Best in the...nation? Calmes named National Pitcher of the Week

KANSAS CITY, MO - UHSP's Tristan Calmes had a memorable performance in a 3-2 win over Columbia on Saturday setting a program record for strikeouts. Tuesday, he set another program mark, becoming the first Eutectic in baseball to ever receive national Player of the Week recognition as he was named NAIA Baseball Pitcher of the Week by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Calmes shut down one of the top hitting teams in the country holding the Cougars to just two runs on five hits. It was his eye-popping strikeout total of 17 Cougars that punctuated the win in his 153-pitch complete game victory. The 17 strikeouts are a new UHSP program record, surpassing the previous mark of 15 set by Barrett Lohman last year. As of Tuesday, Columbia was 13th in the nation in homeruns (63) and slugging percentage (.546) and 44th in batting average at .313.

"I honestly just trusted my stuff and made sure I had good intent when throwing my breaking balls," said Calmes about his success against Columbia. "Ethan (Harrell) and I talk a lot in between innings and figured out early on what was working." When asked at what point in the game he felt like he was really capable of putting something special together, Calmes said, "I think by maybe the fifth or sixth inning when I realized my pitch count was lower than it usually was at that point in other games is when I knew I had a shot of finishing out the entire game. Obviously, my pitch count ended up quite up there, but my arm felt great and I wanted to keep going."

"It was one of the best performances by one of my pitchers that I have seen in my 19 years in college baseball," said UHSP head coach Rick Heines about Calmes' performance. "Columbia can play with anybody in the country and Calmes was just locked in."

In now 11 appearances on the year, the hard-throwing righthander leads the staff in ERA at 4.32. He has allowed 31 runs on 35 hits over 58.1 innings pitched. He has battled command issues though throughout the season as he does have 62 strikeouts on the year, but 57 walks. Said Calmes, "Yes, my command issues have really bothered me, especially early in the season. Working in my bullpens with my catchers and coach Heines has helped a lot. I also work with the guys at Premier Pitching and Performance who have helped me keep my velocity up as well. I am very happy with how my season has gone, especially in the past month or so. I hope to make a statement as a team at the conference tournament next week."

The 5-Eutectics open up play in the American Midwest Conference Tournament on Monday at 12:00p in Springfield. Lohman is expected to get the start in game one against 4-Williams Baptist. Calmes would be in line to throw the next game for UHSP and if they beat the Eagles it would set up a rematch for Calmes and the Eutectics against the top-seed in the tournament, Columbia, at 6:00p Monday night.