Brueggemann taking nothing for granted this postseason

age all season. He is in a much different spot this June as OSU heads into the NCAA Regionals. Last June, he underwent shoulder surgery – his first major surgery – and missed summer baseball for the first time since he started playing when he was 9.

“Just got to keep it in perspective,” Dean said. “It wasn’t a career ender. It wasn’t anything that was gonna set him back long term or anything. There’s a lot worse things going on in the world than having shoulder surgery. You keep that in perspective.”

Braden Bush Sports Editor

Josh Holliday predicted it. Colin Brueggemann showed signs early in the season of his offensive potential. For much of the season, his batting average led the team as a sophomore in his first year at OSU. Earlier in the year, Holliday, OSU’s coach, said it was a matter of time before Brueggemann’s power and home run hitting came to fruition.

Against OU on May 18, it flashed its head. Brueggemann hit a grand slam in the third inning of OSU’s win and hit another home run in the sixth, bringing in five of the Cowboys’ 13 runs.

Brueggemann has gradually worked more and more into the OSU lineup, where he’s been toward the top in batting average and on-base percent-

“It was rough, to be honest,” Brueggemann said.

He was coming off a freshman season at Johnson County Community College in Kansas, where he was seventh in JUCO with 21 home runs. And now, he was sidelined for the entire summer as he headed to his new home in Stillwater.

For the first few months of recovery, Brueggemann didn’t even pick up a bat, and the only action he got in practice was fielding the occasional ground ball. His father, Dean Brueggemann, who played seven years in the Colorado Rockies organization, was there to help him through it.

“He knows a lot about the game and helped me not just with baseball, but with the mental side of it, too,” Colin said.

The mental side of it can be toughest. But Dean had advice.

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Colin slowly returned in the fall but said he couldn’t find his swing. The swing had always been there for Colin, even before his 6-foot-6, 231-pound frame filled out. Dean said Colin had a nice, short and simple swing throughout high school, but it wasn’t until his senior year, after time in the weight room, the power hitting came.

That same long frame made the shoulder recovery process tougher on Colin’s swing.

“Him being a tall kid with long arms, it takes a lot of work to keep it short and simple,” Dean said. “But he put in the work, and he realizes (he’s) in it for the long haul.” Through his first 12 games at OSU, Colin was batting .484 and earning a spot in the lineup, mostly as designated hitter – all while coming back from shoulder surgery and adjusting to Division I.

“He came back in January, and he did, he looked like a new guy,” Holliday said. And then from the time he broke into the lineup and got some key looks, he has been really, really good.”

Dean credits it to Colin’s swing mechanics – short and simple – his work ethic and pitch adjustments.

“Every time I go to the ballpark, I try to stick to my routine,” Colin said. “Even if I’m not in the lineup that day, I’m still asking guys what they’re seeing.”

And it has all paid off. Colin has made an impact in his first year, batting .336 with six home runs and a .450 OBP despite the injury. And he’s been a regular in the lineup, such as the Big 12 Tournament, where he started in five of OSU’s six games.

Colin kept perspective the entire process, and now he’s making the most of this season.

“Not being able to lift, swing, throw, nothing like that, it was rough,” Colin said. “But I knew I wasn’t taking anything for granted when I came back.”