The Augustana Observer sat down with Augustana baseball  pitcher Kyle McGinley to talk about the team and his season.
1. When did you start playing baseball and why?
“I started playing when I was four. It was one of those things that everyone was already playing so my parents signed me up. I enjoyed the game and I fell in love with it from there.”
2. What made you want to continue playing in college?
“I’ve always enjoyed the game and I saw myself still playing. I wasn’t done playing.”
3. How have you changed as an athlete since your freshman year?
“Since my freshman year, I’ve gotten stronger and I think that can be seen. I gained a lot of miles per hour since I’ve been here.”
4. What is a team goal this year?
“The team goal is definitely to win conference again and go back-to-back conference champions. We want to go a lot further in regionals this year than we did last year.”
5. What is a personal goal for this year?
“A personal goal is to be all-conference.”
6. Who will be your toughest opponent? Why?
“North Central or Illinois Wesleyan. We’ve butted heads with them the past couple of years. They are our biggest rivals.”
7. What are you most excited for this season?
“This year, we’ve built a really good culture and I really like spending time with the guys on and off the field. I’m excited for conference to start.”
8. What is your favorite memory of baseball at Augustana?
“Dog-piling on the field. That’s definitely something we want to do again. We’ve gotten to do it twice since I’ve been here and I think doing it senior year would be a great feeling.”
9. Describe your spring break trip to Florida. How did the team do?
“The games went well. We are 13-1 right now and we’ve been playing really well. In the first four games, we played the same team and we had really close games and went into extras for two or three of them. That set the tone for the rest of the trip. We were able to play really well after that.”
10. What are your expectations for conference play?
“The competition is going to be better than what we’ve seen, but I think we will be ready for that. I’m happy with the way we have been playing. We’ve been able to get hits when we need to and throw well when we have to.”
11. What does it mean to you to be on this team?
“I’m very thankful for my teammates and I’m happy with the success that we’ve had.”