Battle Tested: Texas Closer John Curtiss

By Christian Corona

JOHN CURTISS came into the game with a little pain in his wrist.

By the time the sixth inning rolled around, he felt as good as he ever had on the mound.

The sophmore right-hander was trying to keep Texas alive in the 2012 Big 12 Tournament against Kansas, but the Longhorns weren’t having much luck climbing out of a 3-0 first-inning hole. Curtiss had his slider working and was throwing in the mid-90s in the sixth inning — harder than he’s ever thrown.

Texas trailed 4-1 going into the seventh but Curtiss was doing what he could to keep his team in the game. He fired an inside fastball to the Jayhawks catcher, getting him to ground out to first for the second out of the inning.

Yet something didn’t feel right.

“I felt a twinge, not completely like a snap, but I felt like I pulled my hammy in my elbow,” Curtiss recalled. “It hurt pretty bad and I tossed one over to Erich [Weiss] at third. My arm felt good throwing at 50 mph so I figured I’d try to finish the inning.”

Two pitches later, Curtiss left the game.