Coastal Carolina's unbeaten Jacob Morrison comes back from Tommy John surgery to dominate on mound
FILE - The NCAA logo is seen on a baseball during an NCAA college baseball tournament regional game between Louisiana-Lafayette and Mississippi State in Lafayette, La., Monday, June 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Jonathan Bachman, file)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall likes to say his baseball team's mantra is to stay hungry and humble.
Jacob Morrison is his poster boy.
The 6-foot-8, 245-pound sophomore is uber competitive, not to mention unbeaten. That's the hungry part. He also is extremely grateful to be pitching again, let alone at the College World Series. That's the humble part.
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After undergoing Tommy John surgery following his freshman year and missing the entire 2024 season, the right-hander from Flushing, Michigan, has been nothing short of sensational since February and never better than he was Sunday in the Chanticleers' 6-2 win over Oregon State.
The win earned Coastal Carolina, winners of 25 straight, two days off and a spot in the Bracket 1 final Wednesday against Louisville or Oregon State. Win that game, and the Chanticleers are in the best-of-three finals starting Saturday.
'I envisioned dominance,' Morrison said. 'I worked really hard in the offseason. I had the best staff around me to equip me to come back from injury and be this good. It's very fulfilling to be able to play at this high of a level. I do not take it for granted, the ability to even throw the baseball every day. I'm extremely blessed by that.'
Morrison (12-0) is tied for third in the nation in wins, fourth with a 2.08 ERA and 104 innings pitched and tied for fifth with 17 starts. The Chanticleers are 17-1 when Morrison pitches and 16-1 when he starts.
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He also leads the nation with 10 starts of at least six innings while allowing one or fewer runs. The only player with more such outings in the past five years is Paul Skenes, who did it for LSU during its 2023 national championship run.
Morrison had a promising freshman season, going 6-1 with a 6.55 ERA and striking out 68 in 57 2/3 innings. He started a regional elimination game against Duke and couldn't make it out of the second inning in what was his shortest outing of the season.
Surgery was next, followed by grueling rehabilitation. Once he was cleared to throw, he was determined to come back better.
Against Oregon State, he was on point, locating his mid-90s four-seam fastball, slider, curve and changeup. He struck out seven and walked none and retired 16 in a row from the third to eighth innings.
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'I've always been a big strike thrower," he said. "My freshman year, I threw a ton of strikes but I had a hard time keeping the ball out of the middle of the plate. That was a big thing, not only in my rehab last year, but even in freshman year development, throwing pitches where I want. I think it's pretty awesome to do that type of stuff.'
Morrison grew up in a sports-minded family. His mom, Jennifer, played basketball at Saginaw Valley State and his dad, Mark, played football at Central Michigan. His sister, Maddie, plays volleyball at Wayne State (Michigan).
'I don't think there's anything I wouldn't do in order to win,' Morrison told the 'On The Clock' podcast. 'I feel like I'm just more competitive than 90% of human beings.'
Morrison will pitch for the Brewster Whitecaps in the Cape Cod League after the CWS and should hear his name called in the Major League Baseball amateur draft in July.
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Nothing Morrison has done in his comeback surprises Schnall.
'Well, his freshman year, we could see that this guy was going to be a slam dunk Friday night starter, and unfortunately he had the injury,' Schnall said. 'What you see from Jacob, he's mature, he's a winner, he's extremely competitive. He's hard working. He's 6'8". He's got a great arm. He's a 3.5-plus student. When you say, how do you want your son to be like, this is the ultimate individual.'
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