Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Saluki Baseball Conversation | Alex Lyon
10/29/2018 | 9:12:00 | Baseball
Alex Lyon made a big impact in the Missouri Valley Conference in his first year at Southern Illinois. The Volunteer State transfer hit .316 and stole 29 bases--second in the MVC only to teammate Connor Kopach. Now a senior, Lyon sat down to discuss his journey to this point, base running coming naturally to him, playing hard for the baseball gods, and more.Â
Background
I was born in upstate New York. I moved to a small town called White House in Tennessee when I was five. I grew up there and graduated high school there. I have two older sisters, Rachel and Michaela. I have a nephew named Damon who will be two in March. My dad is a baseball guy. He's a Yankees fan, and I am, too. I was born into it. He started me in baseball when I was four years old. I played a couple other sports, but baseball was the only sport I played every single year. I played football when I was 12 and hated it. Then, I played again as a senior in high school and loved it. I wish I would have played more. Baseball just stuck out to me. Dad was my coach until I was about 12. That's the reason I am here today.Â
When did you decide you wanted to play college baseball?
I set that goal my freshman year of high school, and I stuck with it. I had a chance to play at a junior college out of high school. That was pretty much the only offer I had. I was a little disappointed, but I knew I wasn't a Division I player out of high school. I knew the JuCo route was the best one for me. I had a couple Division II offers, but I was a big homebody, and Volunteer State was only 15 minutes from home. I was there for three years. It was a great decision, but my best decision was actually to redshirt my freshman year. I knew I wasn't going to get much of an opportunity to play my first year. That year off made me realize that I needed to get in the weight room.Â
Why SIU?
I had four Division I offers. I took my first visit to Belmont, but I fell in love with it here (at SIU). I'm not a big city guy, so Nashville wasn't the place for me. Coach Strain recruited me. From the recruiting process, he stood out. I'm happy for him to get the head coaching opportunity. He was a big influence bringing me here, but I fell in love with all the other coaches, too.Â
What is your recap of your first year?
I expected to be a .300-type hitter. I've been that way my entire life. There was an adjustment at first. I struggled in the fall. The transition from junior college to Division I is different. Early on, people didn't really know me, and I got a lot of fastballs. They started to figure me out, but I kept grinding.Â
That's quite a transition—to go from knowing you can't play in your first year at Volunteer State to expecting to hit .300 here at SIU. How did you do that?
My first year, I didn't have expectations, but by my redshirt freshman year, I wanted to play at a very high level. My sophomore year, I knew it might be my last year of baseball, so I felt like I had to take it to another level. I set my expectations even higher, and I did the same thing when I got here. I wasn't guaranteed anything. I had to push myself. Lucky enough, I was able to earn a starting spot and play well.Â
You're an all-around player, hitting for average and power while also stealing bases. How do you think of yourself as a player?Â
I've always been taught to play hard. If you play hard, things come to you. You're rewarded when you play hard. In baseball, if you don't play hard, the baseball Gods will screw you up. My junior college coach told me to play hard, and everything would take care of itself. I try to do that.
You ranked second in the MVC in stolen bases. Did you expect that?
I learned it easily. It's really effective when you do things right. I bought into it, and I love running the bases. Whether it's through hitting or stealing bases, I love running. I hate conditioning, but I love running when there's action on a baseball field. Baserunning comes naturally to me.Â
How are you approaching your senior year?
Like I've done the last three years, I'm setting the expectations higher again this year. I had a successful year last year, and I'm not going to take it for granted. This year's team has a lot of tools that will help us out. We brought in some good arms that will help us out, especially late in the season. We have a really good group of guys, and I'm excited for this season.Â
To read Part One of our Conversation series with hitting coach Seth LaRue, click here.
To read Part Two of our Conversation series with senior Nikola Vasic, click here.
Background
I was born in upstate New York. I moved to a small town called White House in Tennessee when I was five. I grew up there and graduated high school there. I have two older sisters, Rachel and Michaela. I have a nephew named Damon who will be two in March. My dad is a baseball guy. He's a Yankees fan, and I am, too. I was born into it. He started me in baseball when I was four years old. I played a couple other sports, but baseball was the only sport I played every single year. I played football when I was 12 and hated it. Then, I played again as a senior in high school and loved it. I wish I would have played more. Baseball just stuck out to me. Dad was my coach until I was about 12. That's the reason I am here today.Â
When did you decide you wanted to play college baseball?
I set that goal my freshman year of high school, and I stuck with it. I had a chance to play at a junior college out of high school. That was pretty much the only offer I had. I was a little disappointed, but I knew I wasn't a Division I player out of high school. I knew the JuCo route was the best one for me. I had a couple Division II offers, but I was a big homebody, and Volunteer State was only 15 minutes from home. I was there for three years. It was a great decision, but my best decision was actually to redshirt my freshman year. I knew I wasn't going to get much of an opportunity to play my first year. That year off made me realize that I needed to get in the weight room.Â
Why SIU?
I had four Division I offers. I took my first visit to Belmont, but I fell in love with it here (at SIU). I'm not a big city guy, so Nashville wasn't the place for me. Coach Strain recruited me. From the recruiting process, he stood out. I'm happy for him to get the head coaching opportunity. He was a big influence bringing me here, but I fell in love with all the other coaches, too.Â
What is your recap of your first year?
I expected to be a .300-type hitter. I've been that way my entire life. There was an adjustment at first. I struggled in the fall. The transition from junior college to Division I is different. Early on, people didn't really know me, and I got a lot of fastballs. They started to figure me out, but I kept grinding.Â
That's quite a transition—to go from knowing you can't play in your first year at Volunteer State to expecting to hit .300 here at SIU. How did you do that?
My first year, I didn't have expectations, but by my redshirt freshman year, I wanted to play at a very high level. My sophomore year, I knew it might be my last year of baseball, so I felt like I had to take it to another level. I set my expectations even higher, and I did the same thing when I got here. I wasn't guaranteed anything. I had to push myself. Lucky enough, I was able to earn a starting spot and play well.Â
You're an all-around player, hitting for average and power while also stealing bases. How do you think of yourself as a player?Â
I've always been taught to play hard. If you play hard, things come to you. You're rewarded when you play hard. In baseball, if you don't play hard, the baseball Gods will screw you up. My junior college coach told me to play hard, and everything would take care of itself. I try to do that.
You ranked second in the MVC in stolen bases. Did you expect that?
I learned it easily. It's really effective when you do things right. I bought into it, and I love running the bases. Whether it's through hitting or stealing bases, I love running. I hate conditioning, but I love running when there's action on a baseball field. Baserunning comes naturally to me.Â
How are you approaching your senior year?
Like I've done the last three years, I'm setting the expectations higher again this year. I had a successful year last year, and I'm not going to take it for granted. This year's team has a lot of tools that will help us out. We brought in some good arms that will help us out, especially late in the season. We have a really good group of guys, and I'm excited for this season.Â
To read Part One of our Conversation series with hitting coach Seth LaRue, click here.
To read Part Two of our Conversation series with senior Nikola Vasic, click here.
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