Trent Thornton to start elimination game for UNC

OMAHA, Neb. — Trent Thornton didn’t come to North Carolina to be a closer. He wanted to pitch, sure. But as a lifetime starter, he wanted to get the ball at the beginning of the game — not just at the end — and he’s made no secret of that desire.

Even after weeks of closing and weeks of being the pitcher UNC counted on to defuse explosive innings, Thornton said after the team’s last regular season game May 20 that he was “making the best of the situation.” He said he was grateful for the opportunity to pitch but, if he had the choice, he’d be in the rotation.

Thornton will get that chance Tuesday — in UNC’s most important game of the season.

The freshman right-hander will start for the first time since a midweek game against Winthrop on March 27, and he’ll face Louisiana State left-hander Cody Glenn (7-2, 2.41 ERA) and a high-powered LSU offense in a College World Series elimination game.

After junior starter Kent Emanuel struggled in UNC’s 8-1 loss against N.C. State on Sunday, coach Mike Fox said there was no hesitation in starting the less-experienced Thornton in place of junior Hobbs Johnson or sophomore Benton Moss, who have pitched to a 7.04 and a 6.43 ERA, respectively, in the postseason.

“At this point, we don’t think about freshmen,” Fox said. “We don’t think about any of that cause sometimes you come out here and roles change. These kids aren’t freshmen anymore, so it’s about who has the best stuff and who’s been pitching well for us.”

Thornton, who is 11-1 on the year with eight saves and a 1.28 ERA, has been even sharper in postseason play, pitching to a 1.20 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 15 innings. Though technically the team’s closer, Thornton hasn’t pitched like a short reliever, leading the staff in innings in the Chapel Hill Regional and Super Regional and entering games routinely well before the 9th inning.

In UNC’s Super Regional-clinching win against South Carolina on June 11, Thornton threw 88 pitches in 4.2 innings, providing some much-needed stability on the mound as the UNC offense came back to ward off the Gamecocks.

Because of how often Thornton’s been called on in the postseason, he said he had a hunch that he could be starting Tuesday after not warming in the bullpen at all in Sunday’s loss to the Wolfpack.

His thought was all but confirmed Sunday night by pitching coach Scott Forbes.

“He actually shot me a text last night saying, ‘Hey, you might start Tuesday. Just be prepared mentally,” Thornton said at Monday’s UNC team practice. “And he told me when we got to the baseball field today that I was going to be on the bump.”

Thornton said he watched LSU’s 2-1 loss to UCLA in Sunday’s night game, and he knows he’ll be up to a tough task against a Tigers team that had averaged 7.4 runs per game in the postseason before Sunday’s loss.

But there’s precedent for a UNC freshman pitcher succeeding in such a tight spot. Emanuel pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout against Texas in the 2011 College World Series, and despite Emanuel’s postseason difficulties, he’s someone Thornton looks to for guidance.

“I just try to be like Kent,” Thornton said. “Kent’s had an amazing career, so anything he could do, I’m going to try to match.”

Forbes said that Johnson,who’s typically a starter, will be available out of the bullpen, with Trevor Kelley and Chris McCue available for the late innings. McCue, who has been UNC’s second go-to reliever in the postseason alongside Thornton, will likely handle closer duties if necessary.

Forbes said that in a postseason scenario pitchers often have to play roles they are unaccustomed to. So the pitching coach has no qualms about moving Thornton into a starting role — especially with Thornton so eager to take the mound.

“(The thing) that really stuck out to me is I know Trent, he was hoping that we would say, ‘Hey, you’re starting tomorrow,’” Forbes said. “I think his teammates, too, have a lot of confidence in him.

“You always want to make sure you get your best guys on your mound.”

Trent Thornton wanted the ball. Now — on college baseball’s grandest stage — he’ll get it.