For as long as he can remember Brandon Eggenschwiler has been playing baseball. The junior from Lexington, Ky., said baseball has been a part of his life for a long time, starting with little league and T-ball and moving up to Summer ball and Fall ball.
“(Murray State) just gave me a great opportunity to fulfill my dream of playing Division I baseball,” he said. “When I came here I fell in love with the campus and all the coaching staff.”
Last season, Eggenschwiler saw action in 38 games, starting in 28, and hitting .370 with four doubles, one triple, two home runs and 32 RBIs. He made 22 starts as the designated hitter and was named to the 2012 All-OVC Designated Hitter Second Team.
Looking toward this season, the junior said he is excited to see what all the new guys are bringing to the table. The team has brought in new players as transfers from junior college and as freshmen.
“I think (the new players) are going to step up and help us out a lot this year,” Eggenschwiler said. “It is all going to matter when we actually see them on the field (in a game). We did lose two of our best hitters in Jake Rhodes and Travis Isaak this year, but like I said, with some of the news guys coming in this year, I am really excited to see what they can do.”
This year Eggenschwiler will be playing in the outfield more.
To prepare, he worked on building up his strength and his throwing arm. In addition to his passion for baseball is his hobby of blogging. He will be writing for goracers.com.
He started writing the posts a couple of weeks after school started, and he has covered events such as Homecoming, alumni weekend, the start of practice and time in the weight room, team pool tournaments and everyday events that take place for the baseball team.
“I thought it would be a fun idea to do, to be able show people around Murray and show them what actually goes on in Murray State baseball,” he said. “Readers will be able to know what happened game wise and behind the scenes stuff. That is the main idea behind the blogs, to show people what goes on behind the scenes.”
One thing that he would have liked to have documented was the game against the University of Kentucky last year.
The Breds’ won the game 7-3, and that game was one of Eggenschwiler’s favorite memories at Murray State.
“The whole stand was filled in Paducah,” he said. “The majority were Murray fans and then UK brought their fans. That was just the most fun environment I have ever played in.”
Currently Eggenschwiler is a business administration major. After graduation he is hoping to get a job in the sales or marketing department for a major league sports team.
Eggenschwiler and the rest of the team will continue practicing until their first game of the season Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. against Central Arkansas.
Story by Jaci Kohn, Sports editor.