Tyler Buffett came through in a big way for Oklahoma State on Monday.
Just two days after Thomas Hatch outdueled Shane Bieber on the mound, Oklahoma State's Tyler Buffett and Arizona's Bobby Dalbec treated the fans at TD Ameritrade Park to another fantastic pitcher's duel on Monday night.
Buffett tossed a career-high eight shutout innings to help Oklahoma State become the first team in College World Series history to open with back-to-back 1-0 shutout victories.
After a 2nd straight 1-0 win for @OSUBaseball their staff ERA in the NCAA tourney is now 0.71. #CWS2016
— John Bishop (@JohnBishop71) June 21, 2016
Meanwhile for Arizona, Dalbec nearly set the record for most strikeouts in a College World Series game at TD Ameritrade with a career-high 12 against the Oklahoma State lineup in eight innings pitched.
Bobby Dalbec had an INCREDIBLE night on the hill for Arizona.
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 21, 2016
Line: 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 12 SO (career high) pic.twitter.com/NYE8H3bu0C
Oklahoma State remains undefeated in the NCAA tournament and still hasn't trailed in a single game this postseason.
.@OSUBaseball closes out @ArizonaBaseball 1-0. OSU has allowed just six runs in seven postseason games. That’s just silly. #sizzling
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogersD1) June 21, 2016
Here is what the players and coaches had to say about the dominating pitching Monday night:
Arizona coach Jay Johnson: "Tyler Buffett, the story of the night. We did not get very many good swings off on him. He was doing something that -- hiding the ball, moving the fastball in and out. Started throwing his breaker for a strike, and then Cobb's stuff in the ninth was really good."
Oklahoma State coach Tom Holliday: "I thought that Bobby Dalbec was even better than he looked on film...He changed his patterns. He never fell into a repeatable pattern. Three quality pitches and you're not throwing them in any particular order. That's why you saw some of the swings you saw."
Bobby Dalbec: "I've thrown that changeup since I started pitching. I've always had good feel for it. The big thing that's come along for me is instead of the slider, having more of a curveball, too, over the slider, it helps me out a lot.
Bobby Dalbec's 12 strikeouts are tied for 2nd-most in @tdameritradeprk history, and tie the most for a #CWS game there.
— Rob Anderson (@_robanderson) June 21, 2016
Johnson: "He pitched spectacular. I mean, he's as good as anybody in the country...The changeup is a real pitch. I think it's a Major League pitch right now. I think his breaking ball tonight was special. That's a good offense."
Tyler Buffett: Well, talking with Rob at the beginning of the year, when he wanted me to start coming out of the bullpen and start throwing those ninth innings, he told me just keep the mentality the same. If I go out there and I focus on making pitches, it doesn't matter if that pitch goes down in the ninth inning to win the game or if it's the first pitch of the ballgame, it's going to be the same pitch. If I go out there with focus, it's going to keep happening and keep focusing on making good pitches.
Tyler Buffett exits after 8 brilliant innings of 3-hit, shutout ball. Held his 89-92 velocity deep into game, and knuckle curve was filthy.
— Aaron Fitt (@aaronfitt) June 21, 2016
Holliday: "It's just a mature approach. You heard it in his answer. He's just executing pitches. As simple as it sounds, it takes a long time to do just that, not get ahead of yourself worrying about what is going on around you but rather take control of what you can do, and that is execute the pitch at hand."
