Benton, Holba thrive in starting rotation

The combination of right-handed pitchers sophomore Trey Benton and junior Chris Holba has been a deadly 1-2 punch in the starting weekend rotation for the East Carolina University baseball team, elevating the Pirates to legitimate NCAA contenders.

No. 16 ECU is 18-5 on the season in large part due to the duo of Benton and Holba, who combine for a 9-2 record in 12 games started, a 1.90 ERA in 71 innings pitched and 75 strikeouts. According to head coach Cliff Godwin, pitching through tough situations in previous years was a huge learning curve in their growth as players and it’s paid off immensely so far this season.

“They got experience from all the good and bad stuff that happened, and they’ve used the adversity to learn from that,” Godwin said. “I think they really focused on one pitch at a time, so when they throw a bad pitch, they can flip the switch and get back into the next one as opposed to when they were younger, when one bad pitch would lead to another bad pitch and so on.”

Benton’s 6-foot-4-inch frame is a unique attribute for a pitcher of his caliber, but his height can work against him when the command of his pitches isn’t precise, an issue he had to overcome with his fastball last season.

To work on his game, Benton spent most of the offseason working with pitching coach Dan Roszel, sophomore right hander Tyler Smith and Holba on controlling his pitches, improving the movement of his fastball and developing his sinker.

As a result, Benton has taken his game to another level through his first five starts, posting a 4-2 record with a 2.43 ERA over 34 innings, leading the team in strikeouts (39) and fewest walks of the starters (3).

As helpful as developing new pitches has been, Benton thinks his competitive mindset has been the biggest factor for his strong start. He is more of a team player this year than last, when he was always looking for the strikeout, compared to now when he’s trusting the defense behind him.

“I’m more of a competitor this year and I think it’s because I have a better approach on the mound,” Benton said. “Our pitching staff has a lot of accountability in it, especially when each guy has a chance to pitch on the weekend. We have a lot of talent and I think pushing each other everyday helps a lot.”

As opposed to Benton who was the Friday night starter since Opening Day, Holba’s dominant start may come as a surprise to some people, considering he only started in just seven games over the last two seasons. To get an idea of how hot he’s been, Holba is 5-0 with a team-best 1.32 ERA among starters just ahead of sophomore pitcher Tyler Smith (1.37). He pitched his first 25.2 innings of the season without allowing a single earned run, before giving up his first in the seventh inning of game three against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on March 10.

The biggest difference for Holba this year is the control over his body. Holba said he spent a huge portion of the offseason working with assistant strength and conditioning coach Brandon Golden in the weight room, and doing a lot more yoga to help his body control and delivery.

Along with improving his form, Roszel helped Holba work on his four main weapons in the off season, his sinker and 4-seam fastball, changeup and slider. Roszel also helped Holba incorporate more depth in his breaking ball, which separates the different pitching styles between Holba and Benton.

“Both of their fastballs have a lot of movement on it. Trey and Holba have both a good changeup, where Chris has more of a breaking ball and Trey had more of a slider,” Godwin said. “Mentality wise, they both want to go out there and just attack hitters.”

Both Benton and Holba have given credit to the entire ECU baseball program for their success, but particularly to the players who swing the bat and play defense behind them.

The Pirate offense is third in the American Athletic Conference in batting average with .283. Junior infielders Brady Lloyd (.434) , Connor Litten (.333) and redshirt sophomore catcher Jake Washer (.385) are top three on the team in batting average. Lloyd also leads the team in hits (23), runs scored (18) and on base percentage (.508), while sophomore first baseman Spencer Brickhouse leads the team in homeruns (four) and runs batted in (16). But from top to bottom, ECU’s efforts on the defensive end give Benton and Holba a level of comfort that helps perform their very best.

“We always talk about 9 vs. 1 and I really do believe that,” Holba said. “When I’m on the mound I got nine guys behind me facing one batter. It’s not a one-on-one battle, its the whole team.”

It’s difficult in any sport to maintain a high level of play over the course of an entire season, but with Benton and Holba working hard everyday to be better pitchers, there’s no telling how high their ceiling is. The two starters will look to continue their hot start this weekend when ECU hosts a dangerous Wichita State University team for the first time in history since the Shocker’s move to the AAC this past year. First pitch of game one is set for today at 6:30 p.m.