Long Beach State University Athletics
In the Dugout with Andrew Liebel
3/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 20, 2008
Liebel, the senior ace for the nation's No. 7 team, has only one win in four starts, but one could make a case that he's been the nation's most dominant pitcher of the season's first month. His ERA is just 1.11 and he has 36 strikeouts and just three walks in 32 innings. The Dirtbags have won all four of his starts--against Rice, Wichita State, Hawaii and Southern California--but he registered no-decisions in the first three, all of which were extra-inning affairs. Liebel spent the first two and a half years of his career as a reliever before shifting to the rotation last April 27, and he went 4-1 down the stretch and has emerged as one of the nation's best pitchers. He talked about that transition, the adjustment to a new pitching coach, and his relationship with young players like LBSU freshman Jake Thompson.
I'm sure you've been happy that your team has won all those extra-inning games, but it had to be nice to get some support this weekend and get into the win column, right?
Yeah, it was nice. Definitely I'm out there pitching for the team, not really too concerned with wins or losses, but it was nice to receive some support.
It seemed like you were in midseason form right out of the gate. Is this the best you've ever felt?
I would say that I feel pretty good. I go out of the gates competing as hard as I can, really focusing on execution. I picked up velocity on my fastball, and being able to locate my fastball and also my secondary stuff being where it is has helped me get the strikeouts. I throw a changeup, a curveball and a slider, and I have confidence in all four pitches. I could throw any of those pitches in any count that comes up. I would say my strikeout pitch could either be my slider or my curveball. Some days my curve is better than my slider, and sometimes vice versa. It's more of a feedback thing as the game progresses.
How much velocity have you added to your fastball, and how did you do it?
Last year I was low 80s to 90. Now I'm 90-93. This summer I really focused on gaining more weight and also gaining more strength. I worked out extremely hard and also paid more attention to my diet. I'm on a high-protein diet to feed my muscles so they regenerate faster, creating more size. Also the recuperation of my muscles is a lot faster.
What was it like making the transition from relieving for the first two and a half years of your career to starting down the stretch last season?
The transition is one I've been waiting for, for a long time. I've always wanted to be a starter, and was definitely accepting of my role with the team as a reliever, but always wanted to work toward starting. Last year due to some injuries, I got the opportunity to start, I got the opportunity to prove myself and open some eyes on the coaching staff. I pretty much ran with my opportunity and made the most of it.
It all seemed to happen very fast for you. In about six weeks, you became a key starter and found yourself throwing a complete-game to beat Pepperdine in the regional. What was that experience like for you?
That experience for me in the regional was my first regional I've ever played in. It was exactly the situation I wanted to be in. I've always wanted the ball, and I definitely wanted the ball in that situation, because I thrive off of energy and pressure situations. I loved every moment of it.
You guys wound up losing that regional to UCLA, of course, and it just so happens you're playing the Bruins this weekend. Do you have a little payback in the back of your minds?
We're not really too focused on making this game any more important than any other game. If you're thinking that we need to do more, we really need to do a little extra, get some payback, I think that will get us out of our element, which is taking care of business in a controlled manner.
Any team that we play has a chance to be tough, but as long as you stick to the principles of how to pitch, good pitching will beat good hitting any day. As long as I compete down in the zone and throw to both sides of the plate, it will be hard for anyone to hit it. It's hard to protect both sides of the plate. You can't give the hitters too much credit. It's hard to hit, the odds are in my favor. If I go and do what I do and command my pitches, it's going to be tough on hitters.
I know your old pitching coach, Troy Buckley, has had a lot to do with the success of your staff over the years. What was your reaction when he left to become the Pirates' minor league pitching coordinator last fall?
I would say that when I first heard the news that Troy Buckley was leaving, it was bittersweet. I was upset at the fact that he was leaving, but also glad that he had the opportunity to go and be the pitching coordinator, it was a great honor for him. It would be selfish on our part if we didn't let him go do that. I'm glad he went and did what he did. I'm also glad we have another former Dirtbag, Jon Strauss, with us now--that made the transition much easier. He was my assistant coach my sophomore year, and we built a little bit of a relationship then. There really aren't that many differences between him and Buck, because Strauss being a former Dirtbag, he knows how we do things around here.
How do you do things? What makes Long Beach unique?
I would say that we have a much more advanced pitching program, obviously, because of Troy Buckley and his experience. It has definitely laid a very, very good foundation to be followed here at Long Beach State. Our long-toss program, the way we analyze video and use video as a teaching tool (is unusual). Basically just the way we utilize our teaching tools and get people to understand what exactly pitching is and how to throw a ball correctly.
As a senior, you've been around there for a few years now, but you guys have a true freshman pitching on Sundays in Jake Thompson, a guy who should be a senior in high school right now. Do you ever feel like an old man hanging around him?
He definitely makes me feel pretty old. He's young, and he's definitely got the ability and the talent to compete at this level. But he also has a lot of room to grow, just like any incoming freshman; as time goes, they get better as well. He's done a good job for us this far, it'll be very interesting to see how he progresses as he goes along at Long Beach State.
