Baseball’s athlete, sophomore Alex Simon plays third base and is hoping to do his best in Friday’s game.

“Our game is going pretty good and we are extending it,” Simon said. “This Friday we have a doubleheader with Illinois Wesleyan, who are pretty good in conference, so we are looking forward to winning those two games since it’s a pretty big deal for us.”

In game 1, Illinois Wesleyan won by 2 score and in game 2, Augustana won by 3 score with a total of 5 score. Alex Simon shared how they train despite the different weather conditions.

“We practice everyday. Even though it might be raining outside, we still find a way to practice indoors in Carver center,” Simon said. “We usually sit in the cages and throw the basketball onto the court.”

He also mentioned how they have pre set goals before their season starts. Since they are in the best team conference, they are always ready to face a loss or a win. 

“After post games, we have to talk with coaches if we lose and what we did wrong and everything,” Simon said. “But we are usually hopeful we have one goal to win the championship and that’s what we aim from the beginning.” 

He felt that the team could have played one step ahead thinking about the future, but he feels in the present, it’s important that they win the rest of their games.

“I think we could have done better at the beginning session while playing with non conference teams,” Simon said. “We are second in the conference and looking to make a push for first place, so that we have a good chance to make it to NCAA at the end of the year.”

He feels the team has a good bonding, and they help each other to get their goals.

“We have a close knit family on the team, we all are super close and we hang out with each other quite often,” Simon said. “When we travel, we hang out with each other and have a very good bondings.”

Pitcher at Augustana Baseball, sophomore Anthony Sus, mentioned how the group does their work together and how teachers are really helpful if they have any problems. Last year baseball had one of the top grade average points as a team.

“A lot of times we have to miss classes for games. On those days, I communicate with my professor, and they understand our problems,” Sus said. “Overall, I feel it’s a little tougher, but we all get our schoolwork done since we have a bunch of smart guys who help each other.”

He said this year the post season is going to be different than last year because last year there was Covid, and all teams in the conference got an opportunity to play in the playoffs.

“Post season is coming up in finals week. This year it is tournament style where only the top six teams get in,” Sus said.

Since Augustana students have finals in Mid-May, baseball athletes are prepared for both post season and exams.