Tennessee senior right-handed pitcher Hunter MartinKNOXVILLE - Hunter Martin knew Dave Serrano could make no guarantees.
He made the phone call anyway.
While pitching in the Cape Cod Baseball League last summer, 1,000 miles away from a Tennessee career no one was convinced would continue, Martin called his college coach and expressed a desire to return to Knoxville for his senior year with a specific role in mind.
Martin wanted to be Tennessee's weekend ace and was willing to turn down a free-agent deal with a Major League Baseball franchise for the opportunity.
"I said I wanted that role and wanted to give my team a chance to win every Friday night," Martin recalled this week. "There was a lot of pressure off my shoulders when I told him that, because he knew how I felt."
Much of Martin's college career deviated from the desired script, but his senior season embodies the maturation - as a pitcher and person - it produced.
The right-hander from Murfreesboro stepped off the mound at Lindsey Nelson Stadium for the final time Thursday night after the Volunteers' 5-0 loss to Missouri, having once again filled the No. 1 pitcher's role he envisioned for himself when he picked up the phone to call Serrano last summer. He threw his fourth complete game this season, allowing just one earned run in the defeat.
Martin started the first game of every weekend series for Tennessee (27-23) in 2017, throwing at least five innings in 13 of 14 appearances and repeatedly providing a young team with opportunities to beat some of the nation's best programs.
He started Thursday fifth in the Southeastern Conference in innings pitched (83.2) with just 15 walks. He was also 10th in strikeouts (80) and tied for second in hitters struck out looking (31).
"I wish things had turned out a little bit differently as a team," Martin said. "But from my perspective, my job is to give the team a chance to win, and I think I've done a good job of that this year."
After spending his sophomore and junior seasons often frustrated by his bullpen role, Martin's eight summer starts with the Brewster Whitecaps allowed him to find himself as a pitcher and gain attention from professional scouts. It also gave him confidence to approach Serrano about his senior season ambitions.
"They were offering him some good money," Serrano recalled. "At the time, with where his struggles had been, I wasn't so sure he was making the right decision by coming back to school, because I didn't know what I could guarantee him in regards to opportunities, because he had kind of had an ebbs-and-flows career here.
"Looking back, I'm very glad he turned down the money, unselfishly, and came back to finish his degree and help us in weekend series."
Tennessee's season did not go according to plan. Serrano announced Wednesday that he will resign when the Vols' season ends, which will be Saturday because the Vols will not qualify for next week's SEC tournament. Still, Martin believes he made the right move by coming back.
"It was a hard decision," he said. "Coming into college, you think three years and done. That's what a lot of guys do. You start your pro career. But sometimes things don't work out the way you expect them to. Your path changes. For me, I know I'm more prepared now for the next level and next step. I know I'm fully ready now, and I don't regret my decision at all."
Martin posted a solid 3.25 ERA in 12 starts as a freshman, but he struggled his sophomore year when he did not land a spot in the weekend rotation.
"You could say I got complacent," Martin said. "I got comfortable in a way. That leads to not working as hard and doing other things outside the field you know you shouldn't be doing. That sophomore year really took some ups and downs."
Throw a bout with tendinitis into the mix, and baseball had created something Martin had never experienced.
"I struggled a lot as a person that year, because that was really the first time I've ever had failure in my life when it comes to pitching," Martin said. "But looking back on it, I can say that really helped me grow as a man, not just as a ballplayer but as a person."
Martin's junior year initially brought similar frustrations, but he settled in to become one of the Vols' go-to relievers and began stringing together scoreless innings during conference play.
"That helped build my confidence back up to where it used to be," he said.
Then came Cape Cod. The 6-foot-1 Martin abandoned the idea he needed to throw his fastball in the mid-90s and developed a devastating changeup while focusing on throwing his fastball 88 to 92 mph with movement and command. He pitched six or more innings in all eight starts with the Whitecaps and never allowed more than four runs.
Somewhere along the way, he made the phone call that Serrano said he will never forget.
Martin wanted to introduce his coach to the new pitcher he had discovered in Massachusetts, the one he believed was good enough to anchor Tennessee's pitching staff.
"I told him, 'You know I can't promise you that. That's something you have to earn,'" Serrano recalled. "Lo and behold, he did. He wasn't given that because of what he said to me.
"He earned the right, and he's earned the right every single weekend to carry the flag on the opening game of series."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.