Sooners’ Hansen Takes Step Forward, Despite Loss

LOS ANGELES—Alec Hansen entered the season with the burden of expectations. The Oklahoma righthander was voted a Preseason All-American by MLB scouting directors, the same group of people that would spend the spring evaluating him as the potential top overall draft pick.

Whether it was that pressure or something else, Hansen did not start the season well. He walked four batters and gave up three runs in one inning against Northeastern on opening weekend. He was slightly better a week later at Sam Houston State, but still walked three and didn’t make it out of the fourth.

Hansen was able to put all that behind him Saturday. Facing No. 14 UCLA in the Dodger Stadium Classic, he delivered his best start of the season. He struck out 11 batters and walked just one in 6 1/3 innings. He allowed two runs on four hits for his first quality start in his last seven outings.

But as well as Hansen pitched, it wasn’t quite enough for Oklahoma. UCLA scored two runs off him in the seventh and went on to win, 4-2.

Despite the loss, Oklahoma coach Pete Hughes said the start was an important one for Hansen and the Sooners (4-7).

“He’d been grinding mentally,” Hughes said. “I couldn’t be more proud. I wish we got a win. I wanted to get him out of there feeling good about himself and get a win for him. I know it was a loss, but I think it bodes well for him and our program to see him that efficient today”

Hansen was in control of the game from the start Saturday. He came out throwing his fastball 95-97 mph, peaking at 98, while mixing in a sharp slider in the upper 80s. Those two pitches were so effective for Hansen that he threw just one changeup in the outing.

Hansen said one of the keys to his success against UCLA (5-5) was his ability to locate his slider.

“I feel like that’s what made a difference because if I’m not able to throw that for a strike they can just sit on my fastball,” he said.

UCLA coach John Savage said Hansen’s velocity was comparable to that of Gerrit Cole and Jon Gray, who also pitched in the event in his draft year of 2013. But Savage was more impressed by Hansen’s pitchability.

“I thought he pitched, I don’t think he threw,” Savage said. “Only a few guys can throw 98, but if you can pitch at that, that’s a major separator and you’ve got to tip your hat to him, he did a nice job.”

Hansen’s velocity declined as he pushed deeper into the game, but he was still comfortably pitching 90-94 mph at the end of his start. He threw 92 pitches in his longest outing since April 25, 2015, when he threw 6 2/3 innings against Sam Houston State.

After six strong innings, UCLA finally got to Hansen in the seventh. Luke Persico led off the inning with a deep drive to left field that turned into a triple. After a sacrifice fly from Christoph Bono scored Persico and Scott Jarvis drew a walk, Hansen’s day was over. The Bruins went on to score three more runs in the inning after righthander Connor Berry came in from the bullpen, enough to secure the victory.

Hansen took the loss, and is now 0-2, 5.23 with 17 strikeouts and eight walks in 10 1/3 innings this season. His immense talent remains, and scouts will continue to carefully watch him over the next three months leading up to the draft.

But if his start against UCLA was a turning point, Hansen credited Hughes and pitching coach Jamie Pinzino for helping him get back on track after his rough start to the season. He knows there is still room for improvement, but Saturday’s start may represent a turning point in his season.

“I’ve been working every week trying to get better and be a good teammate,” Hansen said. “I think that approach has helped. To get back to pitching like this that was good, just got to keep progressing each week and every day getting better and keep this going.”

Hughes said there was a lot of noise around Hansen before the season, which they have worked to eliminate.

“There’s a lot of hype that comes with a talented kid,” Hughes said. “He’s done a good job the last couple weeks of just keeping things quiet and sticking to his base, which is our guys, our program, me and his pitching coach and that’s it. And when there’s less noise and less information coming in he handles that much better than the other way around.”

Though Saturday ended with another loss, there was plenty for Hansen and the Sooners to be optimistic about. For a team that is struggling on offense (Oklahoma is hitting .247 as a team), having a pitcher like Hansen could make a significant difference while their young hitters adjust to college baseball.

For now though, Hughes was simply happy to see Hansen at the top of his game.

“I haven’t seen him that good in a while,” Hughes said, “I’m talking preseason too. He’s made strides and give the kid a ton of credit for toughing it out. Every outing he’s gotten a little bit better. It was incrementally but this was a huge leap forward. I’m proud of that kid. It was good for our program to get Alec feeling good again.”