The stellar season for Scott Baker continues at Ball State University. A winner of the Mid-American Conference’s West Division Pitcher of the Week five times, the Ball State sophomore was named the 2013 MAC Pitcher of the Year Tuesday morning. In Avon, Ohio for this morning’s opening game of the MAC Tournament against Miami University, the 2011 Manchester High School graduate learned of the award following Tuesday morning’s practice as he got on the team bus. “One of our managers came to me and said, ‘Come with me and don’t ask any questions,’” Baker, whose season record is 11-1, said about learning he had won the award. “I was like, ‘O.K., that’s kind of weird.’ I'm not even sure if he knew.” Upon returning to the field, the reason for his retrieval was still shady to him. “I went to the field and coach (Rich Maloney) was acting real excited for me, which was also weird,” he said. What Maloney was doing was being interviewed by macsports.com, while the trophy sat nearby. Upon seeing the award, things came into focus for Baker. “I won’t say it’s a surprise, because I really worked hard to get here,” Baker said. “However, I wasn’t really expecting it after last year, when I pitched 33 innings and had over a 6 (earned run average). I definitely wasn’t expecting to come back and pitch 99 innings with a 1.63 ERA.” To earn the award, Baker has pitched 99-1/3 innings, starting 14 games, completing five, while also allowing 28 runs, 18 of which were earned, 79 hits, 31 walks and 80 strikeouts. When compared to last year, when he threw just 33-2/3 innings, allowing 23 runs, all earned, 23 walks and 30 strikeouts with a 6.15 ERA, his improvement is evident. “If you’d have told me we’d get 100 innings out of him this season, with this great success, I’d have probably said that was asking a lot,” Maloney said. “But he's done it.” Leaving Ball State after the 2002 season, Maloney took the head coaching job at Michigan, where he stayed until returning to Muncie this year. Upon his return, he saw a solid pitcher in Baker, but not one that would rank fifth in NCAA Division I baseball with 11 wins, tying a Ball State record set by 2002 grad and No. 1 draft pick Bryan Bullington. “Scott’s a very unassuming young man,” Maloney said of Baker, who was scheduled to be on the mound this morning in search of win No. 12. “He’s accomplished just a great feat, with really, not much fanfare. Last season, he had a 6 ERA and was pitching in relief. This season, he’s just had a banner year. He’s been outstanding. “We thought he’d be successful, but not really thinking he’d be 11-1,” he added. “I’ve been coaching 18 years and I’ve been fortunate to coach guys that were player of the year or pitcher of the year, but the year Scott’s having has been pretty unbelievable.” Maloney’s last pitcher of the year was Bullington, the 2002 No. 1 overall MLB draft pick, who won the award in 2001 and 2002. And while Baker’s got the tools to make it to the next level, Maloney sees room for improvement. “His velocity hasn’t been somewhere where the pro scouts are jumping up and down and doing somersaults,” Maloney said. “He has to gain velocity this summer – working on a long toss program, getting stronger and gain some more velocity. With his pitch-ability, if he can get his velocity up to 85-90 (miles per hour), I’m sure he’ll have a chance to be drafted his junior year.” Until then, Baker’s going to try to help the 28-23 Ball State Cardinals reach the NCAA postseason, which it can do by winning the MAC Tournament. Beginning the season at 16-18, the Cardinals have won 12 of their last 17 games, which included a seven-game winning streak. “We did really well early in the season, in non-conference play, but then we kind of had a slow time when conference began,” the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Baker said. “Once we got halfway through conference, we realized we needed to win. Out of our last 12, I think we needed to win half of them, and we ended up winning nine of our last 12.” Now, Ball State is hot going into the double-elimination conference tournament, which, according to Baker, is up in the air. “The conference doesn’t really have a team that really blew everyone else out of the water,” he said. “Anybody really has a chance to win it.” The late-season push, coupled with the accolades Baker’s received, has the Cardinals squad in a pretty good mental frame. “When I announced to the team that he won this award, they went nuts,” Maloney said. “As much as it was an accomplishment for Scott, it meant a lot to these kids. That’s the kind of team we are. That’s a tribute to him and the friends he has on this team.”
