Following a stellar freshman year for Troy University’s baseball team, Morgan Academy native Thomas Austin could have had a letdown, instead the 6 foot 2 inch right-hander became a mainstay in the Trojan bullpen on a team that reached the NCAA Regional playoffs in Nashville, Tenn.

This season, the setup man logged 36 innings of work in 17 appearances and an ERA of 5.26.

“I think this season was my favorite of any,” Austin said during a phone interview in Xenia, Ohio, where he will be playing summer ball for Athletes in Action, a Christian organization that is a part of Campus Crusades. “This team was great all around. We meshed together so well.”

Austin started the year a little rough, having experienced some arm trouble from moving his release point the year before, he went to his coach Bobby Pierce to discuss moving his arm slot back.

“I’ve never had elbow soreness before,” Austin said. “I prayed about it and talked to Coach Pierce about going a little higher and that didn’t work out. So I prayed that God would keep my arm from hurting and moved back down to the three-quarters arm slot and it started to work.”

“I think a lot of the cause of the soreness was that he was rushed into action,” Pierce said. “We had some injuries last year and he was forced to throw a lot more than we necessarily planned while moving him to that arm slot, but he has shown a great ability to move his release point easily.”

After moving back down to where he was a year before, production from the sophomore improved.

“You can see where he really became a go-to guy down the stretch for us,” Pierce said. “So much so that he was a member of the NCAA Regional All-Tournament team.”

The honor was given to Austin in the Nashville regional after five and two-thirds innings of scoreless work in two games at Vanderbilt. This summer Austin is hoping to continue refining his release point so he can become an even more dominant pitcher for the Trojans next spring.

“I’m trying to find an area that can add some velocity while still having that sinking action,” he said. “What I ran into last year is when I would throw my slider, I would have to change arm slots, so if I went through the order more than once, they would see that. I’m hoping to find a spot that allows me to throw all of these pitches from the same slot.”

Austin said he would also use his time in Ohio to grow spiritually off the diamond as much as he hopes to grow on the field.

“I’ll be here playing ball, of course,” Austin said. “But I will also be doing some discipleship and just growing.”

Austin isn’t worried about the future, he just wants to keep playing at the high level he already is to help his team.

“I’m trusting God has a plan for everything,” Austin said. “I’m just so ready to start back with Troy in August.”