Martin, Mavericks ready for NSIC Tournament

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Minnesota State's Harvey Martin, a transfer from Central Michigan, has developed into one of the Mavericks' top pitchers in 2012. Pat Christman

May 8, 2012

Martin, Mavericks ready for NSIC Tournament

By Chad Courrier The Free Press The Mankato Free Press Tue May 08, 2012, 10:31 PM CDT

MANKATO — Harvey Martin has already gotten his undergraduate degree, and he’s had a major surgery on his elbow.

But his love of baseball is greater than it’s ever been, guiding him from Central Michigan to Minnesota State, where he’s become one of the Mavericks’ top pitchers.

“I never want to settle for being average,” Martin said. “Graduating was important to me, and grad school here is a great opportunity. Once I had the surgery, I realized how much I love the game, and I fought so hard to get back. My arm feels great now, and I’ve worked hard to be successful.”

Martin will be the starting pitcher in one of the first two games this week at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball tournament, which begins today with six teams at Franklin Rogers Park. The Mavericks are the top seed and take on Minnesota Duluth at 7 p.m. today.

Martin, whose uncle John Martin pitched for St. Louis and Detroit from 1980 to 1983 and was in the bullpen during the Cardinals’ World Series victory in 1982, spent his first four seasons at Central Michigan, where he redshirted his first year and then pitched as a freshman. However, he missed his sophomore season because of a ligament-replacement procedure in his elbow, commonly known as Tommy John surgery.

He came back the next season and went 3-3 with a 2.96 earned-run average.

“I had a great time at Central, but last season, things didn’t work out the way I had hoped,” Martin said.

He pitched the last two summers for the Eau Claire Express in the Northwoods League, and that’s where he met Minnesota State’s Ben Kincaid and Mahlon Zimmermann. Martin was scheduled to graduate last fall, but he was looking for somewhere to transfer, a school that had a quality sports management program.

“I had never head of Minnesota State until last summer,” Martin said. “I became good friends with those guys, so I made a campus visit. I feel in love with the place, and the guys and the coaches were awesome. And you can’t beat the tradition.”

So Martin stayed at Central Michigan through the fall to get his degree, then transfered to Minnesota State before this semester. Even back in high school, Martin had always pitched out of the bullpen, but Minnesota State coach Matt Magers told him to prepare to be a starter here.

“I really took that as a challenge,” Martin said. “It motivated me to work harder.”

He needed to work on other pitches and develop some stamina. He’s a sinker/slider pitcher who needs to keep the ball down, throwing in the upper 80s (mph).

“It was weird that you’d throw one game and then be done for a weekend,” he said. “Sitting on the bench was kind of weird, not even putting your spikes on. But you know you have all week to prepare, and it’s easier to pass things on to other pitchers. I’ve become more of a student of the game.”

Martin has brought a veteran presence to the Mavericks’ rotation, which lost three starters from last season’s national-tournament squad. Martin is 10-0 with a 2.49 ERA, allowing 58 hits in 65 innings. He’s struck out 44 and walked 13.

With Martin on the staff, Magers was able to move Nick Sutherland into the closer role, where he has 12 saves in place of Zimmermann, who only recently returned from a stress fracture in his foot.

Magers said it’s not uncommon, a couple hours after games, for Martin to be the last one out of the locker room, having dome some stretching or weightlifting.

“He throws strikes, and he has such a good work ethic,” Magers said. “We had some uncertainty in our pitching because we lost some big arms, but guys have stepped up. I feel pretty confident in our pitchers; I think they’re just starting to hit their peak.”

Martin will continue to work on his master’s degree, and he’s appealed to the NCAA to try to get another year of eligibility for the one he lost to arm surgery. He also hopes to get a chance at professional baseball, maybe next month during the draft.

“Pro ball has always been my goal, and I’m working for that every day,” Martin said. “When you get a little older, you spend more time thinking about what you want, and right now, we have business to take care of and I want to do my part.”

Martin said that when the team got back to Mankato about midnight Sunday, having taken three out of four games at Upper Iowa last weekend, he and his roommates sat in their apartment, with the TV off, for a couple of hours, just talking about the upcoming postseason.

“It’s exciting, anxious,” Martin said. “Playoff baseball is very exciting, but every game can be your last. Everybody has to step up.”

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