His throwing arm sufficiently warm and loose, left-hander Luke Joyce stood, waiting on Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb to call him from the bullpen. With a runner on first and no outs in a 4-4, ninth-inning tie with West Virginia, the Illini were looking to hold on to force extra innings and win their first series of the season.

Twice, Joyce prematurely started to exit the ‘pen and run on to the field, only to turn back and wait. Finally, Hartleb signaled, and Joyce trotted onto the field at the correct time.

Joyce’s uncertainty in what was Illinois’ third game of the season can be easily explained. It was, after all, his college debut and his first-ever appearance out of the bullpen.

“I’ve been telling some guys, I’ve never been nervous in a baseball game before, but that got to me,” Joyce said.

Upon taking the mound, the freshman lefty retired the first two batters he faced on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, but the third Mountaineer singled into left field, scoring the runner from second base and costing the Illini the game. Despite the defeat, the game was a learning experience for Joyce.

“Nothing’s really nerve racking any more,” he said. “(I) just go right after guys.”

Joyce’s debut against West Virginia was the first of his five relief appearances this season, the most of any Illinois reliever. The Glenview, Ill., native is one of only three left-handed pitchers on the Illini’s roster, mandating his baptism by fire from the coaching staff. For his head coach, it was Joyce’s body language more than his actual performance against West Virginia that gave Hartleb the confidence to insert him in future games.

“I think anybody’s first outing of college there’s going to be some nerves but he didn’t blow apart,” Hartleb said. “Sometimes guys will go out and they just fail, they just blow apart. He still kept his composure even though he had the nerves going and that showed a lot to me from the start that he could handle that adverse situation, a tight situation in his first college outing.”

Joyce, for his part, attributes some of his ability in that area to Illinois’ upperclassmen, who he says have made it an “easy transition” from high school.

“Just always stay relaxed, just go right after guys,” Joyce said of what he had learned from his elder teammates. “They’ve had the experience, they’ve been through it, so I kind of pick their brains.”

But at least one of the Illini’s upperclassmen claims Joyce did not have much to learn from him.

“I think he is a freshman who is, I can’t believe I’m saying this already, but beyond his years,” said fellow reliever Chris Pack, the oldest player on the roster and team leader in innings pitched out of the bullpen. “I think coach (Hartleb) sees a lot of confidence in him because he has confidence in himself. He goes out there and tries to get the job done every time. He isn’t nervous, and he has good stuff. He’s mature and we like to see that in our freshmen especially.”

While Joyce has established himself as a regular out of Illinois’ bullpen, at times it is still apparent that he is just a freshman learning on the job. Joyce’s worst outing of the season came in the Illini’s most recent game, a 13-5 loss to Western Kentucky. He gave up three runs in only one-third of an inning, running his ERA to 7.36 on the season. Pitching coach Ken Westray did not deny there would be growing pains.

“All young pitchers, you know, they just need more reps and being out in game-like situations,” he said. “His bread and butter as a left-handed pitcher will be sinking the fastball to the righty and throwing the changeup and keeping them off the plate so he can work down and away and basically be able to come in, in situational pitching and dominate any left-handed hitter they have … So he’s got two dual roles there he’s working on.”

While Hartleb, a former pitching coach himself, and Westray agree it takes a certain mentality to pitch in some of the tense situations Joyce is often inserted, they believe the young hurler carries an attitude that will lead to success.

“He’s got a good work ethic, he works hard down in the weight room, he’s a competitor, he works hard in conditioning and he likes to be out on the mound with the ball in his hands,” Westray said. “Then with his innate skills he has, as I mentioned earlier, he brings a good package. We’re lucky to have him and we’re glad he’s on our staff.”