Iowa's Freie pitching in again

The throws across the diamond from first base were strong. Very strong.

So that gave University of Iowa baseball coach Jack Dahm an idea. Let's put Wes Freie on the mound and see if he can pitch.

Actually, that would be back on the mound for the senior from Wilton. A 6-foot-3 right-hander who was an outstanding prep pitcher, Freie threw a little as a freshman, then injured his right arm, making him strictly a first baseman/designated hitter.

But time heels wounds, as they say, and time made Freie a pitcher again.

"I enjoy being out on the mound," Freie said. "There is good and bad you can take from every outing. I feel like I've been throwing the ball pretty well. I had some arm problems (last month), but that's all gone now. I'm just trying to make pitches for my team."

Freie is certainly still a re-work in progress on the mound. In six starts for the Hawkeyes, he has a 2-3 record and 8.25 earned run average.

He has allowed 42 hits in 24 innings, though he has struck out 26. His last start came two weeks ago against Purdue.

"The most important thing is Wes had to learn how to pitch (again)," said Dahm, whose team is 11-21 and on an eight-game losing streak going into its Big Ten Conference series this weekend at Northwestern. "Wes really embraced pitching. He went out and had fun (last) summer, got a chance to throw a little bit. I really think he's going to be a very solid starter in this league. You can see that he's got some composure, he can locate that fastball, and he's got a good breaking pitch."

Freie has a team-leading six home runs this season, along with a .309 batting average. At least the offensive thing is going well for a guy with a career .298 average coming into his senior year.

"Coming in here, Wes had a lot of pressure on him," Dahm said. "Everybody thought he was going to be the savior of the program. He was highly recruited by Mississippi State, Nebraska and all these other places. He did some good things as a freshman, there was a lot of pressure on him, then he hurt his arm ... He was just a little more comfortable swinging the bat, and it took a while for his arm to come back."

"You've got to learn to make pitches, got to learn to his spots," Freie said. "These guys are good enough to where if you don't, they'll make you pay for it. But I'm having a good time out there. It's fun to compete again on the mound. That's the biggest thing about pitching. Yeah, definitely it's a feel thing that you've got to get used to (again). The more experience I get, the better off I'll be."