up to the room, he’s going to be like ‘Now I have to have a good game, too. Otherwise, I’ll look bad.’ ”

“But like I’ve said many times after getting a win,” Gorgen said, ‘Whatever I can do, Wes Etheridge can do better.’ ”

CRAFTY RIGHT-HANDERS

There is a reason neither Gorgen, nor Etheridge were recruited heavily out of high school (Gorgen chose Irvine over Long Beach State and Nevada). Neither has the prototypical professional body, nor the repertoire of pitches scouts covet.

But both have won 12 games this season, each relying on a pitch that ranges from 79 mph to 85 mph.

Gorgen, a first-team All-Big West Conference performer after being named Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year last season, is 12-2 with a 2.68 earned-run average. He has allowed 109 hits and has struck out 106 in 127 2/3 innings in 2007. He has completed each of his last four starts, yielding one earned run in 36 innings, and he has all six of the Anteaters’ complete games this season.

Gorgen does throw a fastball that has been clocked as fast as 93 mph, and a power curveball. But his best pitch is a changeup he learned soon after arriving at UCI.

“Scotty has a devastating changeup,” said UCI junior outfielder Bryan Petersen, who has faced Gorgen many times in practice.

Gorgen, who jokingly refers to Etheridge and himself as a couple of bad-body pitchers, said his hands are not big enough to execute the traditional circle change grip (holding the ball in the last three fingers while resting the index finger in the tip of the thumb).

“I developed my own grip on the changeup (holding his middle and ring fingers over one seam while loosely guiding the ball with his index and little fingers) and it has done wonders for me,” Gorgen said. “I also rotate my wrist (counter clockwise) when I release it, which adds some drop to it.”

Gorgen’s other primary asset is his dogged determination on the mound.

“He has a presence you don’t see in first-round draft picks,” Etheridge said. “He might not have the best stuff in the nation, but I would rather have him out there for us than David Price (the No. 1 overall pick in last week’s draft who Friday won the Dick Howser Trophy as National Player of the Year). When you watch [Gorgen] compete out there, it’s inspiring.”

Petersen is also aware of Gorgen’s competitive edge.

“He’s 5-foot-10, but he has the presence of a 6-6 guy,” Petersen said. “The intensity and the heart of that kid are amazing.”

Etheridge, a second-team all-conference honoree who was drafted in the 12th round (371st overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers last week, basically throws just one pitch: a sinker he stubbornly calls a fastball.

“It’s a pride thing,” Etheridge said of his “fastball.” which he recently dubbed the “gootsteen.”

“It’s the Dutch word for sink,” said Etheridge, who varies the speed and trajectory of the pitch by changing the width of his fingers before releasing it.

Etheridge, who began the season as a reliever, and made less than a handful of starts at Cypress, is 12-4 with a 2.49 ERA and one save. He has allowed 118 hits in 126 1/3 innings and has 111 strikeouts.

“Wes must destroy the hearts of teams,” Petersen said. “He’ll throw his little ball up there and every time you see it [as a hitter], you think ‘I’m going to hit a home run.’ Then you swing at it and hit a little rollover ground ball to the second baseman and you’re wondering how he got you out.”

Serrano marvels at Etheridge’s ability to confound hitters with one pitch.

“I called 100 fastballs against Wichita State and for the first four innings, it looked like we were hitting fungos to our infielders,” Serrano said. “You never know which way the pitch is going to move. I saw a scouting report from earlier in the year that said he was throwing 90% sliders. That team was recognizing the spin on the pitch and thought it was a slider.”

Added Gorgen: “It’s a feeling of dominance when [Etheridge] goes out there.”

Serrano, the team’s pitching coach who calls every pitch, said the artistry of Gorgen and Etheridge has provided him some of the most satisfying games of his career.

“It’s like playing XBOX,” Serrano said. “It’s like I’m using the control to put a little wiggle here, a little wrinkle there. That’s how my mind works, anyway. I like toying with [opposing hitters].”

Gorgen said he actually laughed on the mound while shutting out Wichita State, a complete-game, 1-0 win in the Super Regional opener June 9.

“Wes and I did talk about Wichita State, because both of us have not seen a team this year take hacks that big against my changeup and his fastball.”

ANY MEANS NECESSARY

Determination as much as deception have helped Etheridge and Gorgen excel.

“Me and Scotty were just talking about how pitching is the one time in our lives that we get to go to war,” Etheridge said. “For those three hours, once a week, we get that adrenaline rush. It’s a high. Some people jab a vein for it, some people fight on the streets for it and some people go to jail for it. Scotty and I have both experimented with getting that high somewhere else. But, now, we get it on the mound. We know that baseball is that path for us.

“It’s sad to say, but for me and Scotty, right now, that’s about the only thing we’re good at. We’re not real good in school and we’re not salesmen. But we can throw a baseball. The good thing is, a lot of people in this world respect that, so we’re getting the opportunity to glorify God. And, now, we’re doing it in a national spotlight.”

Added Gorgen: “You’ve got eight guys behind you playing defense and you love the fact that they’re there. But until the ball comes out of your hand, it’s you and the batter. It’s so one-on-one. Either the hitter makes contact, or he doesn’t. It’s a one-one-one battle the whole at-bat.

“And when I really get that rush, is when I’m facing those big-name guys, the first-round draft picks. I’m a competitor and to be the best, I know I need to beat the best.”

Or at least do one better than his roommate.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].