04/20 at 11:21 PM

Zach Blatt wore a baseball uniform nearly every day as a child, almost to the point where people began to wonder if he owned any other clothes.

He would wake his father, Wayne, up at the crack of dawn and drag him out to a diamond to throw with him.

“Every day, the hottest day of the summer, we’d be out there,” Wayne Blatt said. “He ‘d say, ‘Daddy, I want to play in the SEC, and I want to play for Auburn.’”

Things went according to plan throughout a stellar career at Opelika High, one that ended in a Class 6A state finals appearance, the 6A Pitcher of the Year award and a scholarship to Auburn.

College ball has not come as easily for Blatt, who has recorded a 6.18 ERA in 78 2/3 innings in two-plus years at Auburn, bouncing around the Tigers’ bullpen and struggling with consistency.

“You come in as a freshmen and you want to be ‘the guy,’” Zach Blatt said. “But in this league, this conference, it’s not that easy.”

Blatt appears to be turning a corner.

The junior gave up three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 crucial innings of relief in a 12-9 Tigers win over Kentucky two weekends ago, then picked up his second win of the season in the first start of his collegiate career, giving up four earned runs on five hits over 6 1/3 innings in an 8-7 Auburn win against LSU last Friday.

“I’m glad my time’s finally paying off,” Blatt said. “Glad I’m able to be out here and help the team out.”

The Opelika native’s career at Auburn began auspiciously enough. He recorded a 3.12 ERA and eight strikeouts in his 8 2/3 collegiate innings, earning his first win against rival Alabama in the Capital City Classic.

He finished the year with a 7.36 ERA, with the biggest blow coming in a 24-2 loss against Florida in which he gave up nine runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings.

Blatt followed that up with a 5.40 ERA in his sophomore campaign, then gave up four runs on nine hits in his first 4 1/3 innings this season.

“At one point it was real hard on him,” Wayne Blatt said. “He’d come home and just ask me, ‘Why, Daddy?’ and ‘What am I doing wrong?’ He was beating himself up bad.”

Blatt bounced back with scoreless outings against Alabama, Arizona State and Arkansas and put himself in the position for his first start in the beleaguered Tigers pitching staff.

And, after a steady performance against LSU, Blatt’s put himself in a position to continue in the Auburn (20-16, 7-8 SEC) rotation against Ole Miss (23-15, 8-7) in a three-game set starting tonight at 6:30 p.m.

He and Jon Luke Jacobs are options to take the bump for the Tigers on Friday night. That is, if Blatt is healed from the blister that popped up on his finger from 107 pitches Friday night.

“We’ve all seen flashes of what he can do,” Auburn head coach John Pawlowski said. “His biggest thing is his confidence. He’s turned the corner in his confidence level and he knows more of how to pitch. Those two things have really elevated his game.”

Of course, it’s not in Blatt’s nature to focus on the successes of his college career. He’d rather dwell on the times he got shelled.

Wayne Blatt his son, with whom he talks every day, has been harping lately on his disastrous eighth inning against Vanderbilt on April 2, in which he gave up six runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Wayne said his son has been lamenting that his ERA would be about two points lower without that one rotten outing.

“(Wayne) has told me, ‘Just don’t even worry about the numbers,’” Zach said. “I’ve had my bad ones, but I’ve just got to go out there and act like my ERA is 0, if I’m giving up zero runs or if I give up five runs.

“It’s all about giving it what I’ve got.”

That last part is what Wayne said has brought his son this far.

And what keeps him coming back for more.

“When he takes the field, it’s that old saying about he’s like a bulldog: He’s a competitor,” Wayne said. “If someone tells him he can’t do something, he’s going to prove them wrong.

“When he’s on that mound, he’s in another world.”