Nebraska Baseball: Top Five Players Of The 2014 Season

5) Zach Hirsch, Senior Relief Pitcher, St. Charles, IL

The 6’4”, 220 pound lefty was Nebraska baseball’s go-to man out of the bullpen this season. Time and time again, Hirsch was called upon to get the Big Red out of a jam and cool the bats of opponents.

Coach Erstad and pitching coach Ted Silva used Hirsch in a myriad of roles ranging from set-up man to long relief to an occasional appearance as closer when Josh Roeder wasn’t available.

Andrew Bienka-Husker Corner

As Hirsch told Jon Nyatawa of the Omaha World Herald, “Honestly, I come to the field every day ready to pitch, and if they need me to pitch, I’m ready.”

If you look at the stats, you can see what Hirsch says is true. He has appeared in 29 of the Huskers’ 59 games throwing 47.2 innings. The 29 appearances lead the pitching staff, the next closest being Bob Greco with 24.

What about ERA? He has that going for him, too. A team leading 1.32 to go along with 48 strikeouts and 13 walks, a very salty 3.69 strikeout to walk ratio.

Hirsch, who has a 4-1 win-loss record with four saves, was honored by the Big Ten coaches with third team All-Big Ten honors.

An invaluable member of the Huskers’ bullpen, he will be hard to replace. A guy who the team could count on to throw strikes and get outs, Hirsch has certainly left his mark on the program.