corey.davis@gaflnews.com

LAKELAND-When Florida Southern head baseball coach Jim Tyrrell makes the call to the pullpen to bring in his closer, there is usually just one name he calls.

When the game is on the line, Tyrrell calls for his ace junior right handed pitcher Daniel Tillman.

Tillman, a 2007 Suwannee High graduate, has been the Moccasins’ most consistent player the last two years. His gutsy performance hasn’t gone unnoticed either.

The College Baseball Blog ranked Tillman 90th in its Pre-Season list of the Top 100 Players in the country, while Baseball America ranked him the No. 1 Division II prospect in the nation.   

“To be honored as the top prospect in Division II, and to be considered one of the top closers in the nation, over all divisions, is pretty crazy to me,” Tillman said. “I never thought it would happen. My parents always told me to do your best every day and everything would work out and I guess it has.”

Tillman’s sophomore season was a remarkable one, as he was named to the NCBWA second-team All-South Region and second-team All-Sunshine State Conference (SSC).

Appearing in 24 games (20 in relief), Tillman was 4-2 with a 3.15 ERA, with 62 strikeouts in 54.1 innings. His 12 saves was a second-best season total in FSC history, most since Kyle DeYoung had a season-record of 17 in 2005.  

His freshman season, Tillman was named second-team All-South Region, second-team All-SSC and was also named to the SSC Commisioner’s Honor Roll. Tillman was 3-1, with a 1.80 ERA, striking out 29, with 5 saves in 20 appearances.

“I have had some consistency problems, waking too many guys, I have played decent but not as well as I would have liked,” Tillman said.   

Against Eckerd, Tillman became the school’s all-time save leader with his 24 career save.

“Yeah I set the career saves record against Eckerd. That’s what I have been working on for 2-3 years now. I wasn’t expecting to be a closer when I got here but my freshman year I took on that role and really developed into last year becoming the No. 1 guy. I was shooting for it, it’s a real cool experience. “

His success has been rather surprising somewhat since he was forced into changing his role on the team moving from a starter to closer. 

“In high school, I was just a starter, making the transition to closer your dealing with arms and reaction. Your arm hurts after throwing but you know how handle your body and how to handle it. I’m the only closer on the team, I can’t throw every day, I only come in when its a close game.”

Tillman has a good variety of pitches that set up others and keep the hitters off balance.

“My best pitch is definitely my fastball. I  have the ability to get guys out and set up my other pitches like a slyder and changeup as well, “ Tillman said.

At Suwannee, Tillman was a third-team all-state selection as a junior and senior. He had an ERA of 0.67 in 62 innings as a junior and 1.05 as a senior.

“It was a lot of fun, wow you know I have never thought about it until now when you just mentioned it. Probably the highlight of my high school career is setting the all-time ERA record. In my two years, I never won 10 games, never struck out a lot people, but I always worked hard and got guys out as best as I could,” Tillman said.

This past summer, Tillman pitched for Cotuit in the prestigious Cape Cod League and didn’t allow a run the entire season. Tillman had five saves in 16 games, struck out 31, walked seven in 22 innings.

“It was a lot of fun, but it was tough in the beginning I wasn’t sure if I was suppose to be there, I felt intimidated. I come from a small Division II school and your going up against guys who played in Division I power schools, its very intimidating.  I had to take a step back, you only get one chance to be here and I turned it around.”

Between his play in college and at the Cape, Tillman started getting noticed from professional scouts.

“What helped me was last year we had a shorstop that did an outstanding job in the Cape Cod League and was projected to go in the first three rounds of the draft. My sophomore year he had lots of exposure by the scouts and they got to see me for basically 2 1/2 years. “

With scouts beginning to pay him lots of attention almost daily, Tillman has had to adjust his mindset.   

“Recently, I have had to reevaluate my approach about the draft and handling the scouts. It’s a distraction that you can’t ignore, every game you see a group of men watching you in the bullpen, stretching and how you carry yourself and with their radar guns. I handle it but I think about helping my team first.”

As far as making a decision anytime soon about whether going pro or coming back for his senior year, Tillman isn’t ready to make now or anytime soon. 

Before he thought about the draft, Tillman was more concerned about leading his team back to the College World Series this year after missing it last season.    

“Last year we lost in the regional championship. That was tough, I think this year we have a lot more ability in the lineup and a lot more depth to get to the World Series. We have played well through the year, but you go through some tough spots. We just have to stay focused, in control and full steam ahead to Cary, N.C.”

After finishing tied for fourth with Nova in the Sunshine State Conference, Florida Southern set their sights on winning the South Regional this past weekend in Tampa.

Florida Southern entered the South Regional as the fourth seed and played fifth seeded fellow SSC member Rollins in the first round May 13 at Tampa. The Mocs held off the Tars 7-6 to remain in the winners bracket.

In their second game, the Mocs were knocked off by top seeded Southern Arkansas 7-0 May 14 to move the Mocs into the losers bracket.

In their third game an elimination game, the Mocs sent SSC member Florida Tech home with a 12-4 loss May 15 to advance to the semi-finals.

In a rematch with Rollins, the Mocs (41-16) dropped a 6-0 decision May 16 to end their season. 

Tillman closed out his junior season going 2-2 on the mound with a 3.18 ERA. In 29 appearances, Tillman pitched 39.2 innings, surrendered 43 hits, 18 runs, 21 walks, 7 doubles, 2 triples and no home runs, while striking out 56.     

 For his performance, prior to the regional Tillman was named a second-team All-SSC selection. Tillman closed out his third year with 13 saves and became the Moccasins career leader in saves with 30. 

Now that the season is officially over, Tillman must make an important decision, whether to return to Lakeland for his final season or forgo his senior season and enter the MLB Draft. 

“I will wait till June to decide my future, I’m not sure what I will do at this point. I’m very interested in playing professional ball, I’ve been looking to it forever.”