Every Sunday, the Cal baseball team nominates a pitcher and player of the week based on performances in the previous week’s games. If Kevin Miller isn’t the Bears’ pitcher of the week tomorrow, somebody’s taken a few too many Blake Smith fastballs to the head.

Miller pitched two scoreless innings to get the win against Fresno State on Wednesday, then replaced Craig Bennigson in the top of the third today and proceeded to throw a career-high 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball to lead Cal to a 9-3 victory and improve his own record to 5-0.

This was just the latest installment in what has been a phenomenal season for the right-hander from San Jose. As a true freshman, Miller has pitched 38.2 innings, struck out 38 batters and has yet to allow an earned run.

Yes, you read that right. In 38.2 innings, Miller sports an ERA of 0.00.

That’s obviously the best ERA of any Division I pitcher in the country. Out of those who have pitched a minimum of 20 innings and at least one inning for every game that his team has played, Miller is the sole owner of a triple-zeroes ERA.

Miller has filled just about every role for Cal so far this season—spot-starter, long relief and, as he showed in the third inning today, go-to guy in the clutch. With the bases full of Beavers, one out, one run already in and a 2-1 count on OSU’s Daniel Robertson, starter Craig Bennigson was lifted and Miller was brought in. The freshman struck Robertson out swinging on a high fastball and then K’d left-handed pinch hitter John Wallace swinging over a curveball that dove in at his back foot.

You just can’t say enough about the kid’s poise. That’s a hell of a situation for any pitcher entering a game: mid-count with only one out and the bases loaded, and on top of all that, Robertson’s hitting .352 for the season and Wallace .345. At that point, it preserved a 3-3 tie. The Bears went on to score four runs in the bottom of the third to take control of the game, but who knows how the game’s makeup changes if Miller allows any one of those runs to score.

Then again, it wasn’t anything new for him. Today marked the third time this year that Miller has been brought in mid-inning with the bases loaded and gotten out of it without allowing a run.

“A little bit,” Miller said when asked if he felt any pressure entering today’s game. “But I feel like pressure is what makes baseball what’s baseball. It’s fun. You thrive on it. So with the pressure I feel like I thrive, I do better in pressure than when I’m just ‘whatever’ out there. And coming in and picking up a teammate’s just huge.”

At a media guide 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, Miller isn’t going to overpower anybody. But he spots his high-80’s fastball with surgical precision and complements it with a changeup and the 11-5ish curve, which he cites as his out-pitch.

“He really has confidence in his pitches,” Esquer said. “That and his ability to get three pitches over the plate allows us to really attack hitters and call the pitches that are necessary rather than give in to the hitters.”

Miller struck out seven today and allowed only one hit to a team with a collective batting average of .310. You’ll hear people talk about a pitcher’s strikeout-walk ratio, and right now Miller’s is about 2.5-1. But that’s only slightly better than his ridiculous 2-1 strikeout-hits ratio. Opponents are batting .122 against him.

“I’m just really competitive,” Miller said. “I don’t like to give up runs. I don’t like to give up hits.”

It’s as simple as that.

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