What a difference a year can make.

Just 12 short months ago, former Cyclone pitcher Alan Bomer’s baseball season was over. So was his career at Iowa State. Bomer, a native of Altoona, transferred to the University of Texas following the announcement last April that ISU’s baseball program was folding after the season.

Now, Bomer is a starting pitcher for the second-ranked team in the country. Texas qualified for the College World Series by beating Houston 5-2 Sunday. Bomer got the win, pitching seven and one-third innings and allowing just two runs, relying on his 96 mph fastball and patented change-up.

Such has often been the case for Bomer now, a year removed from an Iowa State squad that struggled to qualify for the Big 12 tournament.

He’s now thinking winning every time he steps on the field. In fact, the Longhorns had a few major goals this season.

“We had five major goals,” Bomer said. “Winning the [five] championships.”

Bomer was referring to the regular season Big 12 championship, the Big 12 Tournament and the NCAA regional and super-regional championships. Texas has already accomplished four of those goals and one more – the national championship – would complete the puzzle. And Bomer likes his team’s chances.

“We’ve got a great deal of confidence gong into it right now,” said Bomer, who is 10-3 this season with a 3.72 ERA. “I have a great feeling that we have a chance of winning the whole thing.”

UT will be up against seven of the best teams in the country, though, including conference rival Nebraska, in the double-elimination tournament starting Saturday when they face the No. 1-ranked Rice Owls.

The two teams have already met twice this season, with the Longhorns taking both decisions. However, both contests were very close. Bomer expects more of the same this time around.

“It’s going to be a real tough game,” Bomer said. “We know each other really well. Each game from now on will be the biggest game of my career.”

Despite all of his team’s success this season, it hasn’t kept Bomer from thinking about his time at Iowa State and the guys he played with.

“I think about it every once in a while when I call my old roommates and some of my former teammates,” Bomer said. “I just miss the guys.”

Bomer’s mother, Diane, said it’s been more difficult having her son so far away.

“It’s a little further away, so it’s been harder,” she said. “We were used to running up to Ames. I know that this is what he needed to do to advance. You have to accept that.”

Bomer’s family has been able to see him play several times throughout the season, including the games in the Big 12 tournament. When they can’t make it to the game, they listen to a radio station’s broadcast of the game over the Internet. Diane said her son loves where he’s at right now.

“He is very happy at Austin,” she said. “The school has been very good to him. That, he feels, has helped him and helped his game.”

Bomer said that he feels bad thinking that the elimination of the baseball program at Iowa State benefited him. Unlike some of his former teammates, the move has been a blessing in disguise for Bomer.

Jake Brown and Lincoln Mincks, two teammates of Bomer’s while at Iowa State, also helped their teams advance to NCAA post-season play. Brown’s Texas Tech squad dropped a 3-1 decision to Washington in the NCAA regionals, while Mincks’ Central Florida team also finished the season with a loss in the NCAA regionals.

The Red Raiders went 42-20 on the season, and the Golden Knights were 41-22 for the season, much better records than anyone would have anticipated for Iowa State had the program remained active.

As Bomer said, some of his other teammates weren’t so fortunate.

UNLV, Iowa and Missouri, all new homes to former Cyclone baseball players, finished at or below .500 this season.

Illinois, the new home of former Cyclone outfielder Brandon Cashman, had a 32-19 overall record, but finished in the bottom half of the Big 10 and failed to qualify for the conference tournament.For Bomer, not only is he playing for one of the top teams in the country, he said he’s also drawing more visibility from professional teams and elevating his stock in the process.

He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs after excelling at Iowa State, but his decision to transfer to Texas released him from the Cubs. He was recently picked up by the New York Yankees in the fourth round of the Major League Baseball draft.

If he were still playing baseball at Iowa State with the team flirting with .500 or even worse, Bomer thinks he wouldn’t have gotten noticed so much.

Bomer, who has one year of eligibility left with the Longhorns, said he hasn’t decided whether he’ll finish his career there or turn pro.

“I feel like I would have got more attention [by coming to Texas] than I did last year,” Bomer said. “Coming down here and playing down here you get noticed a lot more. We play at a lot higher level here.”