Sophomore right-hander Andrew Lantrip struck out a career-high 12 in Friday night’s 9-1 win over Buffalo. | Esteban Portillo/The Cougar
The Friday the 13th nightmare for the University of Buffalo hitters took the form of Houston right-hander Andrew Lantrip, who provided all the fuel necessary to ensure that the Buffalo batters wouldn’t be sleeping well.
Through 7.2 innings, the sophomore struck out 12 batters, allowed five hits, walked one and allowed one earned run. Now 4-1 on the season after a complete game loss in the Houston College Classic, the right-hander was all smiles.
“I just attacked [the batters] with fastballs,” said Lantrip. “As soon as I was getting them to look for the fastball, it was about throwing a slider in there to get them off balance.”
Striking out the side twice in the course of the UH’s 9-1 victory, Lantrip credited his ability to focus on the moments at hand, rather than his current statistics, with keeping him on top of his game.
“You have to go out there and compete. You never want to get complacent and feel like you have it because that’s when you slip up and give up a big hit.”
The game was UH’s from the start, thanks to a three-run first inning due to Buffalo left-hander Ben Hartz’s struggles with walking and hitting batters, and was offensively in hand by the third inning when UH led 6-0. With junior second baseman Josh Vidales going three for three with two RBI and freshman shortstop Connor Wong chipping in with a two-for-four night, the offense and defense provided each other with concurrent cushions.
UH manager Todd Whitting, who had probably the best seat in the house for Lantrip’s gem, was duly impressed.
“I thought he was outstanding,” Whitting said. “He struck out a bunch of guys and kept his pitch count relatively low.”
His view from the dugout steps notwithstanding, Whitting was content to observe his Friday night starter’s performance and not try to over-analyze.
“You play it pitch by pitch,” said Whitting. “You just keep your nose down.”
Even with his so far success as “Mr. Friday Night” for UH, Lantrip said he thought more about the course of the long season than anything else.
“I’m not going to say that I expected this, but it’s not a surprise. I feel like I have the stuff to be the Friday night guy, and it’s showing right now,” said Lantrip. “But you’ve got to keep going. It’s early in the season, and a lot of this means nothing right now. I’m still a sophomore, still getting my feet wet.”
