Grading Beaver Baseball: Scott Schultz

Scott Schultz was the Swiss army knife of the Beaver pitching staff. He came in as a starter while Wetzler was suspended and pitched well. In all of his starts he never gave up more than two earned runs. He also routinely came in as a reliever once the rotation was settled with the return of Wetzler. In another role he came in as the closer, earning a team leading 6 saves.

Schultz was quite possibly the most reliable pitcher on the Oregon State staff with a 1.71 ERA on the season in 67.0 innings pitched. That ERA was good for third behind Dylan Davis and Ben Wetzler. He ended with a 7-2 record, also good for third on the team in wins. His stats did not decrease in conference play when the difficulty increased, lowering his ERA to 1.33 in 20.1 innings pitched.

The best performance of his season came at the end of his Oregon State career. He got the start against UC Irvine and he delivered the game of his life, even ahead of his relief performance in the 2012 NCAA regional in Baton Rouge. Against the Anteaters Schultz was dealing, mowing them down in a mere 98 pitches for a 2 hit shutout performance. That game was a demonstration of Schultz's entire Oregon State career, he was thrown into a difficult situation, and he delivered as he always did.

Coach Casey once lamented that he had a starter in the bullpen, and could not give him more starts with the lack of experienced relievers. It may have forced Schultz into that duty, but he still performed in the role without second guessing it. Schultz may have deserved a larger role than what he had, where he continued to perform whenever given a chance to start.  He was a real team player and performed exceptionally well in every role this year, earning him top marks, as well as a pro contract.

Grade: A