RENO - It had been a long time since Matt Bowman had played outfield. Six years to be exact.
When Bowman, an infielder throughout high school and for the first month of the season at Nevada, was told in mid-March by Nevada baseball coach Gary Powers to start working with the outfielders a little bit, he didn't even blink.
Bowman made his outfield debut on March 27 against Rice in right field, and has started 11 of the last 12 games for the Pack, 10 of the starts coming in left field. The Pack has posted an 8-4 record during that span, and part of the success can be attributed to the freshman's successful transition.
"They told me they wanted to have more options," the Dayton High grad said after a recent victory over San Jose State. "I was excited. It was going to give me more chances to get playing time.
"It's been fun learning a new position. It's great to know that the coaches wanted to give me more opportunities."
Those were opportunities that Bowman earned, according to Powers.
"He's taken advantage of the opportunities he's had," Powers said. "He got the opportunities because he's worked real hard at the things we're asking him to do, and the way we want him to do them. He's a competitive kid and works hard everyday."
Craig Miller, Bowman's coach at Dayton, seconded Powers' assessment.
"He has tremendous work ethic," said Miller, who watched Bowman play a flawless shortstop and hit better than .600 at Dayton. "He's the epitome of straight-A ballplayer. You want all of your players to be like him.
"He's a tremendous young player. He has a lot of growth left within the game. He'll continue to get better. I know he'd rather play middle infield, but he'll continue to work hard and be a better outfielder. He has good speed and good tools."
Powers opened the season with freshmen Mike Vass, Jesse Oliver and Drew Johnson, and JC transfer Ryan Sharman getting most of the playing time in the outfield alongside Jacob Butler and Shawn Scobee. Johnson and Oliver are a combined 2-for-36 between them, and Sharman has cooled off considerably since a four-hit effort against Louisiana Tech.
Powers needed some stability in left field, and Bowman finally got his opportunity. He's played errorless ball thus far and has made a few nice plays since he took over that position.
"The hardest thing has been judging fly balls off the bat; not knowing whether to come in on them or to let them drop. I spend a lot of time during batting practice just trying to get a good jump on the ball and judging them.
Bowman's recent success has wiped out some of the early season disappointments. The freshman made a couple of starts at third, which isn't a position he's played a lot of, and he struggled both in the field and at the plate.
"I was disappopinted in how I did," Bowman said. "I should have done a lot better. I would do better if I was asked to play there again."
"It's a hard adjustment (between second and third)," Powers said. "The ball comes off the bat totally different. You have so much more time at scond than at third base. The throw is so much different. At second base, you have a 60 to 75-foot throw. At third base, you have a 130-foot throw. The reads are different."
With second baseman Carlos Madrid and Eric Newman out of eligibility at the end of the year and junior Robert Marcial at shortstop, there could be a time in the near future when Bowman does get a shot at a middle infield job.
Bowman, who is 8-for-25 in WAC play the last two weekends, is currently hitting .245 with two homers. In Bowman's case, it's easy to say he has been hitting in tough luck. Against both Hawai'i and San Jose State, he pounded balls straight at outfielders more than once. Against the Spartans, he was robbed of an extra-base hit
"I feel better at the plate than I have all year," Bowman said.
Most of that is based on opportunity. Bowman has been able to get into a groove at the plate.
"Once he feels like he's in a comfort zone, he's the type of player that will go out and go 12-for-20," Miller said. "He did that on a few occasions."
Miller still doesn't understand why Bowman didn't get more interest from college recruiters when he was at Dayton. He said it wasn't until after Bowman played in the state Joe DiMaggio tournament that some schools, most notably St. Mary's in Moraga, Calif., began to show some interest.
"By my junior year, I figured I would go on to play at a junior college," Bowman said. "In fact, I was all ready to go to Feather River when Nevada contacted me and I changed my mind.
"St. Mary's had their second baseman leave and coach (Jed) Soto talked to me about going there. It's a private school and pretty expensive."
So Bowman, who is on a millenium academic scholarship, has found a home. Now, some schools on the West Coast might be sorry they didn't show more of an interest in him.
n Darrell Moody can be reached at dmoody@nevadappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281
