Former South Portland High star Hunter Owen is 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA for No. 9 Vanderbilt, pitching mostly in long relief. Courtesy of Vanderbilt athletics

Hunter Owen is finding his zone for the Vanderbilt University baseball team.

Most of the time.

Hunter Owen

In his second college season, the 6-foot-6 left-handed pitcher from South Portland has shown significant progress, thanks to his improved ability to command the strike zone.

“Just attacking and keeping hitters on their toes. If I’m getting that first-pitch strike and staying ahead, I know I have a lot more success when I’m doing that,” Owen said.

Owen, used mostly as a long reliever, is 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA over 18 1/3 innings this season, with 28 strikeouts against eight walks for the Commodores (20-4), who are ranked ninth in the nation. As a freshman, Owen threw 16 2/3 innings over 14 appearances with a 10.26 ERA and walked nearly as many batters (15) as he fanned (18).

Vanderbilt plays in the rugged Southeastern Conference, which has seven teams in the Top 25, including No. 1 Tennessee and No. 2 Arkansas.

“It brings the best and the worst out of you. It tests you,” Owen said of the competitive level. “Where do you need to constantly improve? We have so much talent even on our own team, so even in intrasquad (games), they’ll expose you. And, for me, coming in it was not being very strong and not being able to fill up the (strike) zone as much as I need to.”

Owen said increased physical strength, along with a more mature approach, has allowed him to gain better body control. That helps him repeat his delivery successfully.

Prior to his 25th season as Vanderbilt’s head coach, Tim Corbin praised Owen’s progress.

“Hunter has transformed himself mentally, physically, and academically…as much as anyone on our team,” Corbin told the Vanderbilt athletics website. “He is a tough kid who works extremely hard at everything. There are no shortcuts with this kid. His spirit for the game of baseball and his teammates is next level stuff.”

Owen was sharp in nonconference play. In his first four appearances, all in long relief, he allowed two earned runs in 14 innings, striking out 23, and throwing 70.5 percent of his pitches for strikes.

The last two outings against SEC teams have not gone as well, as his strike percentage dropped to 59.4 percent.

Owen allowed four runs on three singles over 3 1/3 innings in his first career start against Missouri. Twice, Owen walked a leadoff batter. Both scored.

At South Carolina on Sunday, Owen was tagged for four runs in one inning. Coming on with a man on second and one out, Owen got out of the fourth inning, stranding the runner. But he opened the fifth with consecutive walks, and after an out, he gave up an RBI single and a three-run opposite-field home run. The homer came off a 78 mph curveball that covered too much of the plate. It was the first extra-base hit Owen allowed this season.

“It’s just a matter of putting it behind you. Whether the last outing was good or bad, that’s baggage,” Owen said. “It’s just staying in the present moment and competing. At the end of the day, that’s what it is: competing.”

QUINN McDANIEL, UMAINE’S second baseman, knows how a tough weekend can quickly alter the stat lines.

Quinn McDaniel

Maine opened its season at Louisiana State, another top SEC team in the Top 25. McDaniel went 1 for 12 and Maine allowed 51 runs in three lopsided losses.

“That weekend was a weird experience for us. We had a practice (the night before the series) in Louisiana. That was our first time outside all season,” he said.

Since then, McDaniel has hit .348 (24 of 69) to raise his average to .309. A true sophomore, the 2020 Marshwood High graduate is in his second season as a full-time starter. The 5-10, 175-pound McDaniel has gained about 20 pounds since arriving at UMaine. He leads the Black Bears (7-13, 4-2 in America East) in at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, total bases, and slugging percentage. He has four home runs and is 9 for 9 in steal attempts.

“Obviously, I’m trying to do damage at the plate, and whatever the situation brings, I’m just trying to do my job,” said McDaniel, who lives in Eliot. “If the runner’s at third, I’m just trying to bring him in. But overall, I’m trying to find a pitch that I can hit hard.”

Of the eight in-state residents on Maine’s roster, six are pitchers, including Trevor LaBonte of York, a transfer from the University of Maryland. LaBonte pitched three seasons for the Terrapins but appeared in only one game in 2021. This year, he’s 1-2, with a 5.09 ERA in six appearances (three starts), covering 23 innings. In his last start, LaBonte pitched six-plus innings to get the win against Binghamton.

BRENDAN TINSMAN is crushing the ball for No. 24 Wake Forest (18-6), which averages 9.6 runs a game. The sturdy 6-foot-2 redshirt junior from Cape Elizabeth is Wake’s everyday catcher, with 21 starts. Tinsman played quite a bit in the outfield and as a designated hitter in 2020 and 2021. On Sunday, Tinsman hit his seventh home run of the season (23rd in his four-season career), a three-run shot in an 8-1 win against No. 10 Virginia. Tinsman is hitting .357 and slugging .679, with six doubles and 21 RBI.

FALMOUTH TWINS Reece and Robbie Armitage are having productive fifth seasons as graduate students at Marist (11-8). College players on 2020 rosters were granted an extra year of eligibility. Reece, an outfielder, is hitting .305 with a .421 on-base percentage and has 10 steals. Robbie, an infielder, has 19 RBI in 15 games with a .246 average. … Former Kennebunk standout Derek Smith of Arundel is off to another solid season at Bryant College (8-12) after being named all-Northeast Conference in 2021, when he started all 41 games and hit .321 with 39 RBI and 34 runs. Smith has started every game this season and is batting .258 with five doubles, a .400 on-base percentage and a team-best 16 runs. … Former Greely standout Ryan Twitchell, a 6-foot-5 right-handed fifth-year pitcher at Rhode Island, went 5-1 in 2021 with a 2.91 ERA while logging 75 2/3 innings. This year, Rhode Island is 3-19 and Twitchell is 0-4 with a 10.31 ERA over 18 innings. His most recent efforts, both in relief, have gone better, including a one-run, four-inning stint against Bryant when he did not walk a batter and struck out three. … At UConn, freshman pitcher Brady Afthim of Windham has already become an important part of a deep staff. He’s made a team-high nine appearances for the No. 25 Huskies. Over 6 2/3 innings, Afthim has struck out 12, walked four and allowed four hits and two runs. Opponents are batting .167 against him. His ERA of 2.70 is in line with UConn’s overall 2.74 mark. … UMass Lowell freshman Jacob Humphrey of Standish (Bonny Eagle) was named the America East Rookie of the Week on Tuesday. In a 3-1 week for the River Hawks, Humphrey went 6 for 11 with four runs, four walks, two doubles, two RBI and two stolen bases. Playing right field and some second base, Humphrey has started every game and is hitting .310 , with a .444 on-base percentage, and is 11 for 11 in stolen bases. His one home run was his first hit as a collegian.