TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

In your opening series this year, UB hung tough with Kentucky in all three games, scoring 19 runs in the series and taking Kentucky to extra-innings in the season opener. Does knowing you can hang with a tough Southeastern Conference team give the team confidence moving into the rest of the year?
I feel like it gives us a lot of confidence. It makes it feel like we’ve improved throughout the years and all the work that we’ve been doing is going in our favor.

At the end of this week, you head off on an eight-day, nine-game road trip through Maryland and Pennsylvania. How hard is it to have to wait until late March to have a home opener and until mid-April to have an actual homestand?
It doesn’t really affect us too much. Games are games to us. Home games are an advantage but we look at baseball as baseball and no matter where we are, home or away, we want to win. We have that mentality all the time.

As a junior, Joe Mihalics set UB’s career (176) and single-season (76) hit record. This year, he started off the year with a 5-for-10 series against Kentucky. Having played with him for four years, what does he bring to the table as an athlete and a teammate?
Joe Mihalics is a very good athlete. He shows it on the field, obviously, with the numbers and just watching him play. He’s somebody I love to play with and I’m looking forward to playing with him the rest of the season.

At the end of last year, you started to show up on UB’s all-time leader lists, coming in fifth in at bats (533), eighth in games (138) and 10th in hits (136). Did you think when you came to UB that by the end of your junior year you would be a part of the UB record book?
Not at all. That wasn’t even a consideration for me. The whole objective of me playing here was to win. I wasn’t thinking too much of myself, individually. Obviously, I wanted to do as well as all the other guys or even better, but it’s more of a team thing and my main focus is winning.

During your career at UB, you’ve played five different positions. How hard is it to adjust to a new spot and how are you settling into hopefully your last spot, center field?
I look at myself as a versatile athlete. I can play literally anywhere. I’ll do anything I have to, even if it means pitching.

You came into the baseball program in the fall of 2001 after Buffalo had just finished its second year since reinstatement. What do you think are the most significant changes that have happened since?
I’d have to say attitude is No. 1, definitely. The attitude, I’d say and a lot of the other guys would probably say, was rotten and it just gave the team a bad rep and brought the whole team down. Now, I feel like we're more a team. We play more like a team on and off the field.

You’ve stolen 25 bases in your career, including 14 during your freshman year. What is the key to stealing a base in college baseball?
I’m going to say timing and getting a good jump. You don’t necessarily have to be fast or quick to steal. You can be fast and quick and not be a good base runner or base stealer because of not having good timing or getting a good jump.

You played in the National Amateur Baseball Federation World Series when you were in high school. Was that the best moment in your baseball career?
That was something I’ll always remember, especially because we did well in the tournament (reaching the semifinals). At the same time, I feel like this is the highest point in my career, playing at a Division I baseball level and actually having scouts come out every so often to see different players and being able to show off my talent and having a chance to get drafted one day hopefully.

In the baseball media guide, it says one of your hobbies is baseball card collecting. About how many cards do you have and what are some of your more valuable cards?
I’m going to say thousands of baseball cards, just thousands. I’m not too sure how valuable they are, but I have Ken Griffey rookie cards. I have Robby Alomar rookie cards. I’m not too sure, I guess that would be about it.

What has been your favorite moment as a student-athlete at the University at Buffalo?
I’m going to say receiving the Top Newcomer Award my freshman year.

- “The 10 Questions With…” feature is compiled by Joe Guistina