By snoadmin
It started last Tuesday in San Diego, with a two-run shot over the left field fence at San Diego State’s Tony Gwynn Stadium. Maybe it was just the wind carrying the ball through the dry, east San Diego air.
But then there was another homerun in Santa Barbara on Friday. Two homeruns in a row, maybe it was just luck?
And then there was another one on Saturday.
And finally, there was a grand slam on Sunday, and Chris Nelson knew it wasn’t just luck this time.
After not hitting a homerun all season, and only hitting two in junior college, Nelson slugged four home runs in four games.
“I was ecstatic,” Nelson said before playing Loyola Marymount Tuesday. “Cloud nine…it was unreal.”
Nelson’s four-game homerun streak was something no one – including himself, could have ever predicted.
“You can’t expect that. I’m not a homerun hitter,” Nelson said. “I’m more of a ground ball, line drive kind of guy.”
While the bar is never exactly set low for any Dirtbag, Nelson’s performance far surpassed his expectations. When all he was expecting was a sacrifice fly to drive in a man on third at SDSU, he notched his first homer of the year.
And on Sunday, with the bases loaded, once again Nelson was just expecting to pop up so a runner could score. It was the top of the 11th, and the tired Dirtbags just wanted to go home. Home is exactly where Nelson, and four other Dirtbags went – home plate, that is.
“Again, I was just trying to hit a fly ball,” Nelson said. “But [the pitch] just came inside and I put the bat on the ball, the ball in the air and it just went out.”
The grand slam was the Dirtbags’ first all season, as well as the first one in Nelson’s life.
“I never even hit a grand slam in little league,” Nelson said, with excitement in his voice still lingering from Sunday. “Never. It was my first one, and it was unbelievable.”
Nelson finished the weekend 6-for-17 (.353), with nine RBIs and six runs. Tuesday, Nelson was named Big West Player of the Week for the first time, capping off his week of firsts.
Right now, Nelson may be Long Beach State’s very own Barry Bonds, but this role is a new one for Nelson.
Standing at only 5’11” and weighing only 185, Nelson doesn’t even resemble the typical 6-plus-feet tall, 200-plus-pound power hitters on the team.
With a high an OBP in the upper .400s and walk-counts nearing the 30s during junior college at Riverside Community, Nelson’s name was always pretty much guaranteed to be at the top of the order.
“I’ve always hit leadoff, either [No.] 1 or [No.] 2,” Nelson said. “Pretty much my entire career.”
He came to Long Beach State this season expecting to do more of the same. But early on, Nelson suffered a hamate bone (which is located in the hand) injury. Nelson, who both bats right-handed and throws right-handed, was forced to undergo surgery on his right hand.
But Nelson had been in that position before. In high school, he underwent Tommy John surgery and learned to throw with his left arm. So the ambidextrous outfielder put his glove over his cast and threw with his opposite arm again. There would be no bench warming for Nelson, even with an injury. He still made a few appearances as a late-inning centerfield replacement and was also utilized as a pinch runner.
Once the cast was off Nelson resumed his position at the top of the order, batting in the No. 2 spot behind either TJ Mittelstaedt or Robert Perry. But even though his hand was healed, his bat wasn’t the same. His average went down, along with his on-base percentage.
But while Nelson had struggles at the plate, he shined in center field, making several clutch defensive plays and showing an impressive range in his dominant throwing arm.
“That’s just my bread and butter in baseball – the outfield,” Nelson said. “I can play defense and have confidence out there. Even if I’m injured or struggling at the plate, I know I can do well in the outfield.”
The turning point came late in April when he switched places in the lineup with Matt Cline. When Cline’s numbers began looking more like a No. 2 hitter’s than Nelson’s, Nelson was moved down – way down – to the ninth spot.
Although he may not have been used to batting that far down in the order, Nelson adapted quickly. His struggles disappeared, along with the grounders and line drives. Those were replaced with extra-base hits and RBIs.
“I started seeing better pitches,” Nelson said. “I started getting more fast balls. Pitchers were making more mistakes to the lower hitters, thinking they were easy outs, and I just took advantage of that.”
In one week, Nelson doubled his junior college career homerun number.
The week gave Nelson the confidence booster he needed going into the final two, and most important, series of the Dirtbags’ season.
“It’s just huge for me,” Nelson said. “I’d been kind of down in the dumps with my hand surgery and I was struggling at the plate. But it just showed me that I need to stay confident.”
Now that his confidence is restored, Nelson said he’s not worried about getting a homerun every game or always making the big play. He just wants to contribute. Nelson said he’s just going out there every game and doing what he does best.
“I’m just having fun,” Nelson said. “I’m not going out there and worrying and trying to hit homeruns and trying to hit doubles. I’m just trying to put the ball in play and help the team out.”
