TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

Last Wednesday, the Bulls set a school-record with 29 hits in a 27-12 win against Niagara. You had an RBI double to cap off the game. How much fun was it to have such a great offensive outburst like that?
It’s awesome by that much because we don’t do that very often. When you do, you can relax the whole game and people are having fun. It’s nice to watch everybody have a good day and be in good spirits after the game.

This year, the team has three freshmen in the starting lineup every day and three freshman pitchers contributing innings. What do you tell the younger players to keep them motivated throughout the year?
The three freshmen guys that are in the lineup right now, you don’t really have to say a lot to and I think that’s what’s making them so good. They all kind of have the mentality where they don’t really expect to fail. They expect to succeed every time they go onto the field so there’s not really a lot you have to say to them.

You started your career as a catcher before moving to left field midway through your junior year. How tough was that transition for you?
I still think I’m going through it a little bit, but I like playing left field a lot more than catcher. You don’t get beat up quite as much and you can focus a little more on hitting. It’s completely different to look at the field from that perspective. I’m used to looking at the field from the hitter’s perspective and now I’m turned around. It’s a lot different. It took a lot of work to be out there every day.

You've also spent a lot of time as a designated hitter. How tough is it to stay mentally prepared while your team is out on the field?
Very tough. I prefer being in the field to designated hitter. It’s tough, especially because we play in the climate we play in with the cold weather. When you sit in the dugout, there’s not enough layers that you can put on to stay warm. In between innings, you run down the line to stay warm, but it’s real tough keeping your hands warm. I’d way rather be in the field.

Joe Mihalics was the first player to be drafted from the Bulls in 18 years last spring, going to the New York Mets in the 34th round. How important do you think that was for the growth of the program, being able to say that Buffalo can develop players for the next level?
It’s very important, especially at the Division I level. It’s the reason you come to a Division I school. You kind of have to look at it as a stepping stone. You look at the draft as the culmination of your career. I think it was great that he got drafted last year. He was a wonderful player to play with and I think it did great things for the program and it will continue to.

Last season, James Kingsley set a school record for RBIs in a season and tied the home run mark. How important is he as a leader and as a proven run producer this year, especially as he has started to hit well lately?
James’ bat, you can’t ask for much more out of a bat than what James’ give, especially with guys on base. There’s not many other people you’d rather see up there than him. It’s hard for me to see James as someone who leads, because he’s been my best friend for the last five years. It just seems that he’s my friend on the field and that as he goes the team goes.

You are one of five players on the baseball team from Union-Endicott High School, which won a state championship your senior year. How nice is to be able to play on a team with so many players you have a long history with?
It’s awesome. The Follis grew up three blocks away from me so I’ve known them my whole life. They played hockey and I played hockey so I’ve always been around them. The other two guys, I played with them on the American Legion team. They’re all a little bit younger than me, so they weren’t on my state championship team, but they got a ring of their own. It’s nice to think back about how things used to be at my school, especially because we have a lot of things in common that we can talk about from our town. We always talk about the food and that kind of thing. It’s nice to have them around.

In your two years as captain for Union-Endicott, the team went 44-8 and won a state championship. How tough was it to come to UB and know that you would be part of a program that was going to take its lumps while building for the future?
It was tougher than I thought. When I was a recruit, I thought it wouldn’t be that big a deal. When I got here, the first couple years were very, very hard. Our hockey team, at U-E was also undefeated for four years in a row, so everything I’d ever done up to this point, we didn’t lose, which I think is like a lot of athletes that come here. It’s very difficult. It’s still difficult to get up every day. You just have to keep going. It’s a big transition and I’m never willing to accept it because I figure once you accept you just kind of lay down and die. It’s tough.

You were also a goalie on Union-Endicott's hockey team in high school. What are your predictions for the Stanley Cup playoffs?
In Binghamton, we have the AHL team for the Ottawa Senators, the Binghamton Senators, so I have to go with them because a lot of those guys played in Binghamton and I saw them when they were in the minors. For me, watching minor league sports is a lot more fun because you watch the guys skate hard all the time.

What has been your favorite moment as a student-athlete at the University at Buffalo?
One time, I hit a grand slam against Bowling Green (on April 10, 2004) and it was an Athletes-for-Athletes event. As I came around third base, I was looking around and Yassin Idbihi was standing behind the fence and he was about half as tall as the backstop. That was kind funny, a pretty good moment, but my favorite moments as a student athlete were hanging out in the locker room, hanging out on the bus, going out to dinners on the road trips and hanging out in the hotels. That’s the thing I am going to miss the most.

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