Written by Genre McAtee '16
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The whirlwind of studying and stress eating brought on by midterms is time-consuming enough on its own; add that to baseball practice and games every weekend and you are looking at the life of Eric Lex (EL). Lex is simultaneously in the midst of the 2015 baseball season while combatting spring quarter midterms. Santa Clara Broncos (SCB) wanted to hear more about the ways Lex balances his time between two of the most important seasons of the year.
SCB: How do you balance your time between being an SCU student and Bronco athlete?
EL: During the season, I basically split my time between baseball and school work. I use a daily planner to organize the time I have during the day so I always know how much time to expect for certain activities. I also use a planner to write down important dates for schoolwork so I'm always on task. I just have to be smart and make sure I don't spend too much time away from school and baseball.
SCB: The baseball team has to travel quite a bit for away games. Does this affect your schoolwork?
EL: Traveling makes schoolwork extremely difficult, especially because on road trips we usually miss some Thursday classes and we always miss all of the classes on Friday. For myself, doing schoolwork on the plane is also very difficult because it makes it hard to focus. So on travel days it is hard to get homework done. We have limited time on Fridays and Saturdays to get homework done too.
SCB: How did your experience this year as a Bronco compare to what you expected coming in as a first year student?
EL: The experience I am having is pretty similar to what I expected coming into Santa Clara. Both baseball and academics are challenging. The biggest surprise was definitely seeing that college hitters hit a lot better than high school hitters. It was hard for me at the beginning of the season to adjust to college hitters hitting every pitch over the middle of the plate, but through experience and hard work I have gotten somewhat better at limiting the bad pitches.
SCB: How have you developed as a baseball player since stepping in to the starting rotation for the Broncos this season?
EL: This year has been a huge developmental season for me. So many aspects of my pitching and mindset have changed. I think the biggest change for me was maintaining composure on the mound when I am struggling and also maintaining a one-pitch mentality at all times. It has been a fun and exciting experience being able to help my team in a starting position. I think the pitching staff in general has done a great job of rising up to the occasion after some of our best arms went down because of injury.
SCB: Are you currently following major league baseball? Which team would you like to see come out on top this year?
EL: The Chicago Cubs are my favorite team by far. They have been my favorite team since I was a little kid. My favorite player at the moment is definitely Kris Bryant. It is fun seeing a former Marshall's player (my previous summer team) and former member of the West Coast Conference succeed at such a high level of baseball.
