Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Catching Up With Blue Raider Pitcher David Zoz
5/1/2020 1:00:00 PM | Baseball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee pitcher David Zoz has been one of the Blue Raiders' most reliable arms these past two seasons. The Michigan native made 20 appearances with seven starts in 2019 and led the team with seven appearances in 2020.
Before joining the Blue Raiders, Zoz made a pit stop at Illinois Central College located in East Peoria not far from Peoria Lake. While at ICC the left-hander made 19 appearances with 18 starts in two season for the Cougars and tossed seven complete games.
In his final season with ICC, Zoz struck out 28 batters in 34.2 innings pitched and picked up a 3.63 ERA in 2018.
Check out our interview with David Zoz here:
Before coming to MT you played at Illinois Central College, what are the benefits of playing at a JUCO before coming to a D1 school like Middle Tennessee?
It definitely helped me develop more. Out of high school I wasn't the biggest guy, I was probably only around 160 or 170 pounds, so I was pretty small. I was only throwing about 80-82 [miles per hour,] so going to a junior college helped me mature. It allowed me to gain experience with live, in game pitching, as opposed to going to a division one school right out of high school where some freshmen have to sit around for a couple years and wait for their time. Going the JUCO rout was perfect for me because it helped me compete right away and develop into a better pitcher.
You're from Ann Arbor, Michigan, what was the draw to MT which is 554 miles away from your home?
I was born in Michigan in Ypsilanti county in Ann Arbor an I only lived there till I was in about fourth grade, then my family and I moved to Illinois, then Indiana, and now my family actually lives in Iowa, so I've been all around the Midwest. With that being said, the south is definitely a different atmosphere when it comes to baseball compared to that Midwest feeling. When you first start baseball in the Midwest you could be getting 30 degree weather with snow as opposed to here where you're working with 45 degrees. It does rain a lot more here, but I'd much rather pitch in the warmer temperatures.
You led the team in appearances this season and were second on the team in appearances last season, as one of the team's main relief pitchers what kind of mentality do you need to have going into each game?
Being a relief pitcher is definitely different than being a starter. I started a few games last year and I'd have to say that I like starting more because you're on a schedule and you know what you're getting into. As a starter you have time to do this and that to get ready, but as a reliever you have to be locked in the whole game. It could be that the starter is rolling into the fourth [inning] an then something happens where a couple relievers need to go get hot, then you've got five to 15 to 20 pitches in the bullpen where I just need to be as locked in and as ready to go as I possibly can be.
The Blue Raider pitching staff was really finding their stride moving to conference play by winning four of their last six games, what was the feeling among the pitchers heading into conference play?
We knew what we were capable of. We had a lot more depth this year and a lot of guys we knew would compete for us. We played two top 30 teams in the country (North Carolina and Tulane) in the first few weeks of the season and we pitched out tails off. We knew that going into conference that we were ready to turn a corner and that we were confident in our abilities.
Since the season abruptly ended what have you been doing to stay in shape and what is your routine like now that you don't physically have to go to class since all classes are online?
I've been trying to keep a schedule during all this. I've been getting up around 8 AM and I'll eat breakfast, then I'll get all my homework done in the morning that way I'll have the afternoon to do whatever I need to do; like work out or throw. My roommates and I made our garage into a makeshift workout area. We laid down a rug and have been doing mostly body weight workouts. We have 10-pound weights and that's all we really have to work with so there are only a limited amount of things you can do with that. We'll workout about five times a week, pass the time, and throw ball a little bit. Other than that all I do right now is do homework and play video games, mainly MLB The Show.
