We just wrapped up postgame with David Pierce and Texas players, and starter Nolan Kingham sounded like he should be in a commercial for flu symptoms. He wasn't anywhere close to 100-percent tonight. In fact, Pierce wasn't sure what he'd get from Kingham, and had Blair Henley read in case Kingham struggled in the heat after being in bed all week.
"I was expecting Nolan to give us everything he had, but I just didn't know where it was going to be - I didn't know if we'd get two or three innings out of him or a performance like tonight. We had Blair ready. I trusted what he told me. I just wasn't sure once the adrenaline starts and the heat, and then how much stamina he actually had," said Pierce. "He did a great job of pacing and giving us everything he had."
Originally, Texas thought about starting Kingham on Friday, but as the week progressed and his symptoms and health didn't improve, the decision was made to push him back a day and hope that helped.
"I would say throughout the whole week today was probably the best I felt," said Kingham. "Yesterday was iffy. It was ongoing on Thursday, and I told Pierce, 'I don't know about Friday... it's pretty close.' All up to Thursday I was planning on going Friday, and Thursday came along and felt worse, basically. So, they pushed me back an extra day and thank God today was better.
As he walked to the mound for his first-inning pitches, Kingham moved at a sloth-like pace and didn't put much conviction, thought, or velocity into his warmup pitches. If an energy meter followed him around, it would have rated red like a low iPhone battery.
However, when a batter stepped into the box, that battery suddenly found its charge.
"I spent all week basically laying in bed, so I didn't get any exercise in or anything. So, I didn't want to go out there and one inning goes by and I'm gassed," he responded about conserving energy during his pre-inning tosses. "So, I really paced myself... when it was go time, it was go time."
It was go time for Kingham on the mound, and in extreme heat and with the pressures of a postseason start against the rival Aggies on his shoulders, he competed at a level that rivals any of his best outings in his career. And when he woke up this morning, it certainly wasn't go time.
"All week kind of struggled eating, drinking liquids, even sleeping. So, today I woke up a little earlier, got some food in me, liquids in me...," he said, before Jake McKenzie leaned over to the microphone.
"He threw up this morning," said McKenzie straight-faced.
"I had to get that poison out. Got some liquids in me, and some medicine and was good to go," said Kingham.
How about this? When Kingham was asked about coming off the mound to a standing ovation in the eighth inning, he said it was awesome but, slightly perturbed, stated he wanted to go the entire game.
"I was expecting Nolan to give us everything he had, but I just didn't know where it was going to be - I didn't know if we'd get two or three innings out of him or a performance like tonight. We had Blair ready. I trusted what he told me. I just wasn't sure once the adrenaline starts and the heat, and then how much stamina he actually had," said Pierce. "He did a great job of pacing and giving us everything he had."
Originally, Texas thought about starting Kingham on Friday, but as the week progressed and his symptoms and health didn't improve, the decision was made to push him back a day and hope that helped.
"I would say throughout the whole week today was probably the best I felt," said Kingham. "Yesterday was iffy. It was ongoing on Thursday, and I told Pierce, 'I don't know about Friday... it's pretty close.' All up to Thursday I was planning on going Friday, and Thursday came along and felt worse, basically. So, they pushed me back an extra day and thank God today was better.
As he walked to the mound for his first-inning pitches, Kingham moved at a sloth-like pace and didn't put much conviction, thought, or velocity into his warmup pitches. If an energy meter followed him around, it would have rated red like a low iPhone battery.
However, when a batter stepped into the box, that battery suddenly found its charge.
"I spent all week basically laying in bed, so I didn't get any exercise in or anything. So, I didn't want to go out there and one inning goes by and I'm gassed," he responded about conserving energy during his pre-inning tosses. "So, I really paced myself... when it was go time, it was go time."
It was go time for Kingham on the mound, and in extreme heat and with the pressures of a postseason start against the rival Aggies on his shoulders, he competed at a level that rivals any of his best outings in his career. And when he woke up this morning, it certainly wasn't go time.
"All week kind of struggled eating, drinking liquids, even sleeping. So, today I woke up a little earlier, got some food in me, liquids in me...," he said, before Jake McKenzie leaned over to the microphone.
"He threw up this morning," said McKenzie straight-faced.
"I had to get that poison out. Got some liquids in me, and some medicine and was good to go," said Kingham.
How about this? When Kingham was asked about coming off the mound to a standing ovation in the eighth inning, he said it was awesome but, slightly perturbed, stated he wanted to go the entire game.
