The surprise Mountain West leader in earned run average did what he’s done all season on Friday, give Air Force baseball a chance.
Seungmin Shim gave up three runs and eight baserunners across seven innings, leading the Falcons to an 8-3 victory over Nevada at Erdle Field at the Air Force Academy.
Shim (5-2), who entered the day leading the category, now has an ERA of 3.00 on the season.
“He’s been dominant all year,” coach Mike Kazlausky said of the team’s ace. “He keeps the ball down. His secondary pitches have been great and he keeps everybody off balance.”
The South Korean-born Shim posted ERA’s of 7.66 in 2022 (in 44 ⅔ innings) and 7.38 in 2023 (42 ⅔ innings). This year’s success, he said, came from a shift in mindset.
He didn’t feel like he provided enough to the team last year as the Falcons tried to win consecutive Mountain West Tournament championships. So he has pitched with a chip on his shoulder to great effect.
“It’s not even for myself,” the senior left-hander said. “It’s for the guys.”
The role was sorely needed. The Falcons rode the arm of Paul Skenes to their first conference title in 2022. But he then transferred and used a year at LSU as a springboard to become the top overall selection in last year’s MLB Draft.
In 2023 it was senior Jake Sansing who served as the ace for most of the year before sophomore Sawyer Hawks emerged, drawing the start and victory in the opener of the conference tournament to put the Falcons’ in the winner’s bracket. Sansing has since graduated and Hawks transferred to Vanderbilt.
“Filling the shoes of Paul Skenes, Jake Sansing, it’s tough,” said infielder Sam Kulasingam, the Air Force senior who has captured the past two Tony Gwynn Awards as Mountain West Player of the Year. “But Shim has been unbelievable. Keeping us in games the whole time, it feels like he goes seven every single time he goes out there.
“Everything he throws moves a different way. He spots up really well. He’ll throw off-speed behind in counts, so he’ll play mind games with you and mess up your timing.”
The last two times Kulasingam can remember facing the 6-foot-4, 195-pound Shim in practice situations, he struck out.
Shim’s family moved to the United States when he was five years old, and he grew up in Pleasanton, Calif. He speaks English, Korean and Spanish.
Had he grown up in Korea he would have faced the country’s mandatory military service upon turning 18. He hadn’t strongly considered the military in the U.S., but then the Air Force came calling after he stood out for Foothill High School.
“Now that I’m here, it’s so cool being able to represent Korean-Americans. It’s like a whole other level,” Shim said. “But I’m proud of just being here and being able to represent this institution.”
As for his pitching mechanics, Shim at times will show a little hesitation in his delivery reminiscent of some of the greats to come from Korea or Japan, but those nuances do not stand out or define his style.
“I used to have a lot more ‘Asian mechanics,’ if you will, because the people I learned from early on were mostly from the Asian community,” he said. “But now it’s kind of a mix.”
And in a year where his starts have resulted in victories over Navy, San Diego State, Fresno State, New Mexico and Nevada as the Falcons have worked their way to second-place in the Mountain West standings, Shim has turned himself into exactly what the team has needed.
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