Baseball in April is sometimes a rather cool affair, with fans bundling up in the bleachers to brave the cold for their favorite sport. Don Rogers, third baseman for Saint Louis University’s baseball team, would still rather be playing ball outside, even on a nasty cloudy day.

“I’m out there every day to win, no matter what the conditions are,” Rogers said, “It’s better than sitting at home.”

A junior, Rogers transferred to SLU after playing at Wichita State for two years. However, this St. Louis native is no stranger to SLU baseball. He had played with the majority of the current SLU players before he transferred from Wichita State, due to his many years of playing, both at his high school–DeSmet–and in regional leagues.

He currently has the highest batting average on the team (.373) and has started each of this season’s games. He also leads the team in home runs (6) and RBIs (20).

His teammate, Kyle Wort, said that Rogers “stepped in right away and became one of leaders.”

Rogers has been a devoted athlete all his life, and recalled first starting out by playing whiffle ball in the backyard when he was little. Rogers also played basketball in high school, but picked baseball and poured his heart into it because he said, “It’s the best sport I’ve ever seen.”

He played baseball at DeSmet in St. Louis for four years, and was on the state championship team in 2000. During the summers he played for the St. Louis Comets as part of the American Amateur Union.

Rogers went away to WSU and got some playing time in his freshman year, but he said that he was riding the bench more as a sophomore.

“After sophomore year, I decided that if I want to get drafted, I need to play every day.”

He called SLU baseball coach Bob Hughes, who Rogers had known from past baseball experience in St. Louis.

“It was kind of like talking to a friend I hadn’t talked to in a while,” Rogers said.

He said that the transition onto SLU’s team was an easy one. “They know me, they know my attitude.”

Intensity is key to Rogers’ outlook on baseball and life. “I didn’t play a lot last year, and I really wanted to come out and prove that I’m one of the best players in the nation. I believe it. I just want to come out and show everyone.”

Experience also gives Rogers his unique perspective.

At Wichita, his team won 40 games and won conference. He said that he wants “to show the younger guys, to be a leader. I want them not to be like me, but to be better than I was.”

Rogers said that the team’s goals for this year center on gaining more respect in their conference: “Some people in St. Louis don’t respect SLU baseball, so we’re trying to change that.” He said that the team’s talent level is higher than it was last year, and that the team is trying to keep up “game-to-game intensity” and “playing hard every single day.

Balance is crucial to Rogers’ life as well. He said that his top priority is to get a good education. Rogers was excited about transferring to SLU because of the academic opportunities.

A criminal justice major, Rogers said he’d love to be an FBI agent, and that being cooped up at a desk all day would fly in the face of his energetic nature.

For the time being though, Rogers hopes to continue to play with intensity, and he already has a few supporters.

“My parents have definitely been my best critics,” Rogers said. His family shows up at each one of his home games.

“If there’s a crowd of 100 people at a SLU game, at least 15 of them are going to be my family,” he said.

Wort spoke highly of Rogers as well: “He’s a really hard worker, obviously a really hard player. He brings everyone up with him to his level.”

Rogers hopes to continue his successes at SLU. “Everything I’ve worked for my whole life, just to let it shine.”