Joe Mihalics
Shortstop - Baseball

This week, your team begins a seven-game home stand at Amherst Audubon Field with games against Pittsburgh, Canisius, Toledo and Niagara. How important is this stretch of play for your team as you approach the end of the season?
This final home stand is huge. Right now, we want to finish up the season on a good note. We’ve had a lot of close games this season where we’ve been right in them, but we haven’t finished them off. There’s no better place to start doing it than at home.

Do you feel that with your recent success, UB baseball has established itself in the Mid-American Conference?
We have come a long way. I think coaches around the league have noticed that. We come to play every game, but we just need to learn how to close them out at the end. We’re young and building confidence on a daily basis – so that will come soon.

What does it say about your team’s future that you will be losing only two seniors – Dustin Clark and Brian Zelasko – when you come back next season?
That’s an important point because it means that as a young team, everyone is getting a chance to play. Everyone is getting their feet wet, getting used to MAC play and even college baseball in general. This team will be coming back with a lot of experience, which really bodes well for next year.

Entering this week, you have a .365 average – which is by far the best you’ve had at this point of the season during your collegiate career. What did you pick up during the early stages in your time at UB to help you get to where you are now as a hitter?
Over the years I have just gotten stronger, which translates into more success at the plate. I think I am just more used to hitting at this level – there is certainly a big jump from hitting against high school pitching.

Once again entering play this week, you are just 16 hits away from reaching 174 for your career – which would break the UB career record. What would holding that career hits mark mean to you?
I am pretty good friends with Eric Huber, who holds that record now. So, that’s something he teases me about quite a bit. But it really would be nice to hold that mark, even though I am aware of the fact that we’ve played a few more games each season than some of the other UB teams in the past.

You have 19 extra base hits this season coming into this week. How much does your speed contribute to you stretching a number of your hits into extra bases?
There are obvious benefits to being a little bit quicker. You can pick up some infield hits that maybe some other people couldn’t. As far as extra bases, playing in a big park like Amherst Audubon Field, you have a lot of room in the gaps to drive balls for extra base hits.

Being in the two slot in the lineup, what do you view your role as?
We don’t have many power hitters on our team, so we have to play small ball – meaning we have to advance the runners at all times. Being in the two hole, you need to have good command of your bat. You have to place the ball where you want to hit it in order to move the runners along.

You played second base during your freshman season before moving to left field last year, and now you find yourself at shortstop. How difficult has the transition been from moving between those positions, and what – if anything – have you gained from that experience?
They are all completely different positions with very few similarities between them. I grew up playing shortstop and that’s where I am back to now. Since there really aren’t many similarities between those spots, I probably draw upon that experience more than my time at second or in left.

What baseball plans do you have for this upcoming summer?
This summer I will be playing in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League (GLSCL). But another important part of our off-season is weight training. You also take a lot of time to work on individual skills during the summer.

Last week your team went 1-1 at the inaugural Big 4 Baseball Classic, which was held at Dunn Tire Park. As a native Western New Yorker, what do you feel an event like that brings to the community?
It was a special event. We didn’t play our best ball and unfortunately we weren’t able to come away with the title. But I definitely think it is a great event for this area.

-The "10 Questions with…" feature is compiled by Geoff Nason.

05/03/2004