411 on the Forty — Part Three: Get to know Bryce Elder
Get to know: Bryce Elder
Elder is a senior starting pitcher who has been a fixture on the pitching staff for the past three seasons, and was the team’s Friday night starter in both his junior and senior seasons. On Wednesday, he likely will be the first Longhorn selected in the 2020 Major League Baseball Draft. Elder is projected to be a third-round pick by the Miami Marlins.
3 Facts
1. Growing up in Decatur, Texas, he was a three-sport athlete. In high school, he not only starred on the baseball team, but found time to compete in golf and basketball at Decatur High. His high school years were quite successful, as he tossed back-to-back no-hitters in the UIL baseball playoffs his senior season.
2. Coming out of high school, he had zero Div. I offers. He already had committed to Texas when UT head coach David Pierce saw him at a summer all-star game. He played on the same travel team as current Texas teammate Brenden Dixon, who already had committed to Texas. His pitching style intrigued pitching coach Phillip Miller, who ended up giving him an offer to Texas shortly afterward. Once the Longhorns showed interest, several other schools began knocking on his door, including Oklahoma State and New Mexico.
3. His signature pitch is the cutter. He learned to throw it from a very young age by one of his first coaches, Brad Davis. Davis was a former pitcher at Oklahoma State. Even though Elder chose not to play baseball as a high school freshman in order to focus on golf and basketball, the technique of throwing the cutter stuck with him and became his go-to pitch throughout his prep career and most recently at Texas.
2 Accomplishments at Texas:
- In both his junior and senior seasons, Elder was named to the Big 12’s all-academic team. In order to qualify for the first team, which Elder was named to both times, the player must have a GPA above 3.20.
- Over the past two seasons, Elder led the pitching staff in total strikeouts. He fanned 32 batters in 2020, while posting a 2.08 earned run average.
In four appearances in 2020, Bryce Elder recorded a team-high 32 strikeouts and allowed just two extra-base hits (photo courtesy of texassports.com). 1 Quote:
1. On staying humble in his tremendous success on the Fort Acres:
“As far as looking back… I try to stay in the moment,” he told Orangebloods.com. “Yeah, that’s good to look at and it’s cool. But also, the most important thing is me throwing Friday night. I try to stay in the moment, work hard every day, and when it’s all over, I’ll be able to look back and say 'this was pretty cool.'”
