Complacent: satisfied, especially with oneself, one’s merits or situation.

Corey Lawson: not complacent.

Since transferring to Saint Louis University this fall, junior Corey Lawson has been a man on a mission. That mission is simple: become a better baseball player.

Lawson is a six-foot-three-inch, 210-pound player who doesn’t care what he did yesterday or last week. He only cares about what he is going to do tomorrow or the next day to help his team win.

The junior first baseman and pitcher came to SLU from Southwest Missouri State after being a major contributor there for two years.

After playing both first base and pitching there his freshman year, the coaches decided to restrict Lawson to the mound. However, Lawson knew that he wanted to play both positions. SMS’s loss became SLU’s gain.

“The main reason I left SMS was that I wanted to be more involved. My freshman year at SMS I played everyday and pitched also, and my sophomore year I didn’t get a chance to play everyday because all I did was pitch. The opportunity presented itself when I was talking to coach Hughes because they lost some players and it seemed like a real good fit for me,” Lawson said.

What Lawson has brought the Billikens is a big-game pitcher to step up in key situations. He has filled the role vacated by the injury to staff ace Ben Hutton.

Currently, Lawson has the lowest ERA of any Billiken starter at 2.53. He leads the team in wins with four and has logged 32 innings of work in just four appearances.

Of the four games he has started, he has also finished three of them. Opponents are hitting just .217 against him and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is nearly three to one.

“I feel like I am throwing the ball great, but there are always things that you can improve on, and I think that with every start and the help of the guys on the team and coach Whaley I think have improved,” Lawson said.

Last week, Lawson was named Conference USA’s pitcher of the week after throwing a complete-game victory for the Bills against South Florida.

His 2.53 ERA is sixth among all C-USA starters, and his four wins are tied for second in the conference.

“Coming in and talking to coach Hughes, he wanted someone to be a leader on the team and to help out with the older guys. I feel like I have fulfilled that role in a way. And just trying to stay positive and get everybody to buy into the fact that we are going to be a good team,” Lawson said.

On the mound isn’t the only place that Lawson is contributing. He has posted a .271 average and a pair of home runs, which lead the team.

He has also played flawless defense at first base, posting 117 putouts on the year.

“I am seeing the ball really well right now. I’m not at the point where I’d like to be, and I’ve had some unfortunate breaks, and I need to make some minor adjustments. Overall I am happy, but I am still working to get better,” Lawson said.

However, Lawson’s presence has been felt most not be on the field but in the lockeroom. That lockeroom leadership has filled perhaps the Bills biggest void.

“Corey has been a great contributor both on and off the field. I think he has brought a real positive force to the ball club. He has that never-say-die attitude and that has forced a lot of guys on the team to play at a different level. That is the kind of attitude that we need, the guys need to feel like they can’t be beat. When that becomes contagious, that is when you don’t get beat,” said coach Bob Hughes.

It is that never-say-die attitude that has allowed Lawson to keep a positive outlook on the Bills current losing streak.

“When we were 7-0 we were finding ways to win the close games, lately we have let a couple of leads slip away. But we are not playing bad, we are playing good teams and playing competitive everyday. Nobody is really down, and nobody is really worried. It’s just that we are going to make a couple of adjustments and keep playing the way that we have been and we’ll be fine,” Lawson said.

At 9-7 there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the Billikens. However, one thing that is certain is that no one is going to work harder than Corey Lawson-and no one is going to quit on his watch.

Compete: to strive to outdo another for acknowledgement, a prize or supremacy.Competitor: Corey Lawson.