Biddle Battles Massive Case of Sophomore Jinx : 49er Right-Hander Trying to Regain Freshman Form

AUSTIN, Tex. — So this is what a “sophomore jinx” looks like.

It looks like more balls than strikes--a lot more. It looks like a young man’s confidence eroding with every bad pitch, bad break and bad day.

It looks like Rocky Biddle getting rocked. Again.

Most of all, though, it looks--and feels--painful, something Biddle can speak about with expertise. Life at the ballpark hasn’t been so good for the Long Beach State right-hander, whose second season has been one big snag.

The problems started from the start and picked up momentum just like a Biddle fastball. Biddle was way behind in the count without a clue in sight, and often wondered if he would get yanked for good.

But he didn’t. Biddle is working through his troubles as best he can, and he’s not without support.

Long Beach State plays Southwest Missouri State at 1 p.m. (PDT) today in the first round of the NCAA Central I Regional at Disch-Falk Field. The 49ers will likely need a strong outing from Biddle to advance through the regional, and Biddle is determined to come through. He probably will start either the 49ers’ second game or the third, if there is one.

“I’ve had a lot of rough times this year,” Biddle said. “It’s been a learning phase I’ve been going through, and it’s kind of been a real disappointing season.

“It’s been hard and I’m not satisfied, but I think I’ve been throwing better. I think I’ve started to get back to where I was before, and I don’t want it to stop now.”

It’s easy to understand why.

Biddle admittedly hasn’t lived up to expectations. In 15 starts, his record is 5-5 with a 4.17 earned-run average.

Those aren’t numbers to cry about, but Biddle was a freshman All-American and one of the Big West Conference’s dominant pitchers last season. He was 6-1 with a 3.74 ERA in 1995. And he took over during the 49ers’ late-season stretch run.

Over the last month of the regular season, Biddle won consecutive Big West pitcher of the week awards. He had complete games in three of his last four starts, two of which were shutouts, striking out 14 in each.

“I thought that the night we saw him [in the Big West tournament] was one of the finest performances I’ve seen in the 13 years I’ve been here,” Nevada Coach Gary Powers said last season. “I mean, he was just dominant.”

In his last five starts covering 40 innings, Biddle struck out 57. That’s an average of 12.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

He finished second on the team in strikeouts with 122 in 108 1/3 innings, and is second on the all-time Big West list for strikeouts in a season by a freshman. Eric Schullstrom of Fresno State set the record with 146 in 1988.

What’s more, Biddle broke the school record for scoreless innings with 33 1/3 over his last four starts.

“I had a lot of success last year,” Biddle said. “I was the young guy coming in, so it didn’t really matter what I did because I was a freshman, and then I go out and have that type of a year.”

Then, this.

He has struggled with his mechanics, control and focus. The combination almost overwhelmed Biddle.

“Almost every game [earlier in the season] I would wonder, ‘What’s happening?’ ” Biddle said. “I second-guessed myself a lot and wondered how good I really was.

“People said to me, ‘You’ve got the ‘sophomore jinx’ pretty bad.’ ”

The culprit? Too much thinking.

As a freshman, Biddle (6 feet 2, 205 pounds) just reared back and threw. A fastball timed consistently in the low 90s affords one such luxuries.

This season, Biddle worked more on actually pitching. Big mistake.

“I was trying to learn new pitches and hit certain spots [in the strike zone],” said Biddle, who turned 20 Tuesday. “There’s no way you’re not going to learn and improve by working with a guy like Coach [Dave] Snow, but I was trying to do too much.”

Snow noticed the strain.

“I think a lot of it was the expectations,” Snow said. “He felt like he had to pitch [like last season] every game. He had to learn you have no control over those types of results, you just have to take the thing one pitch at a time. That’s part of what he had to learn.”

Despite his struggles, Biddle still blows some batters away. He has 105 strikeouts in 99 1/3 innings, second on the 49ers in each category.

Lately, Biddle has thought less about his job and is getting better at it.

“Three weeks ago, coach sat me down,” Biddle said. “He said we had to get me back to the way I was last year, then he left me alone to let me work on it. He was there to encourage me, but he let me work it out.”

There are signs Biddle is rebounding.

He earned the victory as Long Beach defeated Cal State Fullerton, 13-9, May 11 in the Big West tournament. He gave up seven runs in 7 2/3 innings, but only two after the second inning.

“He’s a young guy with a great future,” Snow said. “He had a tough luck year, but he will grow from it and it will make him tougher and make him even better.”