Trying to earn his spot back
Two years ago, Matt Bowman was Nevada’s best hitter. After injury, he looks to rediscover his form.
Matt Bowman could have just hung up his cleats after last year’s season-ending injury.
A long recovery gives an athlete plenty of time to collect his thoughts and weigh in the consequences of returning and possibly reinjuring the same muscle. Hunting with his dad and cousin might have sounded more appealing than gritting out a third season with the Wolf Pack.
But Bowman didn’t want to adapt to that lifestyle. He wanted to help the Wolf Pack win a Western Athletic Conference title after the team barely missed winning it last year and earn the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
“I knew if I did everything right, follow the doctor’s order and work as hard as I could, I would be fine,” said Bowman, who was named to last year’s Wallace Award Watch List. “There was no reason why I couldn’t recover. The worst case scenario was that it would have taken as long as it has with throwing, but most of it was positive. Everything was pretty good right from the start.”
Bowman may hold the missing ingredient that could have lifted Nevada past Fresno State last year in the WAC final. But he wasn’t going to let a pectoral injury prevent him from missing that again.
“I got that feeling a lot,” Bowman said about wanting to play. “At the same time it’s hard to say if it would have made a difference. Without me playing it does open the spot of someone getting some playing time. It was neat to see those guys do so well. I still felt part of the team being on the bench. It was a lot of fun watching those games.”
Five games into last season the Dayton High grad slid into second base and tore his right pectoralis major muscle at UC Riverside. The injury required surgery and dealt Bowman a medical redshirt year, giving him two more seasons.
“The instant it happened I knew something serious was wrong,” Bowman said. “It was my throwing arm and it felt like a shock, a numbness. I recovered fairly quickly as far as hitting went. As soon as I saw the MRI and the tear, I knew it was going to be a year.”
Shane and Linda Bowman always knew nothing could keep their son from shining on the field.
“He never really had any doubt,” Linda Bowman said. “He’s always been pretty headstrong about what he wants to do. He’s kind of taught us a thing or two.”
His father enjoys seeing No. 13 come to the plate again.
“I guess he loves baseball so much it would have been hard, but he’s got so much else going,” Shane said. “He loves going hunting and going to school. It’s not going to be too much longer when he’ll get back in the outfield.”
Bowman’s a versatile player who can play both infield and outfield. Bowman, who was named to the preseason All-WAC team, played left field in his freshman year and third base in his second year.
Bowman, though, had to battle for his starting position and knew Nevada coach Gary Powers wouldn’t hand it back to him. Bowman was back on the field during the scrimmages last fall and spent the winter strengthening his arm and fine-tuning his swing. Throwing, though, is taking longer to heal back to 100 percent.
“I definitely knew I had to come back and earn my spot again,” said Bowman, an accounting major. “After I had two pretty good years, I knew I could compete for my spot back. I felt like I had to earn it again which was fine. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
So far the season hasn’t been friendly for the former Northern 3A baseball Most Valuable Player. Bowman went hitless in six at-bats (four on Friday and two on Saturday) in Nevada’s season-opening series against UC Irvine over the weekend. Those numbers haven’t kept Bowman down.
“It’s coming along OK. It’s been up and down,” Bowman said. “Swinging-wise, it’s been good so far. Throwing-wise, I’m a little behind. In couple weeks I see it being OK and getting back in lineup not as a DH (designated hitter).”
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