After a long and grueling road to recovery, Auburn pitcher Cole Lipscomb was finally in the spotlight after he recorded his first career complete game against Ole Miss on Friday, April 17.
The Prattville native’s outstanding performance included a career-high 10 strikeouts in Auburn’s 3-1 victory over the Rebels, and earned the him the honor of being named SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday, April 20.
“It’s a huge honor,” Lipscomb said. “I was really excited when I got the news yesterday, especially with the arms in this league. There are some big-time pitchers. As good as I pitched Friday, I think that is just a testament to our defense and just how well we played overall Friday.”
Before dominating batters this season as the Tigers’ “Friday night guy,” Lipscomb had to sit out the 2013 season to rehabilitate from Tommy John surgery and made two appearances in 2014 before he returned to his previous level of ability.
The surgery, which involves grafting a tendon to replace the Ulnar Collateral Ligament in the injured elbow, can sometimes require two years for a full recovery..
“I was still a little hurt last year coming back from Tommy John surgery, so I knew I probably wasn’t going to pitch much last year,” Lipscomb said. “I was just trying to get back from surgery and get better. This year, I was 100 percent.”
Lipscomb said he knew little, but had success in baseball when he signed with Auburn, his father’s alma mater, after helping Elmore County’s Edgewood Academy to four straight state titles.
After nearly two years of elbow strengthening exercises and learning how to pitch again, Lipscomb leads Auburn’s pitching staff with 61 strikeouts and has a 6-1 record.
Earlier in the season, coach Sunny Golloway compared the sophomore right-hander’s toughness and makeup to former Tigers’ workhorse Friday starter Dillon Ortman.
“We’ve seen him getting better and better,” Golloway said. “Every outing he seems to just get a little bit better and a little bit deeper.”
After his surgery, Lipscomb said he had to throw a different changeup because the changeup he was throwing was bad for his elbow.
“I had to relearn my changeup and just work on fastball command,” Lipscomb said. “It’s really hard coming back from surgery, so I just had to get my pitches to be sharp and work on my off-speed pitches.”
Lipscomb said he is going to keep doing what he’s been doing since the start of the season as the Tigers continue to fight to reach the postseason.
“(Pitching) coach (Tom) Holliday has been great with us,” Lipscomb said. “Our defense has been great. I’m just going to go out there and keep throwing strikes. Our defense has been playing great and I hope we just keep playing well.”
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