This week, The Lafayette sits down with one of the co-captains of the baseball team, senior Luke Robinson.

Ryan Green: You were an Academic All-Patriot League honor last year, how do you prepare yourself for success both inside the classroom and on the field?

Luke Robinson: So in the classroom, the best way to prepare yourself for success is to lay everything out week by week and to make sure you have a plan set ahead of you because you know you’re going to be busy with 20 hours of practice a week. So make sure you know what times you have to study and then work hard in those times, don’t waste time in those times because you are always going to be busy. On the field, you are going to get better at practice and you are guaranteed to be practicing there. Also, you have free time to work extra if you want, if you need it, especially in a season when time is tough. If you need to work on something, you need to find the little windows of time if you want to work on either school or baseball.

RG: How has your experience been playing in the Liberty Bell Classic, specifically this year?

LR: It has been cool. We get to play some bigger name schools. We got to play Villanova this year and we [had] Delaware in the championship. It is cool that it is a local event that brings schools within probably about 50 miles all together. And you get to compete for the goal of playing in Citizen’s Bank Park, which especially for local kids, that’s a really cool goal.

RG: What changes have you made in your batting approach, year by year, to improve your batting average each year?

LR: Part of it is just getting older. The more pitches you see, the calmer you are. I think when I was younger, when things started to go bad, I would freak out a little bit and I would tinker too much with my swing. But now that I am older, I have a fixed approach that I try to stick with and even when things go bad you try to tough it out and stick to it.

RG: What is the one piece of advice you would go back and give freshman year you, specifically in baseball?

LR: I would say just take everything in stride. When you’re younger you are worried about, will you play? When you get a chance to play, will you play well? And things do not always go your way, as Division I baseball is very good and competitive. Sometimes you need to take a step back and say, “I’m still young. This is a learning experience that I am building upon for four years.” Now that I am four years past my first year, I see freshmen or sophomores who get their chance and panic a little if things don’t go their way. I see it as they have a good chance to grow, but as a freshman or sophomore you still have tunnel vision.

RG: How has the team dealt with some recent struggles?

LR: As always, when you struggle, you [have] to take it day-by-day, especially in conference play when one game is as valuable as the next. The way Patriot League play is set up, with all the doubleheaders, if you have a tough game one, you [have] to bounce back in game two even if it stings a little from game one. You do not want to fall behind two games and then have to claw your way back on Sunday. Anyone can beat anyone on a given day, and even though we might be at the bottom of the league right now, all it takes is one big weekend and a streak of consistency to get back in the hunt.

RG: Do you have any superstitions or any quirks you execute before games?

LR: I have a ton. I don’t know if I can spell it all out. My entire on-deck routine is the exact same. I velcro my gloves the same way before every at-bat. I kick out the back corner of the batter’s box, then a deep breath, and finally I look foul pole to foul pole. Just a ton of different quirks. And even sometimes I will switch things up, like what I am eating in between games, if I am doing well I won’t switch my snack. That’s baseball. Everyone is always tinkering with superstitions and when things are working, you start doing some things that are a little weird.

RG: What’s your favorite sports team?

LR: St. Louis Cardinals

RG: Who is your favorite athlete?

LR: Yadier Molina

RG: What is something people don’t know about you?

LR: I am a triplet.