Drew Beam analyzes his sophomore season performance

Tennessee starting pitcher Drew Beam saw his sophomore season come to a conclusion Tuesday at the hands of LSU. Beam pitched well in the Men’s College World Series elimination game, throwing 5.2 innings while allowing just two runs and one earned run.

But the Tigers pitching duo Nate Ackenhausen and Riley Cooper held the Volunteers scoreless for nine innings as LSU kept its campaign alive with a 5-0 win. Beam’s final statline was six hits, two walks, one hit batsman and nine strikeouts over 90 pitches.

After the game, Beam was asked for a reflection of his 2023 sophomore season and how he improved.

“We attacked the offseason,” Beam said. “Obviously we want to be better every year. Just tried to be more precise, tried to take care of my body a little more than I did last year. Really tried to step into being more of a leader on the team, showing the right ways for guys like AJ coming in, a freshman. He’s stepped up in a big role. It’s been fun seeing guys like that. But I think just filling in my role as a guy on this team that can influence others, and I think that’s just the biggest thing I’ve taken away this year.”

The 6-foot-4 right-hander finished the season with a 9-4 record in 17 starts. He threw 84.1 innings, striking out 88 batters on the year with a 3.63 ERA.

It was a solid season for Beam but a drop off from a memorable freshman campaign that saw him win SEC Freshman of the Year and earn consensus freshman All-America honors.

During that freshman campaign, Beam went 8-1 with a 2.72 ERA. One of the biggest statistical differences between the 2022 and 2023 season was his batting average against. Opponents hit .186 last year while that improved to .267 this year.

The 2022 season was a historic one for Tennessee that ended in the Super Regional round. This season had more turbulence throughout the year, but those tough times are what Beam says he will remember the most from this campaign.

“You go through so much with your teammates and your coaches and you figure things out, then things don’t work, you figure out something else,” Beam said. “I think just all those trials and tribulations that were thrown at us and that we had to fight though as the season went on, that’s just the things you remember because you just push through it with your brothers, the guys beside you, the coaches beside you.”