CORVALLIS — From time to time, Oregon State players joke that Luke Heimlich should "go back to high school." The 19-year-old would be a senior at Puyallup High in Washington had the Beavers not asked him to enroll a year early.
The light-hearted ribbing hardly bothers Heimlich. Continually thrusting the freshman reliever into thorny situations underscores a simple truth: When it matters, the club doesn't treat him like a rookie.
Heimlich repaid his team's trust with a performance that belied his youth Sunday. After entering with the bases loaded in the fourth, he delivered four scoreless innings.