SANTA CLARA, Calif. – A fifth-year senior, Travis Howard posted a 14-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio during the shortened 2020 season in 14 2/3 innings for Santa Clara baseball. The year prior, Howard finished second on the team with a 1.99 ERA and averaged more than a strikeout an inning.

Get to know Howard in a Student-Athlete Spotlight.

Hometown
Marana, Arizona

Position
Right-Handed Pitcher

Major
Masters in Educational Leadership and Management

Nickname? 
I was nicknamed Sasquatch in high school because I grew really fast my freshman year and was bigger than most of the seniors.

What inspired your walk-up song?
I called my dad and asked what his favorite song in high school was. It was Juke Box Hero by Foreigner, so I ended up going with that.

What do you love most about playing baseball?
I love competing, being on the mound and knowing that I'm going to give it my all with every pitch while up against someone else who is doing the same thing at the plate. On top of that, baseball has given me my best friends. I would do anything for my teammates and I know they would do the same for me.

Who is your baseball idol?
Randy Johnson has been and forever will be my baseball idol. I remember playing wiffle ball as a kid with my friends and practicing his scowl in my backyard. As I grew older, I began watching his pitching style and then tried to replicate that and introduce it into my own game.

What do you enjoy most about SCU?
I love how small the campus is. It's big enough that you can meet someone new every day, but small enough that it feels like you know everyone, especially the other students within your major. By my junior and senior year, I had some form of relationship with just about everyone in my classes which made them more enjoyable and promoted a great learning environment.

What would you say you're best at on the team?
My teammates would say I'm the best at working out, and I would say that as well, no one really wants to be my lifting partner or running partner since I tend to make everything a competition.

Guilty Pleasure Junk Food Item?
The snacks that my teammate Ryan McCarthy buys and tries to hide from me.

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