June 5, 2007
The season was on the line, and it was only just past 11 a.m. in Greenville, N.C. But there he was, in a situation he had faced all year long. The ninth inning. UCF clinging to a one-run lead. Tying runner on second with nobody out. The Conference USA Championship.
Piece of cake.
Justin Weiss entered that game vs. No. 4 seed Houston May 24, a team that swept the No. 8 Knights in the regular season, knowing that if his team lost then the 2007 campaign would be over. It was UCF's first appearance in C-USA's postseason event since joining the league for the 2006 season, and the program certainly did not want to leave without a victory after suffering a first-round loss to top seed Rice the day before.
The Cougars opened the top of the ninth trailing 1-0 thanks to Jaager Good's sensational start on the mound for the Black and Gold. But a leadoff double forced UCF to go to its closer, and Weiss quickly racked up a ground out, a strikeout and a fly out, stranding the runner at second. The sophomore's dominating performance secured the upset, as well as the first 1-0 victory in C-USA Championship history.
That was nothing new for Weiss. The right-hander saved nine games for UCF, the second-most in program history, and finished 23 of the 25 contests he appeared in. Weiss allowed an earned run in only four games and boasted a 4-1 record and a 1.38 ERA when the season concluded.
But what made Weiss different from the rest of the closers in Division I was that the 2007 season was almost like an experimental year. The Miami native saw time in just four games as a freshman, and it was not until one day after the 2006 schedule wrapped up that things would change dramatically.
"I came here throwing over the top and most of my pitches moved, but they weren't as effective as some of the other guys," explained Weiss. "So I started messing around in the outfield one day, (assistant coach Craig) Cozart saw me throwing sidearm and I thought I was in trouble. He just kind of looked at me, threw his hands up and I was like, `uh-oh.' But we decided to try it and see how it worked. It started to go alright, I liked it and my pitches were moving more. So I stuck with it and kept working, working and working."
It was not a smooth transition, however. Along with testing a new pitching motion, Weiss had to deal with the operating table as well.
"Over the summer I didn't pick up a baseball for eight weeks because I had jaw surgery," reflected Weiss. "The first time I ran was when we got back here in the fall. I was cleared the week I returned to school. But the fall was hard for me. It was a hard struggle trying to get back into shape. Cozart worked with me a lot and we had a lot of individual time trying to get me where I needed to be.
"Pitching ending up being trial and error. I didn't know anybody who threw like that. It was all Cozart telling me what I needed to do, how to stay down with my legs. The release point and obtaining the fastball became muscle memory for me. I started to work very hard on the feel for my fastball, for my slider and once the season started I was ready to go with them."
Weiss and his submarine-style delivery made his first appearance in the series finale vs. No. 15 TCU Feb. 11. The Knights were trailing 6-5 and the Horned Frogs had runners at the corners with two outs in the top of the eighth. Weiss entered from the bullpen and induced Clint Arnold to ground into a fielder's choice to end the threat. UCF then scored three in the bottom half and its closer retired the side in the ninth to grab the come-from-behind victory.
"TCU and LSU (a save, Feb. 25) gave me more confidence knowing that these are big schools and I can do well against them so long as I execute my pitches," said Weiss. "Those games gave me a lot of confidence to build on. I then got more comfortable in throwing my pitches and it rolled from there."
Weiss did not just appreciate the art of finishing off a UCF win, he began to love the pressure that a closer is forced to endure.
"I like the adrenaline that I get from that situation," admitted the graduate of Killian High School. "Being under pressure makes you want to be perfect every time. It pushes me that much further to know that I have to succeed for my teammates."
From his first win all of the way to his final 2007 save, Weiss had a lot to adjust to as a sophomore. If he can accomplish everything he did in only one year, the UCF baseball program wishes 2008 were already here to see what else its exciting closer can handle.