The RoundHouse | 4/5/2018 10:41:00 AM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Coach Todd Butler watched Chandler Sanburn pitch and saw someone he didn't recognize – angry, swollen, foreboding. He looked, Butler said, like someone inflated with 20 gallons of water.
 
"He was all blown up and big and really over-energized," Butler said. "And he was pitching over-energized."
 
On the bus ride returning from that season-opening trip to McNeese State, Butler told Sanburn to be himself on the mound, not some caricature of a flame-throwing reliever.
 
"He's a brilliant young man," Butler said. "He could have gone to West Point. He decided to come here. He's a good student, a great teammate, a great friend."
 
With that license to pitch without anger, Sanburn started to take Wichita State's role as closer. Since giving up four earned runs in two-thirds of inning at McNeese State, Sanburn owns a 1.59 ERA over 17 innings with five saves, 29 strikeouts and five walks. He retired Oklahoma State in order to close Wednesday's 7-5 victory at Eck Stadium for the Shockers, ranked No. 22 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll.
 
"I used to let the anger and emotions get ahold of me," Sanburn said. "We realized that's not who I was. No emotion. Calculated. Just get it done."
 
Sanburn, like most freshmen pitchers, came to Wichita State in 2014 thinking of himself as a starter. While he made five starts in the three previous seasons, most of his work came out of the bullpen. He finished 2017 with a 4.58 ERA in 25 appearances. He didn't record a save in three seasons. 
 
Nothing about those numbers scream "closer." Yet, here he is ranked second in the American Athletic Conference in saves and tied for third in appearances. On Wednesday, he struck out the final two batters of the game to give the Shockers (20-6) another mid-week win and stop a two-game skid.
 
"He had a good conversation with Coach Butler," catcher Gunnar Troutwine said. "The whole 'angry, big-emotion guy on the mound' really wasn't Chandler. Kind of mellowing out on the mound allows him to be a lot better, a little more focused."
 
Sanburn, a senior from Avon, Ind., used to take the mound thinking about "attacking the hitter, throw this ball hard, do this, do that." Now he takes a breath before each pitch – a favorite tactic of pitching coach Mike Steele – and thinks about his leg kick and throwing the ball.
 
"You start thinking about the wrong things instead of being clear, being easy and smooth toward the plate," he said. "Pick up the mitt and have all your energy going there."
 
Troutwine started to consider Sanburn as a closer during last season's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Springfield, Mo. Sanburn struck out five batters in two innings in a 3-1 win over Southern Illinois in 10 innings. The Hammons Field scoreboard registered 97-98 mph when he threw.
 
"That really kind of clicked in everybody's heads, like 'Chandler might have figured it out here,'" Troutwine said.
 
Troutwine saw that progression correctly. Sanburn just needed a chat with his coach and a long bus ride back from Louisiana.
 
He earned his first save in a 3-0 win over Omaha, striking out four in 1 2/3 innings. He followed that with two strong appearances against Nebraska in relief. Coaches moved Tommy Barnhouse to the starting rotation and Sanburn took over the final innings. Opponents are hitting .127 against him and he's allowed three extra-base hits all season.
 
"In the past, he would get amped-up in some situations late in the game," Troutwine said. "With him having this easy, breezy mind-set, I think it allows him to concentrate a little bit more on the mitt."
 
Sanburn said he and Steele made a few adjustments over the fall and early spring. He doesn't throw a sinker as often as previously. He uses his four-seam fastball and an improved slider to rack up strikeouts.
 
"They have to start early to get to his fastball," Butler said. "So that slider becomes pretty effective. He's quick to the plate and it's hard to run on him."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.